This movement is growing statewide, drawing dedicated men and women to advance the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect.  Participating in protective supervision as well as foster care cases, CASA volunteers can reinforce prevention objectives and —as part of a team with DCF, attorneys, and others— rally resources for children and families, while informing judges’ decisions about best interests.

The CASA approach is associated with increased stability and permanency for children, as those with CASA volunteers are only about half as likely to return to the foster care system, and emerge with greater hope, a key to resilience.  There is a one-on-one connection to an adult and greater access to community services through the sustained, resourceful efforts of that caring adult.

The aim: to keep families together wherever safely possible, and if not, to reunify them in a timely way, if that is in the child’s best interest.  A stable guardianship —with kin if feasible— or adoption may prove necessary.  Ultimately, we seek safe, permanent homes where children are more likely to thrive.