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29 Creighton L. Rev. 1467 (1995-1996)
CASA: A Child's Voice in Court

handle is hein.journals/creigh29 and id is 1477 raw text is: 1467 CASA: A CHILD'S VOICE IN COURT LAURIE K. ADAMSt INTRODUCTION Nearly 450,000 children are abused, neglected, or abandoned by their families each year. These children cannot speak for themselves in court. Instead, their voice is presented through their case worker, their guardian ad litem, and/or their CASA1 volunteer. Attorneys and judges across Nebraska are well aware that case workers and attor- neys are burdened with unimaginable workloads. Many Nebraska at- torneys and caseworkers must travel great distances and expend substantial amounts of time just to make contact with the child. Be- cause the CASA is a volunteer, the CASA receives no financial reim- bursement for time or mileage, or other related expense, and is a true savings to the court system, the county, and the state. The CASA pro- vides factual information that might take months or years for an at- torney or case worker to bring to the court's attention. The CASA encourages speedy resolution of the case by moving it more quickly through the maze of foster care and thus reduces the amount of time under the court's jurisdiction. A CASA offers citizens, who normally have no contact with abused or neglected children, a unique opportu- nity to help these children become productive, stable members of society. In 1977, Judge David Soukup of Seattle, Washington and his late chief of probation, George Boettineski, and George's wife, Carmen Ray Boettineski, developed the CASA concept. These individuals devel- oped the idea that a mature, objective, screened, and well trained VOL- UNTEER from the community could be a child's advocate in Juvenile Court. They saw CASAs, as trained volunteer citizens, becoming ad- vocates for abused/neglected children in the court system. Their plan was developed because Judge Soukup believed that children were being lost in the system. Court records and sometimes caseworkers and attorneys could not accurately tell where all the chil- dren were or what their situation was at a given time. Information was often sketchy, incomplete, or inaccurate. Some situations were t B.A. English, Duchesne College, 1968; B.S. Elementary Education, University of Nebraska-Omaha, 1975. The author is the Executive Coordinator of the Sarpy County CASA Program. The author extends special thanks to her administrative assis- tant, Ken Brunsvold, to attorney Susan Koenig-Cramer, and to Creighton University School of Law Professor Cate Brooks. 1. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate.