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CASA’s History
"As a judge, I had to make tough decisions. 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."
- Former Superior Court Judge David Soukup, Founder of CASA
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Back in 1976, a Judge in Washington State decided he needed more information of specific child welfare cases and asked respected citizens of the community to be child advocates. They reviewed cases, met with the child, and gave the Judge their objective opinion, separate from The State. Other Judges followed his lead. Child Advocate programs developed across the country and used several names: GAL (Guardian Ad Litum), Pro-Child and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), to name a few. Regular citizens, screened and trained folks who cared about children, were asked to investigate a case, talk to the child, and be the voice for a child in court. Those individuals were not paid or reimbursed for their efforts. They were volunteers. In 1977, those organizations of individuals united and became one cohesive, national organization—CASA.
In Georgia, the first CASA pilot program began in 1989. 16 years later, during the summer of 2005, community leadership sought to bring a CASA program to this judicial circuit of Catoosa, Walker and Dade Counties. Ione Sells, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center in Fort Oglethorpe, welcomed the request to host the CASA Program. A CASA Program Director was hired in November 2005 and the name, Lookout Mountain CASA was coined. L.M. CASA took off in this area because the Northwest Georgia community believed in the program. The first class of eight CASAs graduated and began taking cases in April 2006. The second group of CASAs graduated in November 2006. L.M. CASA Volunteers have advocated for over 100 foster children since April 2006.
By 2007 there are 47 CASA Programs in the state of Georgia, serving 115 Georgia counties and 44 of the 49 judicial circuits. |
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