CASA, Inc.

The child welfare and juvenile justice systems are comprised of caring people and well-meaning entities, but they are ill-equipped to handle the volume and complexity of cases. This is why CASA exists. CASA plays a critical role in the lives of children and serves as an integral constituent in the welfare and justice systems. CASA volunteer advocates are highly effective in getting their recommendations accepted in court, and their reports lead to a higher number of services being ordered for children and families. Overall, CASA volunteers help the judge make better decisions for the short and long-term livelihood of children.

CASA's vision is to pair a trained volunteer with every abused and/or neglected child who needs one. Because children with a CASA volunteer spend less time in out-of-home care and experience fewer placement. More than 90% of children with a CASA volunteer never re-enter the system after they case is closed.

The organization's goals are:
1. Increase community awareness to recruit more potential volunteers.
2. Increase new volunteers trained and who take on new cases.
3. Increase number of children served.

CASA's vision is to pair an advocate with every child who needs one. CASA works toward fulfilling its vision through its key programs: Advocacy Academy (volunteer training program) and the Advocate Support & Life Skills for Older Youth (volunteer support and children's activities).

Advocacy Academy is CASA's volunteer and recruitment program where staff conduct 30 hours of education for every volunteer. Each potential volunteer is assigned an Advocacy Supervisor. Upon completion of in-class session, potential volunteers continue with multiple days of supervised court shadowing and in-home visits. Their respective Advocacy Supervisors will continue with more individualized training by reviewing cases and court reports. Once the volunteer has completed all the above requirements, they are sworn in by the Family Court Judge.

The Advocate Support Program ensures proper supervision of volunteer advocates who have successfully completed the training program. Each volunteer, under the supervision of an Advocacy Supervisor, chooses one case appointed by a family court judge. CASA limits one staff member to manage a maximum of 30 volunteers. Staff members perform tasks vital to serving vulnerable children, as well as provide volunteers with their expert knowledge and emotional and mental support for all cases.

CASA volunteers make a commitment to provide quality mentoring weekly on one to two cases only. With volunteer's current personal involvement, it positions CASA to be a logical provider of life skills services. Life Skills Academy will provide quality out-of-school time programs that develop skills in self-sufficiency—financial literacy, job readiness/career planning, and, relationship building/community connections.

For over 30 years, CASA of the River Region has provided direct advocacy services to children (from birth to 18 years of age) with active abuse and neglect cases in Family Court. We now serve Jefferson, Oldham, Shelby, Trimble, Spencer and Henry Counties.

The child welfare and juvenile justice systems are comprised of caring people and well-meaning entities, but they are ill-equipped to handle the volume and complexity of cases. This is why CASA exists. CASA plays a critical role in the lives of children and serves as an integral constituent in the welfare and justice systems. CASA volunteer advocates are highly effective in getting their recommendations accepted in court, and their reports lead to a higher number of services being ordered for children and families. Overall, CASA volunteers help the judge make better decisions for the short and long-term livelihood of children.

• Children with CASA volunteers spend less time in out-of-home care and experience fewer placements. More than 90% of children with volunteer advocates never re-enter the system, a significant difference compared to the general foster care population.

• Because of our volunteers' detailed knowledge of the children's circumstances, children with a CASA receive more court-ordered services.

• CASA makes an important economic contribution by delivering greater efficiency in government systems (saving millions of dollars in State and local government expenses), and helps produce significantly improved outcomes for abused and neglected children.

• Children with CASA volunteers are less likely to spend time in long-term care, and their cases are more likely to remain permanently closed after final disposition.

During 2017, CASA:
• Provided advocacy services to 563 children (a 20% increase over 2016).

• Provided back-to-school supplies to 113 children and holiday gifts to 192 children.

• Trained and paired 69 new volunteers with a case (a 92% increase over 2016) resulting in 179 trained CASAs.

• In 2017, volunteers contributed approximately 31,387 advocacy hours. This is equivalent to approximately $753,288, if compensated for their service.

• The average months of care for a child in Jefferson County is 24.5 months with a cost of $2,456.87 per month. The average months of care for a child with a CASA is 16.22. Last year, 131 CASA children were reunified, adopted or given permanent relative placement. This saved Jefferson County $2.6 million.