A little background for those who are unaware: Casa (Court Appointed Special Advocate) is a volunteer program in many states of advocates who interact with the children who are removed from their homes by Child Protective Services, and who act as "eyes and ears" for family court judges. Since they are highly endorsed by CPS, and since CPS claims that their goal is family reunification, I thought it pertinent to look over CASA's handbooks and evaluate whether they are, indeed, working to reunify families. The information explaining CASA is pulled DIRECTLY from their educational pamphlets (my comments are interjected):

What is CASA?

A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is an adult willing to stand up for an abused or neglected child [NOTE: Stop right here. Remember, children are removed from home because of SUSPECTED abuse or neglect, not abuse or neglect that has been criminally proven, at least at the onset. So we haven't even made it past the first paragraph). A CASA colunteer is appointed by a judge to provide factual information on behalf of a child caught in a difficult legal process. In a court system challenged by increasing caseloads, a CASA volunteer can make the single greatest difference in the life of a child [apparently family members, even those NOT suspected of abuse or neglect, don't matter. Gotcha]

What does a CASA do?

You do not have to be a lawyer or a social worker to become a CASA volunteer. These abused [?] children simply need dedicated and devoted women and men who are willing to advocate for their best interests [pretty hard to do when you've already tried, convicted and sentenced their parents without the benefit of a trial].

As a CASA volunteer, you will be given support, guidance, tools, and training from professionals in the field [read: CPS case workers, which means you're getting rather one sided information from which you are expected to make "objective" decisions]. to help you understand and work effectively with the child welfare system. You will develop communication techniques and cultural competency skills [Oh, is this the training from the expert on "at risk youths" who states that poor families don't want their children to be educated because they're afraid their children will surpass them?], and receive relevant child development training.

Once you are sworn in as a child advocate by a judge, you will be given constant support and guidance by professional staff [read: CPS caseworkers] as you search for information on what is in the child's best interest. You will review the case, gather new data, and become familiar with the child's background. Then you will develop a report that is shared in the courtroom. Your recommendations will be considered by the judge when making decisions regarding the child

Why choose to be a CASA?

Every year, the state of Texas removes thousands of children from their homes because of abuse and neglect [ALLEGED  abuse and neglect, maybe?]. These victimized [oh, they're certainly victimized allright...usually by the system CASA supports] children are drawn into an overburdened child welfare system that is charged with addressing every child's individual needs. As part of this process, these children go to court where judges must weigh all the evidence to make important decisions that greatly impact the lives of these children.

When there is a CASA on the case, the judge is afforded a unique and comprehensive picture of the child's situation, needs and best potential outcomes. CASA volunteers are frequently the most consistent adult in the lives of children during their involvement in the child welfare system [mainly because those who SHOULD be the most consistent adult, the parents, are not given that option because their children were removed without due process and often upon spurious complaints]. CASA volunteers help guide [alleged] abused and neglected children toward safe, loving, permanent families [the interesting phrasing here is the lack of mention of family reunification, which CPS states as one of its primary goals].

ANALYSIS: The CASA program is neither good or bad in theory, and the volunteers could go a long way towards helping children and families through difficult situations, if their training and observation techniques were truly objective. Because their training is so decidedly one sided and operating upon the presupposition of guilt of the parents or caregivers, however, it is unlikely that CASA volunteers will be effective in making the differences they set out to achieve. This is yet another shameful example of CPS' attempts to destroy innocent families and villainize parents without the benefit of a jury trial.

Because the CASA program offers such promise, however, I would not advocate for its eradication, but rather a reform in the manner in which CASA volunteers are trained. They need to be trained by advocates on BOTH sides of the fence, to understand that parents, as any other American citizen, are considered innocent until proven guilty, and to work as fervently for reunification as for removal when reunification is truly the best option.