When abused or neglected children enter into the juvenile court and foster care system, they do it virtually alone. In 1977, a Judge in Seattle, Washington, noticed that when he looked out over all the people presenting information to him when he heard a case of an abused child, one critical voice was missing. There was no one there whose sole focus was the best interests of the child. In times of fiscal constraints and agency politics, who better to get that information from than a trained community volunteer? Hence the birth of the CASA movement.

 

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are community volunteers who represents the best interests of abused and neglected children who are wards of the juvenile court. After being screened and trained, a CASA is appointed to a child or sibling group. Through his or her court order, the CASA researches the case, talks to the child and involved parties and professionals, advocates for needed services and timely decisions, and submits written recommendations to the court.

PlainsWest CASA serves children of Cheyenne, Kimball and Deuel Counties.