Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of Rock County
"If we cannot make a world in which children do not suffer, then at least we can work to decrease the amount of suffering of children." Albert Camus
The goal of a CASA program is to promote the best interests of abused and neglected children within the juvenile court system. Specially trained volunteers appointed by the judge provide the judge with information and recommendations specific to life defining decisions that affect the child-when to return home, when to remain in foster care. To prepare the report the CASA volunteer talks with the child's parents, foster parents, other family members, social workers, school officials, health providers, and others who may have pertinent information about the child. In addition, a status report is submitted to the judge monthly so that there is additional oversight of the child's situation.
Nationally, the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program has been in existence since 1976. Begun by Judge David Soukup in Washington state, the program has expanded dramatically...there are now over 900 programs nationally.
CASA of Rock County is the newest CASA program in Wisconsin. Our Program has been in existence since July 2005. Our program staff is comprised of one full time Program Director, Ms. Wanda Diderich, and one part time CASA volunteer turned Volunteer Coordinator, Ms. Kristi Baker. To date, this program has trained 45 CASA volunteers who have been appointed to serve a program total of 65 children. We will be training additional volunteers within the next couple of months. Plans are that these volunteers will be sworn in as "friends of the Court" during the month of April 9Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month as well as the month within which Volunteer Appreciation Week Begins, 4/27/08.) With these volunteers added to our ranks, we are hoping to provide services to a program total of over 90 children by the end of this year.
However this just begins to "scratch the surface" to meet the overwhelming needs of abused and neglected children in our community. Each year, approximately 250 children are substantiated as victims of neglect and/or abuse in Rock County. We are reaching only a small percentage of the children whose needs and best interest would be better served if they had the privilege and benefit of a CASA volunteer. We continue to seek for much needed sustaining funding to maintain and increase our staff hours, which would enable us to increase the number of program volunteers and, most importantly, increase our capacity to serve more children.
In 2004, over 200 children were abused or neglected in Rock County. We are reaching only 25% of the children who have been substantiated as abused or neglected. We need more funding to increase our staff hours so we can increase the numbers of volunteers we have. National CASA Association, who creates the CASA program standards, allows 30 volunteers per one full-time staff person.
The program is successful in part because the volunteers are able to provide one-on-one case management review with the abused or neglected child. This ratio effectively complements the social workers who can have up to 60 cases at one time. The volunteers are required to visit the child every week; county social workers do not have the time to provide such intensive case management due to their large caseloads. It is through the visits that the volunteer is able to advocate for the child's best interest and provides some consistency in the child's life.
If you are interested in learning more about the CASA of Rock County please contact our office at 608-305-0187. Our website address is www.casarockcounty.org.