CASA for Hunt County is one of 73 Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs in Texas, and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and protect the best interests of children who have been abused or neglected. CASA for Hunt County achieves this mission by recruiting, developing, and leading highly-impactful, court-appointed volunteer advocates, helping these children to achieve safe and permanent homes.
How CASA Works
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) are appointed by the courts when the child or sibling group is removed from their parent(s)’ custody and placed into Child Protective Services (CPS) conservatorship. When removed from their home, the child or children will go to live with foster parents or relatives while their parent(s) work court-ordered services to improve the safety of their families’ home environment and have their children returned to them.
In Hunt County, CASA is appointed to 100% of these types of cases. Last year the county’s CASA organization served close to 200 of the county’s children – providing 16,813 volunteer hours and traveling just over 30,000 miles.
CASA volunteers are known for becoming consistent people in the life of the children they serve. Statistics show the child and/or sibling group will change placements 3 to 4 times during the pendency of the case. This means a new family, new school, new counselor, new friends, and often a new CPS caseworker enters the child’s life each time he or she moves. But the CASA is known as being “a constant” for the child.
A CASA Example
For example, in 2020, two young sisters entered the foster care system following multiple reports of the children crossing a busy highway to beg neighbors for food and attending school in urine-soaked clothing. After the CPS investigation, their parents were jailed on drug charges and sentenced to over 10 years in prison. The sisters were in a severe state of neglect when CPS took them into care. Within six months into the case, the girls had changed foster homes twice, and the third move placed them in a foster home on the other side of the DFW metroplex.
To these young sisters, who had lived a very restrictive and desolate life, the transport to a new home “far away” felt incredibly scary. Just the travel through the tall, big-city buildings and heavy traffic seemed like they had moved to the other side of the world. However, within three days of moving into the new foster home, their CASA person knocked on the home’s door. The sisters were greatly surprised. The oldest said, “Miss Loretta, you found us! You found us!”
The CASA volunteer works to provide each child with a stable network of support and advocacy. CASAs build rapport with the child or children of their case and get to know each child and their individual interests, personalities, and needs. CASAs not only visit the children in their foster home or relative placement, but they can also have lunch with them at school, attend their extracurricular activities, etc. CASAs also communicate with everyone involved in the case and help ensure the child’s educational and medical needs are being addressed, and appropriate family connections are maintained. Importantly, CASAs help work towards resolving the case (finding permanency for the child) as soon as possible.
CASAs attend the child’s or children’s court hearings and report their recommendations and any concerns to the judge. In the hearings, the judge hears from the CPS caseworker, the child’s attorney, the parent(s)’ attorney, and the CASA to make decisions for the children’s best interests.
How You Can Help CASA
CASA for Hunt County utilizes crime-victim-related grant funds to support the work of the organization. However, it is the donated funds from individuals, civic groups, businesses, and corporations which greatly enable CASA’s mission to be fulfilled.
Every Child Has A Chance – It’s You! Please consider becoming a CASA volunteer or donating any amount that’s meaningful to you. The county’s children in crisis are counting on your actions.
For more information, visit the CASA for Hunt County website at www.casaforhuntcounty.org or email lori.cope@casaforhuntcounty.org .
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