With almost 200 Orange County youth in foster care waiting to be assigned a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), it’s not always possible to match up a child with a CASA from a similar background. Sometimes, coming from very different life experiences can make it more challenging for a bond to develop between CASAs and the youth they serve.

Flo is an Orange County CASA who was having some difficulty connecting with her youth. She wanted to take a deeper dive into understanding how to better relate to her child who was from a different cultural background. Flo began seeking out literature to provide better insight into her youth’s life experiences. She found the books she was reading so helpful that she, along with other members of the CASA Diversity Committee, created a recommended reading list to help educate advocates.

Barnes & Noble in Aliso Viejo Town Center is a supporter of CASA and a generous contributor to Orange County youth in foster care. Each year they donate a large supply of books to CASA. These books are then distributed to children at CASA’s annual holiday party.

To further aid the work that CASA OC is doing, Barnes & Noble in Aliso Viejo donated a portion of all sales last month to customers who mentioned CASA when they made their purchase. 

We’ve shared our CASA Diversity Reading List and hope you’ll think of Barnes & Noble in Aliso Viejo as you’re doing your holiday shopping. We are so grateful for the meaningful way Barnes & Noble has partnered with us to lift up the children we serve and to help our CASAs be the best advocates possible for the youth they support.