Virginia Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA) (Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services)
Description:
CASA is the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program. CASA is a child advocacy organization that seeks to provide trained volunteers to speak for abused and neglected children who are the subjects of juvenile court proceedings. CASA volunteers advocate for safe, permanent homes for children. CASA began in 1977 in Seattle, Washington by Judge David Soukup who saw the need for more information on cases involving children in his court. The social services and legal systems were overburdened and CASA was created to assist in obtaining information and providing follow up monitoring of court orders.
CASA recruits, trains and supervises competent volunteers dedicated to advocating for the needs of abused and neglected children currently in court proceedings, who are too young to speak for themselves during the complicated maze of legal proceedings.AS