History of CASA

Judge David Soukup, presiding judge of King County Superior Court in Seattle, Washington, originated the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in 1977.

Judge Soukup grew frustrated with the challenge of making decisions about a child’s welfare without sufficient background on the family’s situation. He had the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of these children in court to give judges all the facts regarding the long-term welfare of each child.

“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 can’t walk away and leave them at the courthouse at 4 o’ clock. You wonder, ‘Do I really know everything I should? Have I really been told all the different things? Is this really right?’” (Soukup)

This Seattle program took off as judges around the nation began utilizing advocates for their cases. In 1982 the National Court Appointed Special Advocates Association was founded to direct the emerging movement on a wider scale.

Last year, more than 68,000 CASA volunteers served more than 240,000 abused and neglected children through 1,018 program offices. CASA volunteers have helped more than two million abused children since the first program was established in 1977.