Mission Statement
The Court Appointed Special Advocates project of the
Thirty-Second Judicial Circuit of Missouri (includes Bollinger, Cape
Girardeau, and Perry Counties), provides well trained, court-appointed
volunteer advocates to serve as independent monitors and advocates for
abused and neglected children in and out of foster care, under the
jurisdiction of the Thirty-Second Judicial Circuit Court.
Our ultimate goals are to ensure that the child's
immediate and long term needs are met while in foster care: that a
healthy, permanent placement is secured for each child in a timely
fashion: and to heighten public awareness and response to the needs of
the abused and neglected children.
Volunteers
We currently have 41 volunteers advocating for approximately 50 children
each month.
Juvenile Advocacy Program
The advocacy program consists of cases where a volunteer is appointed
to serve when a child has already been placed into foster care due to abuse and/or neglect. A CASA will be involved until permanence is established,
which may take up to 18 months.
CASA volunteers are in a unique position to concentrate solely on the
needs of the child and make a completely independent assessment. Our
volunteers have a limited number of cases, usually one or two, and have close
contact with the child's safety and progress. Written reports are
submitted regularly to the judge.
Recognition
Our CASA program has won the Outstanding Volunteer Organization
Award from United Way and Ameritech in 1999 and the
Golden Rule Award from J.C. Penney and United Way for
2000. In 2005, Joan Drury, one of our volunteers, won Adult
Volunteer of the Year from United Way and Volunteer
Intergenerational Center.
We are proud of our volunteers - they
are ordinary people doing extraordinary things!
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