Be a Voice in Court for a Child Today!

We are looking for volunteers to act as Family Law CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates) in King County. A CASA advocate is a Court Appointed Special Advocate who receives training and volunteers their time to investigate and report on the best interests of a child. In tough custody cases, parents are often unable to focus on the needs of their children. Many of these children are so young they cannot speak for themselves. CASA volunteers give these children a voice in court by focusing on the needs of the child and striving to strengthen parenting skills and family relationships. 58% of the families we serve are BIPOC, and we encourage BIPOC to apply to volunteer.

Our Mission Statement: Family Law CASA advocates for children in high-conflict cases across King County so they have the best chance for a safe, more secure home life, advancing equity for low-income families and significantly reducing the risk of abuse and neglect.

Our Racial Equity Values Statement: At Family Law CASA, we recognize our existence is inextricably tied to racist, sexist, and classist systems that disproportionately impact marginalized groups of King County, especially BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and people in low-income communities. Through our critical work championing children’s voices in family court, we seek to continue to mitigate these real impacts by:

• Implementing anti-racist and inclusive practices and intentionally participating in ongoing equity and bias training with our board, staff, and volunteer advocates.
• Including and elevating the voices of all stakeholders that intersect with our program and hold ourselves and our allies accountable for ensuring access to justice and equitable representation in family court.
• Recognizing that authentically engaging with and centering historically marginalized voices will enable us to disrupt systemic harm and transform our practices, programming, and organization to be more equitable.

In addition, we have adopted the Washington Race and Equity Justice Initiative Acknowledgement and Commitments.

What does a Court Appointed Special Advocate do?

After 21 hours of training (provided by Family Law CASA) and an orientation meeting with an Advocate Supervisor, new advocates spend an average of 60 hours over 6-12 months conducting an investigation and writing report(s). Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) gather information and make recommendations to the court about what’s in a child’s best interests. Each advocate is assigned a staff supervisor who guides and supports them. Most cases involve the following tasks:

• Review the case with the assigned staff supervisor in person or over the phone.
• Visit the child in each household for a home visit.
• Interview the family members and a limited number of friends or relatives.
• Interview relevant professionals such as teachers, therapists, or service providers over the phone.
• Review records and documents received.
• Submit one or two written reports for the court by the specified due dates using a report template.
• Appear in court with a Family Law CASA Attorney if the case goes to trial. The trial date is specified when the case is assigned.

Requirements:

Advocates come from all backgrounds, and no specific experience is required. We value diversity and equity in our program because we believe every child deserves a strong and insightful advocate to help them. These are the requirements to volunteer:

• Be 21 years of age or older.
• Have no criminal history.
• Be able to go to home visits in King County.
• Have a computer with access to email.
• Be able to speak and write well in English.
• Commit to complete at least one case. On average, this includes 10–12 hours per month for 6-12 months.
• Apply, interview, and complete in-person training in Tukwila.

For more information and to register go to www.familylawcasa.org

Learn more and apply here: https://familylawcasa.org/volunteer/