CBA Record

YLS Special Issue l PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN

By Jason Marcus Waak

TheWork of CASA with Children in Foster Care

Chicago Volunteers Create a Better Future

A t any time, there are more than 5,700 children in Cook County’s foster care system. Experiencing forms of abuse and neglect, these children have found themselves in the foster care system by no fault of their own. For many, their CASA volunteer will be the only constant adult figure in their lives while they are in foster care. Court Appointed

Special Advocates or “CASA” was started in Seattle in 1977 by Judge David W. Soukup. Research has shown that a child with a CASA volunteer spends less time in the foster care system than children without one. Once assigned to a case by a judge, CASA volunteers spend 10-15 hours a month visiting children they are assigned to, collaborating with caseworkers

and attorneys, meeting with therapists and teachers of the children, and talking with natural and foster parents. These activities are then compiled into a court report that is submitted to the judges and all parties on a child’s case. Judges rely on these reports when making decisions about the future of these children. Unfortunately, only 1% of the children

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