Becoming a CASA or visit monitor

Hello. My sister-in-law is a CASA, in addition to her full time job and raising her preschooler. From what she's told me, she does drive to people's homes to interview the parents (in her case I believe it's been mainly biological parents) and observe them interacting with the kids. Then she prepares a report on her observations and makes any relevant recommendations (for therapy, classes, further visits, possible removal of child, etc.) She takes on only one case at a time, so it sounds like it would be rather flexible. I also believe she needs to be at the child's court hearings when those occur. Hope that helps.

Excited....CASA here...as a CASA you represent the wishes of the child. You are not an officer of the court (in my state) you insure that the court knows the interests of the child. There are times when you will be required to go to meetings to establish who has a vested interests, and the out come of the case. You will have to get the cases from the social worker or anyone who has custody of the paper work, so that U know all the ins and outs of previous court appearances. There is a lot of driving in some cases. You will need to interview the a-parents and establish who can take the child if all else fails..etc......there may be individuals who want the child but for financial or other reasons are not able to have them...if you want to know more, let me know..I wish you the best

Hi! I am also a CASA. The specifics of exactly what a CASA does vary greatly from state to state, and even county to county within some states, so it is hard to answer your questions specifically. In my state, CASAs are encouraged to be an active participant in every part of the process and therefore tend to have more in person or phone contact than states in which the CASA is just expected to visit the child or children and report their wishes to the court. In most cases in all states, however, the CASA is the one person who is constant for the child throughout the entire CPS/court process. The case worker often changes, the placement may change, the attorneys or judge may even change, but the CASA will be there from beginning to end, advocating for the child or children. In many states, a CASA is literally allowed to be the voice of the child in court. In most states, this is accomplished through some form of written communication to the court. In my state CASAs write a report to the judge before every hearing. In some counties within my state, however, the CASAs actually are sworn in at the hearings and questioned on the record by the judge in addition to submitting a written report to the court. The time commitment and specific activities vary from state to state, but they also vary from case to case. In my county, CASAs are expected to visit the child or children at least once per month, attend a once per month team meeting of all attorneys, case workers, bio parents, foster parents, and anyone else actively involved in the case or requested to attend by the court (sometimes a teacher or therapist, for example), write a report and present it to the judge three days prior to each hearing, and attend all court hearings (once per month in the beginning of a case and then roughly every three months after that). Everything else depends on the specific case. I've had cases in which I have visited the bio parents in their home, sometimes multiple times. I've had cases in which I observed visitation between bio parents and child or children on a regular basis. I've also had cases in which I've observed a child or children in a school setting. However, I've also had cases in which my only in-person contact/work has been visits to the child or children. Most other contact seems to occur by phone. For example, I generally speak to attorneys, teachers, counselors, CPS case worker, provider of parenting classes, probation officer, foster parents, etc. by phone on a regular basis to keep track of what's going on and what the effect of everything is on the child or children. There are a few other miscellaneous things I've had to do in person on specific cases, such as requesting and receiving medical records. In some states, there is no contact, or much more limited contact between the CASA and attorneys or others involved in the case, so less legwork and phone contact would be required. In my county, CASAs are generally appointed to cases within 48 hours after a child or children has/have been removed from the home due to allegations of abuse or neglect. The presiding judge signs the appointment order, and that same document includes an order that all documents and information pertinent to the case be released to the CASA. The first week is usually a very busy one, spent reading all CPS reports, visiting the child/children and talking to foster parents, procuring and reading police reports if there are any, talking to any professionals involved in the case (doctor in the cases of suspected abuse, for example) tracking down any documentation, and writing the CASA court report for the preliminary hearing (which occurs within 10 days of removal of children from the home). In some other counties in my state, the CASAs aren't appointed until after the preliminary hearing, and in other states the appointment time and what information the CASA receives can vary. In the CASA court report, I report a child's wishes, if the child is old enough to express them, but I also present all information that I have and give my recommendations. In my county, the judges want to hear the CASA's recommendations on every aspect of the case. For example, I can recommend reunification or termination of parental rights at the appropriate hearings during the process. I can also recommend changes to visitation, counseling for child and/or bio parents, and similar things, depending on what I believe to be in the best interests of the child coupled with the child's wishes (if he/she is old enough to express them). The court doesn't have to follow my recommendations in any way, but they are a requested part of the report (in my county, the judges give those recommendations quite a bit of weight, however). My recommendations also don't have to agree with the recommendations of CPS or even the child's appointed attorney. Part of the point in having me make the recommendations is to have the point of view of someone outside the system speaking just on behalf of the child. Like everything else, the format and content of a CASA court report varies greatly from state to state. Speaking just about my experience in my county, after the preliminary hearing, the pace generally slows down slightly, but remains pretty busy until the adjudication hearing (roughly about 30 days after the preliminary hearing), because there is much information to obtain and digest, and it is an important time to have a lot of contact with the child or children. I've worked as many as 25 hours some weeks during that timeframe on a particularly complex case, but the average is probably closer to 3 to 4 hours per week until the adjudication hearing. That includes things that I do in person, such as visiting the child or children and attending the team meeting, contacts that I make by phone, and paperwork related to the case. After the adjudication hearing, I average about 6 to 10 hours per month working on the case, depending how complicated it is and exactly where the child is placed. If the child is around three or older, I try to visit weekly. If the child is younger, I visit every 3-4 weeks and have telephone contact with the foster family weekly. I've traveled as far as an hour and a half away from my town, and even down gravel roads, to get to a foster home or a relative's home (in the case of a relative placement) to visit a child or children. Sometimes I've gone with the CPS case worker or the child's appointed attorney (for safety only), and sometimes I've gone by myself, depending on the situation. All of the cases that I've worked in my 4 + years as a CASA have involved placements outside my county, which seems to be the norm in my area. I've spoken to CASAs in another state who have worked mainly on cases in which children are placed within the same town or county, so that seems to vary quite a bit. I have generally worked either one or two cases at a time, and the average for CASAs in my county is two cases at a time. Ideally, it is best to just work one case at a time, but unfortunately, we have many more cases than we have CASAs. Being a CASA is stressful at times and definitely not for the feint of heart. However, it is also one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. I get to truly advocate for the children I am appointed to represent/serve. I have seen totally different sides of life that I never would have imagined, some of them negative, but some extremely positive. I have had the very pleasant surprise of watching bio parents who everyone had written off jump through every hoop that was thrown at them and even seek more ways to improve themselves as parents. Those have been the rare cases, unfortunately, but they've been an unforgettable experience as I've watched people morph into good parents over the course of 6 or 9 months of very hard work. It has been a joy to witness those reunions and to watch the children continue to grow and thrive afterward. I've also had those cases in which I've cheered (at least mentally) when parental rights have been terminated, because the bio parents were not capable of parenting appropriately, and I have rejoiced greatly when the children have officially been adopted by permanent, loving families. I've been extremely lucky to have avoided many of the cases that fall between those two extremes. In my opinion, the cases that fall in between are the most difficult and challenging part of being a CASA. Hopefully, I've answered some of your questions and provided a little bit of helpful information on what you might expect as a CASA and also what questions you might want to ask about your local CASA program. Your best source of specific information would be active CASAs in your area. Feel free to contact me with any other questions as well. Best wishes to you! Kitti

