Our History

 

In 1976, Superior Court Judge David Soukup of Seattle, WA, saw a recurring problem in his courtroom:

In criminal and civil cases, even though there were always many different points of view, you walked out of the courthouse at the end of the day and you said, “I've done my best; I can live with this decision,” he explains. But when you're involved with a child and you're trying to decide what to do to facilitate that child's growth into a mature and happy adult, you don't feel like you have sufficient information to allow you to make the right decision. You wonder, “Do I really know everything I should? Have I really been told all of the different things? Is this really right?"

To ensure he was getting all the facts and the long-term welfare of each child was being represented, Judge Soukup came up with an idea that would change America's judicial procedure and the lives of over a million children. He obtained funding to recruit and train community volunteers to step into courtrooms on behalf of the children: Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers. Implemented in Seattle in 1977, the program provided 110 trained CASA volunteers for 498 children in that first year. National recognition and grants resulted in the replication of the Seattle CASA program in courts across the country.

 

Judge David Soukup

On April 22, 1985, President Ronald Reagan presented the National CASA Association with the President's Volunteer Action Award for "outstanding volunteer contribution, demonstrating accomplishment through voluntary action." In August of 1989, the American Bar Association officially endorsed the use of CASA volunteers to work with attorneys to speak for abused and neglected children in court.

In July of 1990, the U.S. Congress authorized the expansion of CASA with the passage of the "Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990", so that a "court-appointed special advocate shall be available to every victim of child abuse or neglect in the United States that needs such an advocate." The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect included utilization of CASA and GAL volunteers among critical first steps recommended to bring the "national emergency" of child abuse and neglect under control.

Judge Margaret Mullen

CASA Lake County was established in 1993 with the help of Judge Margaret Mullen as a 501(c)(3) non-profit social service agency governed by a board of directors. Lake County’s first volunteers were sworn-in during the following year. Our first class of volunteers graduated in 1994. In the time since that first class, CASA Lake County has grown to include a staff of 17 full and part-time employees, and the organization has trained over 3,000 committed volunteers from the surrounding community.

 

Judges appoint CASA Lake County volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children, helping these children gain safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible. CASA exists so that abused and neglected children in protective care have the chance to become successful adults. With the help of caring advocates, the cycle of abuse and neglect will be broken.

CASA Lake County's Inaugural Training Class - February 19, 1994

 

Now more than 280 volunteers serve nearly 500 children annually in Lake County. Since the inception of CASA advocacy, Lake County volunteers have helped thousands of children find safe, permanent homes.

CASA Lake County is a member of the National Court Appointed Special Advocates Association and of Illinois CASA.


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