CASA Volunteer Advocates Needed!

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children of Atlantic, Cape May, and Camden Counties and its trained volunteers advocate for the best interests of children in the foster care system. Through collaborative efforts, CASA ensures children receive the individual attention and support they need to thrive. You can help change a child's story. Imagine a child being removed from their home and family. Everything that they have loved, and cared about is different. Even though their home wasn't safe, they still want to be with their family, in their own home and room. But now their reality is not just the abuse or neglect, but a world filled with people they don't know and who they are not sure they can trust. Decisions are being made on their behalf, but one person is there just to speak for them - a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. CASA volunteers are not foster parents, they are, as their name suggests, court advocates who speak for and recommend services and resources for children while they are living in foster care. They are often the only consistent adult during a very turbulent time in a child's life.

A CASA volunteer is a court appointed, trained and committed adult who ensures that each child’s individual needs remain a priority in an overburdened child welfare system. They get to know the child while also gathering information from the child’s family, teachers, doctors, therapists, caregivers, and anyone else involved in the child’s life in order to make independent and informed recommendations to help the judge decide what’s best for the child. CASA volunteers are entitled to access information about the child's situation and required to make reports to the court in the child's best interest.