I am not the original poster, but have also looked into becoming a CASA after my 2 are adopted. Thanks for the information! Carly

I was also a CASA but was told I had to make a choice between being a CASA or being a foster/adopt parent. I resigned from CASA in order to continue my adoption journey. In my state it would have been a conflict of interest. Good luck to you in ALL your choices.

I have been looking into starting a CASA prgram in my county. Most, but not all counties in my state (WV) have CASA programs already. I know I cannot be a CASA and a foster parent, but I wonder if you could if you fostered in different counties? Kitti- Is is strictly a volunteer position? What kinds of training is required?

Wow! I Have not been appointed a CASA worker, but if I do, I want you!

........Diddo!

I posted earlier about my SIL being a CASA. Since then, we've been foster parents for over 9 months, and our FD had her social worker and CASA changed in the first couple months of being in care. But the now-CASA has been a breath of fresh air, especially when we want to roll our eyes at the social worker's or GAL's approach. She got our baby V a doll for Christmas, whom "we" named after her, and she was quite pleased with that ;) Baby V's CASA sees her every month. Either at our house, at her daycare, or during a visit. So we don't see her every month necessarily. But she is always available to talk to us by phone. In retrospect, she was able to see past the biodad's facade in the beginning when we were totally siding with him. She's an excellent judge of character and isn't afraid to speak her mind (but in a very respectful way). I would hope all CASAs be this way.

Our county in Illinois doesn't have CASA either. I would love to know how to get a CASA program here. If any of you know the ins and outs of the process I'd also like to have the information. Our corrupt county needs all the extra eyes on cases we can get!