CASA
Warren County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) is a volunteer organization dedicated to serving vulnerable children in Warren County by providing trained community volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children within the court system. CASA volunteers are appointed by the court and work as independent voices, in collaboration with key agencies, legal counsel and community resources, to serve as the child's advocate and represent the child in juvenile court proceedings. The program’s primary goal is to ensure that each and every child in the county is have a strong, consistent voice in court and are given the opportunity to grow up in a safe and healthy environment in a permanent and nurturing home.
We see news stories every day about children taken from an abusive home or because of the tragic loss of a parent to illness, violence, incarceration or drug abuse. Most people assume there is program or system that will take care of these children and make sure they are treated with dignity and given a safe place to live so they can recover from their hardship and be a child again.
But there is a story behind the story that few people know about. It is story of an overburdened foster care and child welfare system that, though full of well intentioned and deeply committed people, cannot begin to meet the vast needs of the more than 700,000 children in foster care in the United States. It is the story of a six year old girl who has been moved to six group homes and three schools over the past two years. The story of a toddler separated from her brothers and sisters during the most vulnerable time in her life. The story of an 18 year old child who ages out of the system and is forced to navigate the adult world without any support.
But these stories can have better endings because there is a group of trained volunteers, appointed by our Judge to advocate for these children. People who fight for these abused and neglected children to make sure their basic rights and essential needs don’t get overlooked or ignored by the system. These stories can have better endings because of people like you.
We are Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a volunteer powered network of committed people who believe society has a fundamental obligation to these children. We are people just like you who believe that every child had the right to be treated with dignity, to be safe, and to thrive in the embrace of a loving family.
In 2017, Warren County CASAs served 183 children but there is much more work to be done and we need your help. In order to grow to meet the needs of our community, we must have more volunteers and additional funding to support our program.
