About CASA of Cook County

ABOUT CASA OF COOK COUNTY

FOSTER CARE SHOULD BE TEMPORARY — NOT A WAY OF LIFE

Since 1986, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cook County has been training everyday people to stand up for children who have experienced abuse and neglect in an overwhelmed and extremely under-resourced foster care system. Without a helping hand from CASA Advocates, these children might fall through the cracks and never be given an opportunity to find a place to call home.

CASA of Cook County works to diminish the challenges faced by children in foster care by recruiting, training, and supervising community volunteers who advocate for the best interests of children in court and who strive to ensure that children leave the system to live in safe, permanent homes. Unlike caseworkers and other child welfare professionals, CASA volunteers handle only one or two cases at a time and are able to give each child the attention he/she needs and deserves.

CASA of Cook County was established in 1986 and has served more than

CHILDREN

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to advance and safeguard the best interest of children who have experienced abuse and neglect, utilizing Court Appointed Special Advocates.

VISION STATEMENT

We envision a time when every child in Cook County foster care has a CASA Advocate and an influential voice.

HISTORY

CASA of Cook County was established as an independent nonprofit agency in 1986, as part of the National CASA Association that is recognized and supported by the US Department of Justice and the Violence Against Women Act of Congress. CASA of Cook County is the largest of the 31 CASA programs in Illinois, the state which is last in the nation for achieving timely permanency, and has served more than 12,000 children in its 30-year history. CASA of Cook County is the only program of its kind in the county and has a unique position within the Cook County Juvenile Court, allowing the organization access to a court system that is traditionally closed to outside parties due to the confidential nature of the proceedings. Because of this relationship, CASA serves children and youth who are often unreachable by other organizations.

THE CASA STORY

In 1976, juvenile court judge David Soukup of Seattle, WA, saw a recurring problem in his courtroom. Though he was receiving information from social workers, lawyers, teachers and other professionals, their opinions and recommendations were limited in scope. Soukup was frustrated that he couldn’t see the whole picture of the child’s life, and thus couldn’t make a satisfying judgment for the child’s placement. He initiated a program of community volunteers who would be sworn in as officers of the court and would then be responsible for investigating all aspects of the child’s life and reporting their findings to the court. This one-on-one interaction would allow for a thorough, more complete picture of the child’s needs and help the judge make a better-informed decision. From that first program, CASA has become a national network of nearly 1,000 programs to recruit, train, and support volunteer advocates serving more than one third of the 600,000 children currently in foster care.