What is Washington State CASA?
In Washington, there are 35 local CASA programs*; each program is responsible for recruiting and training volunteers, assigning those volunteers to cases, and then providing the volunteers with all the support they need to be effective child advocates.
*32 of the 35 local CASA programs are broken up by county borders. The other three programs are Tribal CASA programs that work exclusively with children in their own tribes.
Washington State CASA (WaCASA) is the supporting association of all 35 CASA programs, providing them with assistance in four main areas:
- Volunteer recruitment
- Volunteer training
- Technical assistance
- Partnership building
As an organization, WaCASA does not oversee local CASA programs; rather, WaCASA provides a support network to help the CASA programs effectively and efficiently serve as many abused and neglected children as possible.
In addition to supporting local CASA programs, WaCASA plays a role in child welfare policy creation by working directly with the legislature, and by actively participating in multiple statewide think-tanks and work groups whose intents are solely to improve the quality of life for children in the dependency system.
I'm so excited to see that WA CASA has a blog! Keep up the great work.