FAQs

In 2019, the program served approximately 255 county children involved with the child welfare system due to alleged abuse or neglect. These children have often been removed from everything familiar – home, family, friends, and school – and find themselves in a world filled with social workers, lawyers, judges and courtrooms where life-altering decisions are made on their behalf.

CASA volunteers advocate for children from birth to 18 (and sometimes after 18 if they decide to stay in Extended Foster Care, which they have the option to do until they are 21).

2021 Child Demographics

Race and ethnicity of children served

• Hispanic/Latino – 39
• Black/African-American – 1
• White – 128
• Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial – 4
• Native American/Alaskan – 21

While some children can remain with their parents, the majority of them are placed outside of their home with relatives, or in foster homes within Chelan and Douglas counties. Children and youth are also placed in shelters or residential facilities outside of the two counties. Placements can change throughout the case.

Children do not live with their CASA volunteer.

When it is safe and, in a child’s best interest, a CASA volunteer’s primary goal in 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.

CASA volunteers come from all walks of life. Currently, CASA volunteers range in age from 21 to 81 and represent various educational and ethnic backgrounds. They include students, retirees, teachers, attorneys, realtors, and many more diverse members of our community. There are typically between 75 and 80 active CASA volunteers serving annually. Aside from this volunteer role and responsibility, about half of the CASA volunteers also work full-time.  They all share a commitment to improving children’s lives, a willingness to learn, and an openness towards life experiences that are different from their own.

Get to know some of our volunteers.

The CASA volunteer gets to know and builds a trusting relationship with a child or group of siblings by seeing them in person at least twice a 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 Child Protective Services have already concluded that investigation.

The CASA volunteer advocate training program consists of 12 in-person 3-hour classes, approximately an hour of pre-work for each class and 4 hours of courtroom observations (approximately 40 hours total).  A volunteer candidate is required to finish all of the training modules, complete all background checks, and be cleared by the time the court swearing ceremony. The courtroom observations can be completed post-training, and then a case can be assigned.

The volunteer candidate will learn about Childhood Development, Trauma, Resilience, Mental Health, Poverty, Substance Abuse, Domestic Violence, Cultural Competence, LGBTQ+ Youth & Identity, Educational Advocacy, Communication Skills, and more.

Click here to view upcoming training schedule.

Typically, each CASA volunteer carries one case at a time which allows them to focus on the needs of one child or sibling group.  CASA volunteers can and do take more than one case at a time if they wish, with additional permission and discussions with program staff.

CASA volunteers commit to spending 10-15 hours per month for the duration of one specific case (between 18-24 months on average).

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.

Volunteer candidates must be at least 21 years of age and be able to pass an extensive reference, Child Protective Services, sex offender registry, and criminal background checks before qualifying as a CASA volunteer, CASA volunteers are required to complete an application, attend a pre-training interview, and participate in pre-service core training.  Eligible and qualified CASA volunteers should possess effective oral and written communication skills in English and be willing to learn how to use email and word processing software on a computer. If you are a current foster parent or in the process of adopting a child from the child welfare system you will likely be ineligible.

There is no cost to becoming a CASA volunteer. If you travel to visit children, mileage reimbursement is available at the rate of $0.14 per mile, 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.

Chelan Douglas CASA is an independent nonprofit organization that exists outside of Child Protective Services/local Child Welfare office. CASA volunteers are appointed by the court in the guardian ad litem role to focus specifically on the best interest of the child(ren) with a community perspective that is factual and objective.  CASA volunteers thoroughly explore a child’s case, possess knowledge of community resources, and can offer outside-the-box thinking and recommendations independent of state policy limitations and restrictions.  CASA volunteers advocate for one child or sibling group at a time, while a CPS caseworker or line social worker has a full caseload of children and families they are working with.

A CASA volunteer differs from a child’s attorney because the attorney must represent the stated wishes of a child, whereas a CASA volunteer represents the best interest of the child, even if it is not what the child wants. For example, a child may want to return home to their biological mother and father, and the CASA volunteer recommends against this option because their investigation has shown that it will not be a safe and permanent place for the child.

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

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.