|
Judges Find CASA Volunteers Useful and
Effective—But in Limited Supply
In June 2005, the National CASA Association engaged
Organizational Research Services to conduct a national survey of family
court judges. Over 550 judges and commissioners completed the survey, with
90% of respondents using CASA and guardian ad litem (GAL) volunteers in
their courts. There was representation from all regions of the country
except Washington, DC and Hawaii. The objective of this survey was to
evaluate:
-
The process used for assigning CASA/GAL volunteers to
cases
-
The role CASA volunteers play in supporting judicial
decision-making and court processes
-
Judicial satisfaction with local CASA program and
volunteers
Overall, judges agree that the work of CASA/GAL volunteers
is high quality, beneficial to judicial decision-making and beneficial to
the children and families served. An
executive summary (100 KB PDF) of the survey’s findings is available
for download, as is the
full report
(170 KB PDF). Primary results:
-
Nearly half (48%) of responding judges’ dependency cases
are assigned to a CASA/GAL volunteer.
-
Judges are most likely to assign CASA volunteers their
most difficult and complex cases. When assigning a case to a volunteer,
they particularly consider the instability of the child’s current
placement, conflicting case information, concerns about implementation
of services and extreme neglect, physical abuse or sexual abuse.
-
Judges clearly value input from CASA/GAL volunteers in
their court decisions. Volunteer input is most highly valued on issues
related to placement stability and the permanence and safety of the
children while in placement.
-
Judges report that CASA volunteers’ activities have been
“very useful” in their decisions about case outcomes.
-
Judges find CASA volunteers to be very effective in a
wide range of activities that support court processes. They find
volunteers most effective in considering the best interests of the child
and in monitoring the case.
-
There is general concern about the availability of
CASA/GAL volunteers for court caseloads. Only 6% of judges “strongly
agree” that there are sufficient volunteers to meet the need.
If you would like to review the judicial survey evaluating
the impact of CASA volunteers, please see the links above or request a
hard copy by emailing
theresa@nationalcasa.org.
|
