HISTORY OF THE CASA PROGRAM

The Court Appointed Special Advocate program was first established in 1977 by a Seattle judge who was concerned about making decisions on behalf of abused and neglected children without sufficient information to support his decisions. Out of his concern, Judge David Soukup conceived of the idea to use trained advocates to speak for the children in court. The Seattle program was such a success that judges throughout the country have requested CASA organizations for their own jurisdictions. Today, there are more than 970 CASA programs nationwide.

To make a difference in the community by recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers to serve as advocates for children whose families have been cited for abuse and neglect by the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Founded in 1989, the Fairfax CASA program is the largest of the 27 CASA programs in the state of Virginia based on the number of volunteers and the volume of children they serve.