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

Judge Soukup saw a rise in the number of child abuse and neglect cases appearing before his court and felt that he was not getting the information he needed to determine the best placement for each child’s circumstances. The Guardian Ad Litem (the child’s legal representative), though charged with advocating for the best interests of the child, often had neither the time nor the training to provide adequate information to the court. Social workers were equally overburdened. At Judge Soukup’s request, the Seattle court began recruiting and training volunteers to serve as advocates for children in abuse and neglect cases. In 1978 a nationwide study was conducted for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to evaluate volunteer programs in juvenile courts. The Seattle program was termed one of the most successful and innovative.

When the Seattle program was found to be so successful, other courts began to organize CASA programs. The Los Angeles Superior Court created CASA of Los Angeles in 1978, making it one of the first five CASA programs in the nation. Friends of CASA of Los Angeles was created in 1983 to raise funds to support the program, and CASA of Los Angeles is now a public-private partnership between the Los Angeles Superior Court and Friends of CASA, a non-profit organization. In 1982, the National CASA Association was formed to direct CASA’s emerging national presence. Currently there are more than 900 programs in all 50 states with more than 52,000 volunteers serving over 206,000 children.

To learn more about CASA, please visit:

National CASA (www.casaforchildren.org)
The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association’s website lists CASA programs throughout the country that screen and train community volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in court.

CASAnet (www.casanet.org)
CASAnet is the national support website for CASA volunteers and program staff.

Los Angeles Superior Court’s Juvenile Court (www.lasuperiorcourt.org)
The Los Angeles Juvenile Court’s website provides information about CASA of Los Angeles, the Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court, and other support programs for children in foster care in L.A. County.

To report child abuse, neglect or abandonment contact the Los Angeles County Child Protection Hotline at 1-800-540-4000.