About North East Nevada CASA
In the 1970’s laws began to change surrounding cases of abuse and neglect of children. The courts began appointing attorneys to represent the children known as the Guardian ad Litem. In 1977 King County Superiour Court Judge, David W. Soukup from Seattle Washington decided that the current system was not working. He felt that he was not receiving all of the information surrounding the cases that came in front of him. He decided to recruit people in the community, train them on the laws of the family court and assign them cases as the Guardian ad Litem. The volunteers were able to devote more time than the attorneys because they were focused on one or two cases at a time. The program was so successful other judges began doing the same thing.
In 1978 the National Center of State Courts selected the Seattle program as the best national example of citizen participation in the juvenile justice system. The CASA program continued to grow throughout the country and in 1982 National CASA Association was formed to oversee the individual programs and to serve as an aid to starting new programs. In 1996 the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act was amended to include CASA volunteers as an option to the guardian ad litem appointment. Since that time the CASA program has grown to over 50,000 volunteers serving over 225,000 children, through 900 plus programs.
The CASA program recruits volunteers in the community. The volunteers fill out an application, three references, a federal criminal background check, a child protection background check, and are required to complete an interview with myself. The volunteer that complete the application process are required to attend thirty hours of training and to complete 6 hours of training every year after that. The training involves speaking engagements by experts in child abuse and neglect cases. Speakers include law enforcement, the judge or Court master, social worker, pediatrician, attorney, and CASA staff. The training is usually for three to four hours and evening for 7 to 8 nights over a two week period. The first case is also part of the training. The CASA staff attends all interviews, DCFS meetings, and court hearings with the volunteer.
The volunteer interviews parents, grandparents, relatives, teachers, doctors, psychiatrists, foster parents, social workers, and anyone else involved with the child. The volunteer also establishes a close relationship with the child because we are the only constant in the child’s life through out the process. After the investigation is complete the volunteer makes a written report to the court based on the best interests of the child. We recommend placement, counseling, parenting classes, anything that we believe is in the best interests of the child. The CASA program is involved through the duration of the case. Cases can last up to 18 months with either the termination of the parental rights or reunification with the family. The CASA volunteer’s only concern is to ensure that the child is provided with a safe permanent home we are not mandated to reunify or to terminate rights and we do not have a mandated time period to do so.
The Northeastern Nevada CASA program is located in Elko Nevada. The contact information: Alana McKinney, Executive Director, Michelle Black, Program Coordinator. Phone numbers are 775-934-7636 or 775-934-7634. Mailing address is PO Box 1543 Elko, Nevada 89803 and our email is nencasa@hotmail.com.
How CASA Volunteers Help Foster Children
The benefits that a CASA volunteer provides a foster child have been well documented. A recent audit conducted by the US Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General demonstrates that once a CASA volunteer is assigned, approximately:
- 95% of children do not languish in long-term foster care.
- 90% of children do not reenter the child welfare system.