Court Appointed Special Advocates or CASA volunteers are a trained community of citizens who are appointed by a judge to speak up for abused and neglected children in court. CASA volunteers research the child's background details to help the court make a sound decision about the child's future.
The CASA program consists of 930 local programs and 46 state organizations. In 2002, 70,130 CASA volunteers served an estimated 279,160 children.
CASA programs can help a displaced child find the security needed to grow and reach full potential. It's been shown that:
* Children who have been assigned CASA volunteers tend to spend less time in
court and in foster care than those who do not have CASA representation.
* CASA advocated children have better chances of finding permanent homes.
* CASA cases are more likely to be reviewed on a regular basis by the court.
In 1989, Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity adopted National CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates,
as its national philanthropy. CASA volunteers are trained community volunteers who speak on behalf
of abused and neglected children in court. Since 1989, the Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation has provided
grant support to National CASA. To date, the Foundation is proud to have contributed more than $876,000
to fund National CASA's public awareness efforts, which include educational materials, publications,
and the Kappa Alpha Theta Program Director of the Year award. Gifts from individual donors, college
chapters, and alumnae chapters make the Foundation's support of the National CASA grant possible.
