History

In the late 1800’s the first legislation authorizing the court to enter a family’s life and assume responsibility for the care and control of children was created for situations in which parents were abusive or neglectful. The laws governing the court’s intervention have evolved over time, but through all of these proceedings, the idea is that the court will act in “a child’s best interests.”

Yet how does a judge, with little access to a child and limited exposure to his life, make a decision that truly reflects a child’s best interests? In 1977, a Seattle Superior Court Judge named David Soukup was concerned about trying to make decisions on behalf of abused and neglected children without enough information. He had the idea of appointing community volunteers to speak up for the best interests of these children in court. He made a request for volunteers; 50 citizens responded, and that was the start of the CASA movement.

In 1983 George Thurlow, Juvenile Court Referee; Ruth Voss, Retired Nurse; Micki Robertson, Visalia Volunteer Bureau and Richard Bailey, Attorney, founded CASA of Tulare County. The first Child Advocates were sworn in on May 3, 1984. They were: Ruth Voss, Jan Sirkin, Carolyn Stevens, Judy Mayora and Darlene Miller. During 2006 127 advocates gave a voice to abused and neglected children in Tulare County.

Today, there are more than 50,000 advocates serving in 948 state and local program offices nationwide. Since the inception of CASA advocacy, volunteers have helped well over 1,000,000 children find safe, permanent homes in which they can thrive.