CASA volunteers are everyday people – teachers, accountants, health care professionals, retirees, and stay-at-home parents. CASAs are committed to making a difference for children who might otherwise slip through the cracks in an overburdened foster care system. They are appointed by judges to guide one child or one set of siblings through the system to safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible. CASA volunteers research case records and speak to each person involved in a child’s life, including family members, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and social workers. They monitor the progress of the child and family throughout the case and advocate for the child’s current and future needs in court, in school, and in agency meetings. Their independent evaluations allow the court to make better-informed decisions. CASA volunteers truly get to know the child and can give each case the sustained and individualized attention it deserves.
Volunteer Advocate Training consists of 17 hours of classroom training, 13 hours of home learning assignments/activities, and 3 hours of CPS courtroom observation. Upon completion of training requirements and thorough background checks, volunteers are sworn in my a Judge with Bell County Centex Child Protection Courts or Coryell County, Child Protection of the Hill Country, as a Court Appointed Special Advocate.
