How was CASA started?
The CASA movement began in 1977 when Judge David Soukup of Seattle, Washington, first recruited community volunteers to speak as guardians ad litem on behalf of abused and neglected children in court. Judge Soukup felt frustrated that he was expected to make life-and-death decisions regarding children with no feedback from the child and only limited information from others involved in the case. He wanted to develop a way to bring more complete information to juvenile judges so that they could better protect children. CASA volunteers proved to be an effective way to help the courts avoid inappropriate and unduly long foster care placements. As a result, other states began to adopt the idea. Today there are more than 62,000 CASA volunteers serving over 900 CASA programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The first Ohio CASA program was founded in October 1980 in Lucas County (Toledo) by Judge Andy Devine, with help from the Junior League. Judge Devine
The CASA movement began in 1977 when Judge David Soukup of Seattle, Washington, first recruited community volunteers to speak as guardians ad litem on behalf of abused and neglected children in court. Judge Soukup felt frustrated that he was expected to make life-and-death decisions regarding children with no feedback from the child and only limited information from others involved in the case. He wanted to develop a way to bring more complete information to juvenile judges so that they could better protect children. CASA volunteers proved to be an effective way to help the courts avoid inappropriate and unduly long foster care placements. As a result, other states began to adopt the idea. Today there are more than 62,000 CASA volunteers serving over 900 CASA programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The first Ohio CASA program was founded in October 1980 in Lucas County (Toledo) by Judge Andy Devine, with help from the Junior League. Judge Devine
