"As a judge, I had to
make a tough decision. I had to decide whether to take a child from the
only home he’s ever known, or leave him someplace where he might
possibly be abused. I needed someone who could tell me what was best
for that child—from the child’s viewpoint. That’s what CASA does."
(The
Honorable David Soukup, Founder of CASA)
Some state statues
require the guardian ad litem to be an attorney. Therefore, the term
CASA (Court appointed Special Advocate) was coined to denote volunteers
from the local community who had been trained to serve as advocates for
children involved in court proceedings.
In 1982, the National
CASA Association, Inc. was established to serve as an umbrella
organization for the growing number of programs in the country.
National CASA provides information, technical assistance, research,
training and hosts an annual national conference. Membership in
National CASA is open to programs and individuals throughout the U.S.
Today, there are over
800 CASA programs in all 50 states. Approximately, 47,000 men and women
are CASA volunteers serving an estimated 183,339 abused and neglected
children annually.
In the Southern Tier
In the
spring of 1988, the Executive Director of the New York Task Force on
Permanency Planning for Foster Children wrote the Chemung County Family
Court Judge, John D. Frawley and Susan T. Rogers, President of the
Junior League of Elmira. The Executive Director requested that someone
from Chemung County participate in the first New York State CASA
conference.
League
representatives came back from the conference very enthused about
starting up a CASA in Chemung County, and the Junior League funded a
six-month feasibility study to explore the development of such a
program in Chemung County. During that six-month period, support for
the development of a CASA Program was sought and gained from Judge
Frawley, the Chemung County Department of Social Services and Elmira
Glove House.
A luncheon was held
in the fall of 1988 to introduce the concept of CASA to other non
profit social service agencies having ties to the foster care system
and to enlist potential CASA Board members. The luncheon was successful
and the first board meeting of the CASA of Chemung County Program was
held in December 1988. Committees were formed and sources of potential
funding were explored. Organizational By-laws, program guidelines and
personnel policies were developed. The Junior League of Elmira, a
Chemung County United Way Venture Grant and IBM Corporation provided
funding for the program in the spring of 1989. The first director was
hired in June 1989 and volunteer/board training was held in August.
In October 1989, a
reception was held at Elmira College to introduce CASA of Chemung
County, Inc. to the community. An informational meeting for potential
CASA volunteers was conducted in January 1990 and followed by a 26-hour
volunteer training course. Five individuals completed the training and
three were sworn in as CASA volunteers by the Family Court Judge.
Chemung County Family Court Judge John Frawley assigned the first CASA
case in January of 1990.
In April 1990, the
NYS CASA Association was formed. This Association originally composed
of representatives from the individual CASA Programs in the state of
New York was incorporated as a not-for profit corporation in 1995. The
Association is staffed by a full time director who provides technical
assistance to the individual programs in the areas of development,
planning, fund-raising, judicial concerns and public relations. The
Association also plans regular conferences and training for NYS CASA
staff and volunteers and provides legislative advocacy for CASA
services and funding. Current Association goals include developing a
statewide public image campaign, developing sources of stabilization
funding for member programs and seeking statutory recognition of CASA
services.
With the majority of
the organizational phase completed in 1990, the Board turned its
attention to program issues and adopted a new program model in March of
1991. This allowed volunteers to be appointed earlier in the court
process and express concerns and make recommendations on issues which
appear to be impeding a child’s timely discharge from foster care. A
new training course was developed based on these guidelines as well as
the National CASA training curriculum and new volunteer recruitment
began in April of 1991. In November of 1992 the program moved into new
office space donated by Chemung County as in-kind support.
A Senate initiative
grant was secured from Senator Randy Kuhl in the fall of 92 and the
director’s position expanded to full-time. In the spring of 1993, the
Schuyler County Task Force approached CASA of Chemung County on Child
Abuse to investigate the possibility of expansion of services to
Schuyler County. The Task Force agreed to sponsor the development of a
CASA program and appointed a CASA committee to explore funding
opportunities and program issues. Discussions were held with
representatives of the Department of Social Services and the Family
Court who expressed their enthusiasm for the project and provided
assistance and support. Task Force members contacted the Schuyler
County Youth Bureau to initiate a 1994 DFY grant and assisted with
applying for a senate initiative grant for volunteer recruitment and
training in both counties which was awarded in the summer of 1995. A
part-time Volunteer Coordinator position was added in May of 1994 to
allow for increased volunteer recruiting, training and supervision
activities and prepare for expansion of services to Schuyler County.
The Schuyler Task Force in Child Abuse recruited a local Advisory
Committee who began meeting in the fall of 1994 to assist with program
development. The agency began training new volunteers for both counties
during the months of September and October and accepted appointment to
the first Schuyler County cases in November of 1994. Organizational
Bylaws were amended in April of 1995 officially changing the name of
the Organization to CASA of Chemung and Schuyler County, Inc.
In the summer of
1996, CASA was awarded a Community Development Block Grant from the
City of Elmira to fund a case supervisor for volunteers assigned to
cases of children originating in the City of Elmira.
In 2002, CASA
received a National CASA Association grant that allowed the
organization to expand services into Steuben County. In January 2003,
the bylaws were amended to change the name of the organization to CASA
of the Southern Tier, Inc.
CASA support is
diverse and includes monetary and in-kind contributions. Supporters
include, but are not limited to, the following:
