Nearly 50 years ago, a Seattle juvenile court judge came up with the idea of using trained volunteers to appear in court to speak on behalf of abused and neglected children as a way to get more information about their individual cases. Today, nearly a thousand local Court Appointed Special Advocate programs exist in 49 states, including Oregon. CASA volunteers provide the court with regular updates about a child’s particular case and make recommendations about their placement, informed through monthly visits with the child and discussions with their teachers, counselors and others involved in their welfare.

But meeting the growing need for CASAs in Oregon and the rest of the nation is getting tougher. In April, the national CASA organization announced the termination of federal grants totaling millions of dollars which would have been disbursed to state and local CASA programs. That’s in addition to the loss of a $1.7 million federal community project grant earmarked for Oregon’s 19 local CASA programs. 

Joining us to share their experiences are Amy Muñoz, who has been serving Jackson County as a CASA volunteer for seven years, and Rachel Robb, who was sworn in as a CASA volunteer serving  Malheur County in January.