FAQs

CASA serves children from birth to 18 (and sometimes after 18 if they decide to stay in care, which they have the option to do until they’re 21).

The majority of the children are placed outside of their home with relatives or in foster homes, shelters, or residential facilities, though some children do still live with their parents. Children are often placed outside of Chelan and Douglas County. They can live across Washington or out of the state, and placements can change throughout the case.

Children do not live with their volunteer advocates, nor do they visit their volunteers’ homes.

When it is safe and in a child’s best interest, CASA’s primary goal on a case is to help children reunify with their families. This means that it is important for all volunteer advocates to get to know and work with a child’s biological parents, as well as their extended family.

To prepare a recommendation, the CASA volunteer gets to know and builds a trusting relationship with a child or family of children by visiting with them a minimum of once per month. They talk to parents, teachers, doctors, therapists, caregivers and other important adults in the child’s life who are knowledgeable about the child’s history and progress. The CASA volunteer has a court order that allows them to review all records pertaining to the child – school, medical, caseworker reports and other documents.

This is not an investigation of the abuse or neglect that started the case. Investigators with CPS have already concluded that investigation.

You will learn about topics like: Trauma, Resilience, Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Domestic Violence, Educational Advocacy, Communications Skills and more.

Typically each volunteer advocate carries one case at a time which allows them to focus on the needs of one child or family of children.

CASA volunteers spend an average of 3-8 hours per month on their case. More complicated cases take longer. CASAs remain involved in their case until it is permanently resolved.

Volunteers are paired with a CASA mentor who supports and guides them every step of the way for the first 6-8 months of a case. This includes preparing for and attending case-related hearings and meetings and guiding the volunteer to pertinent resources specific to each case. CASA Staff also helps to support volunteers on a day-to-day basis and provides resources and training.

CASA staff supports volunteers by individual staffing, group staffing, and open-door policies to guide, listen and support. A seasoned CASA volunteer is matched with a newly trained and assigned volunteer advocate. The seasoned CASA volunteer supports and guides the rookie volunteer advocate every step of the way through their first case.  A staff member is onsite and available to CASA volunteers to assist them with their courtroom advocacy. The CASA program also offers continuous learning, peer to peer and self-care events.

Volunteers must be at least 21 years of age and be able to pass extensive reference, Child Protective Services, sex offender registry and criminal background checks before becoming a volunteer. Applicants are required to complete an application, attend a pre-training interview, and participate in CASA training. Volunteers should have effective oral and written communication skills, and comfort with computer technology including email and word processing. You may not be a current foster parent or be in the process of adopting a child from Child Protective Services.

There is no cost to becoming a CASA volunteer. If you travel to visit children, mileage reimbursement is available at the state rate, or you may deduct out of pocket expense as an in-kind donation. The Chelan Douglas CASA program can and does pay for extracurricular activities and other needs on a case by case basis. CASA volunteers should not and are not required to spend their own money to fulfill the needs of the children they serve.

CASA is a separate nonprofit organization that exists outside of the Child Protective Services state system. Volunteer advocates are appointed by the court in the guardian ad litem role to focus specifically on the best interest of the child(ren) with an unbiased community perspective. Volunteer advocates thoroughly examine a child’s case, have knowledge of community resources, and can offer outside-the-box recommendations independent of state policy limitations and restrictions. Volunteers advocate for one child or family of children at a time, while a CPS caseworker has a full caseload of children they are working with.

CASA represents the best interest of the child and funnels information to the attorney and judge. An attorney is charged with representing their client’s legal interests and with following the wishes of their client. CASA is appointed as the child’s guardian ad litem and is responsible for making recommendations about what things would be best for the child. CASA does provide crucial background information that assists the court in making decisions.

A foster parent opens their home temporarily to a child or group of children in need of placement. CASA will gather information on how a child is doing in their foster home, and will interact with foster parents to gather information from them on the child’s wellbeing. Children do not live with their CASA volunteers, nor do they visit their volunteers’ homes.

Once a case is over and children have safely reached permanency, the need for the CASA volunteer ends, and the program requires the CASA volunteer to end their contact with the children and family. CASA volunteers may have a goodbye visit at the end of the case, and after that, it is up to the child(ren)’s caregivers to initiate contact if they wish to stay in touch. If the caregivers do not wish to keep in contact, the CASA volunteer does not have permission from the program to communicate with the children.