Become a CASA Volunteer

CASA is recruiting community volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children in South Lake Tahoe’s local court system. CASA training is scheduled to begin May 3.

The CASA program started in 1977 with Judge Soukup in Seattle, Washington. Judge Soukup had become frustrated with how overloaded social workers and attorneys were, who are responsible for investigating and representing the best interests of abused and neglected children in the foster care court system. Consequently, Judge Soukup implemented an innovative program that uses specially trained volunteers from the community, to get to know each child’s case and provide a singular unbiased view of what is best for each child.

In 1992, El Dorado County Judge Patrick Riley attended a seminar for Judges in the SF bay area. The main speaker was Judge Soukup from Seattle. Judge Riley was inspired to bring the CASA program to El Dorado County and along with other founders, they started CASA El Dorado in 1992.

In November 1994, CASA El Dorado trained their first class of CASA volunteer advocates in South Lake Tahoe. Twenty-three community members, like yourself, were trained and assigned to a child (or children), to advocate on behalf of their best interests.

CASAs are child advocates, tasked with getting to know a particular child and their specific needs. CASAs communicate those needs and the child’s voice to the court. This information is highly critical in the decision-making process of juvenile court proceedings.

“When CASA advocates are present in the lives of foster kids, they are half as likely to end up in “long-term” foster care (3 years or more), or to reenter the system once they exit foster care. The benefits to the children and their families are obvious.” –John Adams, Executive Director, CASA El Dorado.

Become a CASA Volunteer. Be a consistent and caring voice in the life of a child in our community’s juvenile court system.

To enroll register for training, submit an application online at www.casaeldorado.org and contact Alexis Foley, Child Advocates Program Coordinator at 530-573-3093, or alexis@casaeldoardo.org, to schedule a meet-and-greet.