CASA advocates are unique. Unlike lawyers and social workers, who are required to consider the parents’ or family’s interests, the CASA advocate focuses solely on what is best for the child or children.
Quite often throughout the child’s case, the foster parents, social workers, schools, towns, and everything else in the child’s life will change many times due to placement. One of the goals of CASA is to minimize these changes, both by providing continual monitoring and advocacy for the child, and by being a stable and constant person in this child’s life.
CASA advocates are everyday people with a passion for helping children. Our CASA advocates are appointed by judges and trained to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children. CASA advocates stay involved with each child until that child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many of these children, the CASA advocate is the one constant adult presence in their lives.
Inspiration came to Seattle juvenile court judge David W. Soukup in 1976. Judge Soukup had insufficient information to make a life-changing decision for a 3-year-old girl who had suffered from child abuse.
That’s where the idea came from: These children, who had experienced abuse or neglect, needed trained volunteers speaking up in the courtroom for their best interests.
