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CASA Volunteer Advocates are ordinary people, just like you, with extraordinary desire to help a child find a safe and permanent place to call home.

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CASA Voluteer Advocates want to make certain the voices of abused and neglected children are heard in an over-burdened child welfare system.

What does a CASA Volunteer Advocate do?

CASA Volunteer Advocates get to know the child and gather information from everyone involved in the child’s life, including family members, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and social workers. They use the information they gather to report to the court and to advocate for the child’s needs in the foster care system. CASA volunteer advocates commit to represent and advocate for a child’s best interests until the child finds a safe, permanent home.

  • Cares

    CASA Volunteers care deeply for children. They get involved, stay involved until the child is in a safe, permanent home, and get to know the child and the family in a way that no one else can. CASA Volunteer Advocates are often the only familiar face for a child in foster care, and are the only ones with the child’s whole story.

  • Monitors

    As a case progresses, CASA Volunteer Advocates monitor how the child is developing, how the services provided to the child and family are progressing, and ensures that others in the Child Welfare System do what they say they will do. They monitor progress and look for strengths within the family to build upon so that children can be reunited with their parents whenever possible.

  • Facilitates

    There are often many adults involved with a child once they enter the foster care system. CASA Volunteer Advocates facilitate communication between all these adults and helps them remember to keep the child at the heart of everything they do. They facilitate the delivery of services by finding resources, making connections, and assisting DCS and other providers in delivering the right services in a timely manner.

  • Gathers Information

    CASA Volunteer Advocates are appointed to a child’s case by the Juvenile Court Judges and Magistrates. They are charged by the court to gather all relevant information to help inform the Court’s decisions about the child’s best interests. They gather facts from parents, grandparents, teachers, medical professionals, friends and extended family, and anyone else who may have information that will help them make recommendations to the Court about what the child needs to thrive in a safe, permanent home. CASA Volunteer Advocates are assigned to one case at a time so are often the holders of the child’s whole story.

  • Advocate

    Above all, CASA Volunteers advocate for the best interests of the child. They are charged by the court to make recommendations on the child’s best interest. They appear at hearings related to the child and advocate in court through written reports and testimony. They are the child’s voice. Outside of court proceedings, CASA Volunteer Advocates also work to ensure a child has everything they need to heal from the trauma they have experienced, and to build resiliency skills that will be useful throughout their lives.

What does it take to be a CASA Voluteer Advocate?

To be a CASA Advocate, you must be willing and able to commit to a child for 12-18 months. No specialist skills, education or experiences are required. You simply need to be able to bring an unbiased, strengths-based approach to advocating for a child in and out of court proceedings.

In doing this work, you will not only bring positive change to the lives of these vulnerable children but also their children and generations to come. CASA Volunteers come from all walks of life, and we are working hard to ensure that our Volunteers represent the populations we serve. We are particularly interested in hearing from potential Volunteers who are male, People of Color, or who have experienced the foster care system first hand.

Becoming a CASA Volunteer Advocate means you are:

  • Able to commit to serving a child or sibling group for 12 – 18 months
  • Willing to participate in an in-depth 36-hour training program (held in the evenings and weekends)
  • Able to effectively communicate orally and in writing without bias or judgement
  • Able to pass an in-depth background check (i.e., no history of abusing children, not on any sex offender’s list, and a relatively “clean” history for the past 7-10 years)
  • Not involved with DCS in any active case, in TN or any other state or province
  • A permanent resident in TN, and able to attend court proceedings (usually every 6 months with lots of notice)
  • Over the age of 21

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Training & Support

Throughout each case, CASA’s Team Leaders will support you and help you in determining the best recommendations for the children you will serve. Ongoing training, team meetings, and regular opportunities to engage in community with other CASA Volunteer Advocates are provided monthly. All Volunteer Advocates are required to complete 12 hours of Continuing Education each year.

220

Nashvillians and Tenneseans around Davidson County, just like you, advocated to end abuse and neglect in court last year

83

New CASA volunteers trained in 2021

100%

Children remained in safe placements at least 6 months after CASA case closure

You can help change a child’s story!

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