Court
Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Orange
County is a non-profit organization that trains
community volunteers to serve as powerful
mentors and advocates for our community’s
most severely abused, abandoned and neglected
children.
Founded in 1985,
with major support from the Junior League
of Orange County, Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASA) of Orange County is one of
more than 900 CASA programs nationwide dedicated
to providing quality intervention and advocacy
services for abused, abandoned, and neglected
children. Based on a model originated by Judge
David Soukup of Seattle, Washington, the program
recruits and trains community volunteers to:
-
Provide
a one-on-one stable, adult relationship
for an abused child
-
Independently
monitor the child’s circumstances and
provide fact based information to the court
in the best interest of a child
-
Advocate
for a safe and permanent home for each child
On any given day
in Orange County, there are nearly 3,000 children
who have been removed from their parents' care
and placed in out-of-home care due to abuse
or neglect. Stripped of all that is familiar
to them, often separated from their siblings
and without the comfort of their friends, they
spend too much of their childhood being shuffled
from group home to group home, foster placement
to foster placement, having to adjust to new
schools and new faces with every move.
The system designed to care for them and adequately
provide for their future is overburdened with
too many children. Social workers carry between
30 and 50 cases and each juvenile court judge
is responsible for making life-changing decisions
for over 700 children. Additionally, more than
87% of the children referred to CASA have been
in the system for more than 6 months –
and some much, much longer.
For those kids who “age-out” or emancipate
from foster care at age 18, the outlook is quite
bleak. National statistics reveal that within
18 months, 50% have not graduated from high
school and are unemployed, a third end up in
jail and a quarter become homeless. Additionally,
children who have been abused are 38% more likely
to commit violent crimes as adults and are about
33% more likely to abuse their own kids.
Fortunately, CASA
volunteers are appointed by the Juvenile Court
to serve as advocates and mentors for abused
children going through dependency court proceedings.
Unlike social workers, therapists, and attorneys
who juggle large caseloads and rarely have time
to focus on a single child, CASA volunteers
work with only one child at a time and often
become the most important person in that child's
life.
CASA volunteers can be the difference between
success and failure in a child’s life.
By simply listening, encouraging, guiding and
speaking up for a child, CASA volunteers help
these vulnerable children and teens to reach
their full potential. Sometimes it is just allowing
a child to feel cared about for the first time,
and sometimes it is helping to find a loving,
permanent home for a child. Clearly, the combination
of consistent mentoring and advocacy for a child’s
needs results in a much greater chance that
these kids will achieve a bright, successful
future.
CASA always needs
more ordinary people willing to make an extraordinary
difference in the life of an abused child. By
dedicating about 10 to 15 hours a month, you
can help one of the over 120 children on CASA
of Orange County’s referral list who are
waiting for someone to care and to speak up
for them in court.
VOLUNTEERING
DONATION
From its inception by The
Junior League of Orange County over 20 years
ago, CASA has been strongly supported and endorsed
by our community. Today, CASA has a strong Board
of Directors who are responsible for CASA’s
mission and strategic direction, an invaluable
Advisory Board that helps raise crucial funds
and awareness for CASA, and an outstanding auxiliary
group, The Friends of CASA.
Additionally, CASA partners with a number of
community agencies, organizations and companies
and is continually establishing new partnerships
to enhance our work with children. Following
are a few of our current partners:
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