Volunteer FAQ

A CASA is any person 21 years of age or older who is willing to undergo a background check, complete our 30 hour pre-service training and has passion for helping children.

We’re proud to have a wealth of CASA Volunteers from different personal, educational and cultural backgrounds. More than half of our CASAs are employed in regular, full-time jobs. And all of them share the same passion and determination to finding a safe, permanent home for abused and neglected children.

As a CASA, you will be a well-respected and important member of the advocacy team for a child. Our intensive training program and ongoing support will help you expand your interpersonal skills, work with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures, and network with volunteers, professionals from other agencies and the court, and CASA staff.

The greatest benefit of all, though, is knowing you're are helping a child heal, thrive and find the road home, wherever it lies.

The CASA Volunteer’s ultimate goal is securing safety for the child as quickly as possible. A CASA Volunteer provides the judge with carefully researched background on the child to help the court make a sound decision about that child’s future. The CASA Volunteer helps determine if it’s in a child’s best interest to be returned to the parents or guardians, be placed in foster care, be placed with relatives or be freed for permanent adoption.

Responsibilities include reviewing records, researching the child’s situation, regularly visiting the child wherever he/she is living, attending meetings concerning the child and family, writing recommendations to the judge before each court meeting and working with the CASA staff.

Often a CASA is the only constant in the life of an abused and neglected child who may be separated from his or her family and shuffled between court and foster homes. A CASA offers abused and neglected children comfort and support, and can free them from the cycle of abuse.

Children with CASA Volunteers are more likely to receive therapy, health care and education. Judges have observed that CASA children have better chances of finding permanent homes than non-CASA children, and children with CASA Volunteers find safe, permanent homes six months faster than children facing the court alone.

A CASA Volunteer usually spends 8 to 10 hours each month on his or her case. There may be court hearings and meetings to attend during the daytime hours, but phone calls and visits can be arranged on evenings and weekends.

CASAs are asked to dedicate themselves to a case until it is closed. The average case lasts approximately 12 to 18 months.

Yes! Many of volutneers with Capital City CASA maintain full-time jobs.

Attorneys represent legal interests. CASAs make recommendations about what would be best for the child. CASAs aren’t responsible for filing legal paperwork with the court, but they do provide crucial information that assists the court in decision making. The attorney is the expert on the law; the CASA is the expert on the child.