Executive Summary—What Every Judge Needs to Know
The National CASA Association was established to promote, assist
and support the development and growth of quality Court
Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and volunteer guardian ad
litem (GAL) programs. We believe that a commitment to quality is
a commitment to the children served. The primary purpose of the
National CASA quality assurance (QA) system is to support our
mission of quality volunteer advocacy to help ensure that each
child will thrive in a safe, permanent home. The QA system
assesses member program operations and management based on the
Standards for Local CASA/GAL Member Programs. The
National CASA standards and QA system ensure that member
programs share a common mission and are consistent nationwide in
upholding core standards.
As a judge who appoints CASA volunteers to advocate for
children, there are certain facets of the standards and QA
system with which you should be familiar:
Standards: Standards for Local CASA/GAL Member
Programs were initially approved by the National CASA board of
directors in March 1997 and revised in September 2002 and again
in April 2006. The document contains standards and requirements
for CASA member programs. A member program is required to meet
National CASA standards and requirements as well as those of the
state CASA program, if a state CASA organization exists and has
standards or requirements in addition to those of the National
CASA Association.
The 12 program standards encompass the following areas of
program management:
- Mission and Purpose
- Governance
- Program Development and Implementation
- National Affiliation
- State Affiliation
- Human Resources Management
- Volunteer Management
- Financial, Facility and Risk Management
- Public Relations
- Planning and Evaluation
- Record-Keeping
- Inclusiveness and Diversity
Of particular import to judges involved with CASA/GAL
programs are the following:
- CASA Mission: The purpose of a CASA member
program is to provide court appointed volunteer advocacy to
abused and neglected children. The program’s goal is a safe,
permanent and nurturing home for every child it serves.
- The child population is clearly defined as
abused/neglected children.
- The program provides trained and qualified community
volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children
who come before the court as a result of abuse or neglect.
- The program ensures that volunteers have regular and
sufficient in-person contact with the child to enable them
to have in-depth knowledge of the case and make fact-based
recommendations to the court. The CASA volunteer should meet
in person with the child once every 30 days at a minimum
unless an exception has been granted by the program.
- The CASA program has been granted the legal authority to
operate through state or local statute, executive or
judicial order or court rules.
- The nonprofit or publicly administered CASA program must
have a written agreement, which must be renewed every four
years, with the juvenile or family court it serves that
defines the working relationship between the program and the
court.
- Governance: The CASA/GAL member program must
have a governing body responsible for overseeing the program’s
compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, adoption
of policies, definition of services, guidance of program
development and ensuring the program’s accountability to the
courts and community. The program must have access to legal
counsel for advice in the governing of its operation, procure
sufficient financial resources and manage them prudently. High
standards of ethical conduct are required in the operation of
a CASA member program as are clear lines of accountability and
authority.
- Program Development and Implementation: The
CASA member program engages in a comprehensive planning and
implementation process that guides development. Included in
the planning process are gaining the support of the court and
other community leaders, creating a steering or planning
committee, completing a needs assessment and developing a
comprehensive plan that includes specific program development
activities.
- Affiliation With the National CASA Association and
State CASA Organization: A CASA member program is a
member of the National CASA Association and meets its
standards, requirements and policies. In addition, a CASA
program is a member of or affiliated with the state CASA
association, if one exists, and communicates, collaborates and
shares information with its fellow programs in the state.
- Staff/Volunteer Training, Supervision and Management:
The CASA member program follows written policies for the
recruitment, selection, diversity, training, retention and
supervision of its staff and volunteers. Requirements for
volunteers include:
- A volunteer must be 21 years of age and must have passed
all screening requirements including a written application,
personal interview, references and checks of criminal
records, child protective services records and sex offender
registries.
- Before being assigned to advocate on behalf of a child,
the CASA volunteer must complete at least 30 hours of
pre-service training using the National CASA Volunteer
Training Curriculum or its equivalent, and the volunteer
must observe court proceedings if allowable. Each year
thereafter, the volunteer must complete 12 hours of
in-service training.
- The CASA program must provide close supervision of its
volunteers. Each full-time staff member can supervise no
more than 30 volunteers or 45 cases to ensure high-quality
advocacy for children.
- Each CASA volunteer receives a written job description
from the local program with responsibilities outlined. CASA
volunteers should not be assigned more than two cases at a
time unless an exception has been granted by the program.
- A CASA member program must have a clear conflict of
interest policy and guard each child’s confidentiality in
the handling of the case.
- In those cases in which a member program makes the
decision to allow volunteers to provide transportation to
children, there must be strict policies in place governing
same as well as a motor vehicles division records check, a
safe driving record, appropriate insurance, staff oversight
and guardian consent.
- The CASA volunteer does not engage in the following
activities: taking a child home; giving legal advice or
therapeutic counseling; making placement arrangements for
the child; or giving money or expensive gifts to the child
or family.
- Financial, Facility and Risk Management: The
CASA/GAL member program must manage its operations in
accordance with generally accepted financial and risk
management practices and applicable federal, state and local
requirements.
- Public Relations: The CASA member program
must communicate with its community and other service
providers about the program and the needs of the children it
serves as well as cooperating with other agencies to plan for
needed programs or services for children.
- Planning, Evaluation and Record-Keeping: The
CASA program must maintain management information and data
necessary to plan and evaluate its services. The program must
also maintain complete, accurate and current case records and
follow written policies for the acceptance and assignment of
cases.
- Inclusiveness and Diversity: The CASA
program must demonstrate that inclusiveness and diversity are
essential components of quality advocacy for the children it
serves. The program must adopt and implement an ongoing
written plan to guide and measure progress in diversifying its
governing body, staff and volunteers.
Monitoring: Compliance with standards will be assessed
periodically by National CASA. In the first phase, the focus is
on program self-assessment. A local team of individuals from the
CASA program will complete the self-assessment and submit it for
an independent review, scoring and a report of the program’s
compliance. The judge in the court the program serves will
receive a copy of the letter indicating when the program is in
compliance with standards. National CASA may add a second phase
which will involve a system of program monitoring/onsite review.
Updated May 2006
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