Who We Are

A Court Appointed Special Advocate (C.A.S.A) is a trained volunteer who is appointed by the judge to represent the best interests of a child currently under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Dependency court.

A C.A.S.A volunteer provides a judge with recommendations that help the court make a sound decision about that child’s future. Each case is as unique as the child involved

C.A.S.A volunteers come from all walks of life, with a variety of professional, educational and ethnic backgrounds. Aside from their C.A.S.A volunteer work, 85% are employed in regular full-time jobs. Two-thirds of the volunteers nationwide are women, one-third are men.

A C.A.S.A volunteer usually spends about 10-15 hours per month.

Social workers are generally employed by state or county governments. They sometimes work on as many as 40 to 50 cases at a time and are frequently unable to conduct a comprehensive investigation of each case. The C.A.S.A worker is a volunteer with more time and a smaller caseload (on the average 1 to 2). The C.A.S.A volunteer does not replace a social worker on a case; he or she is an independent appointee of the court.

The C.A.S.A volunteer does not provide legal representation in the courtroom. That is the role of the attorney.

Yes. Juvenile and Family Court Judges implement the C.A.S.A program in all of their courtrooms and appoint the volunteers.

There are now more than 900 C.A.S.A programs in all 50 states, with more than 38,000 volunteers. In California, there are currently 40 programs.

No. There are other child serving organizations, but C.A.S.A. is the only program where volunteers are appointed by the court to have the specific responsibility of looking after the child’s best interest, as well as the only agency that requires extensive pre-service training and continuing education, as well as an 18-month program commitment..