Welcome !

In 1977, Superior Court Judge David Soukup of King County, Washington was concerned about making lifetime decisions for abused and neglected children with the information he was receiving. He felt strongly that he was not getting all the facts needed to make well-informed decisions affecting the future of the children whose cases came before him. These decisions included where the child would live and for how long, what services and treatment should be ordered, and what steps should be taken to reunite the child with the birth parents or to place the child in a new family unit.

Judge Soukup believed that community volunteers could be trained and appointed to conduct in-depth investigations into these cases so that they could speak effectively in court and advocate in the best interests of each child. When 50 volunteers responded to Judge Soukup's request to the community, the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) movement was born.

Today, there are over 50,000 advocates serving in over 930 state and local programs nationwide. Since its inception, CASA volunteers have helped well over 1,000,000 children find safe, permanent homes.

The Delaware County Juvenile Court has a rich tradition of developing and operating programs to enhance family life, prevent criminal behavior, and help our young people become productive and functional adults. The court has been nationally recognized for its innovative approaches to working with at-risk youth and in 1984 was among the first in Ohio to sponsor a CASA program.

Now in its 23rd year, the CASA Program of Delaware County consists of 27 community volunteers who each year serve hundreds of children involved in abuse and neglect cases. It is the goal of our program to provide advocacy for every child in Delaware County that is involved in an abuse, neglect, or dependency case.

To provide the quality advocacy that each child deserves, it is important to keep each volunteer's caseload at 2-3 cases so that the advocate can spend more time with each child. With the phenomenal growth of Delaware County, the need for more volunteers is crucial. If you are willing to become a powerful voice in a child's life, please contact us here.