Court Appointed Special Advocates of Sonoma County (CASA) Program Email Format
Legal ServicesCalifornia, United States11-50 Employees
Based in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, the CASA Program operates within the legal services field to support abused and neglected children who come before the Juvenile Court. It assigns trained volunteers to each child to serve as a consistent role model, advocate, and life connection, aiming to humanize the child welfare system. The program seeks to reduce trauma by fostering a long-term relationship and guiding children through available resources and the complexities of court and child welfare processes. Its goals include vigorously advocating for the rights of abused and neglected children at every stage of the court dependency process and ensuring that reasonable efforts are made. It also aims to improve the information presented to the Juvenile Court by documenting the child's adjustment and state of mind and by making appropriate case recommendations in written reports. To sustain operations, the organization plans a comprehensive strategy for recruiting, retaining, supervising, and training a volunteer corps that is ethnically, racially, and linguistically representative of the population served.