It is a sad and tragic situation when children end up in the court system as the victims of abuse or neglect. At those tumultuous times, a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) can be a constant in a child’s life. This group of volunteers is a valuable part of the juvenile court system.
While the CASA program is nationwide, Lucas County is a pioneer of the group operating as a non-profit organization working with juvenile court judges. The Lucas County program, founded in 1980, was the third of its kind (along with divisions in Washington State and Rhode Island) and is now one of the most highly regarded in the United States. “National leaders in juvenile justice know about the Lucas County Juvenile Court,” said Judy Leb, CASA director. “Our community should know what the rest of the nation knows.”
Juvenile Court Judge Andy Devine originally brought the program here after attending a national judges’ conference, and upon his return asked the Junior League of Toledo to help him implement a CASA program in Lucas County.
Opiate epidemic creates need
While about 5,600 allegations of child abuse and neglect are investigated annually in Lucas County alone, last year, trained CASA volunteers ended up working with about 700 children. CASA now has 188 volunteers, each focusing on one or two cases at a time, the balance of the cases are handled by attorneys appointed by the court to act as guardians for the children. Leb said CASA is in desperate need of more volunteers, especially due to a dramatic rise in opiate abuse and the correlating neglect and abuse.
“Because of the [opiate] crisis, we are finding a huge increase in the [juvenile] cases,” Leb said. “It was more than twice what it was last year at this time.”
Investigators, advocates and monitors
CASA volunteers have three main tasks: investigating, advocating and monitoring. The volunteers are obligated, and bound by law to do an independent investigation, which may include interviewing the caseworker from the children’s services agency, parents, other relatives, foster parents, teachers, pediatricians— anyone who has information about the child and things that impact family life.
“It’s not like any othe
r volunteer job you’ve ever heard of,” Leb said, adding that, “They’re bringing their facts to the court. It’s so important to making decisions that are in the best interest of the children and their families.” That decision-making portion involves advocacy, where the volunteer is literally the voice of that child in the courtroom, social services, welfare and school systems.
As monitors, volunteers remain with the case until it ends, which can sometimes last two years— exactly the commitment CASA asks of its volunteers. At least half of the children that CASA works with are African American, so Leb said her office works hard to recruit African Americans as volunteers. There’s a strong Latino population, too, so Spanish-speaking volunteers are also desirable.
“Having people from all walks of life is very valuable,” Leb said. “There is no typical volunteer, so that makes recruiting volunteers difficult.” As many volunteers also have full-time jobs, volunteering has flexible hours— but they need to have time available to attend court 3-5 times a year.
Training advocates
Training occurs twice a year, which takes 35-40 hours over five weeks on Wednesday evenings, and includes both online and in-person gatherings. The next session is in August, but Leb encourages interested parties to apply now due to the length of time needed to do background checks.
Leb hopes more county residents step up to the challenge because the need is so critical.
“[The child’s] whole world is turned upside down,” she said. “Everything is taken away. Children need an advocate in this process.”
To learn more about the CASA program, visit casakids.net or call 419-213-6753.
