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RESEARCH BASICS
How Court Appointed Special Advocates Help in Child Maltreatment
Cases
The following article is one of a series which discusses
social science research and how lawyers can use it and apply it to practice.
The articles are being funded through the National Resource Center on Legal
and Court Issues, a project of the US. Department of Health and Human
Services, Administration for Children and Families.
INTRODUCTION
A new study published in Child Welfare (1)
on the effectiveness of CASAs reinforces previous research showing CASA
involvement can have important positive effects on child abuse and neglect
cases. Results of this new study indicate CASA programs which provide high
quality screening and training produce volunteers who are effective in
assessing children's needs and advocating for children's interests.
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
Major findings of this new research include:
Children with a CASA had fewer placement changes. Once a CASA was
assigned to a case, the child had fewer placement changes there children
without a CASA. For example, about 38% of the children in the CASA cases
were not involved in a second change of placement, compared to 31% in the
control groups. About 29% of CASA children were returned home from the
second placement, compared to 24% in the control groups (i.e., cases in
which no CASA was assigned. See sidebar for Research Design). About 15% of
CASA children moved on to a third out-of-home placement, compared to over
30% of children not assigned a CASA.
Having a CASA reduced the time children spent in
out-of-home care. Once a CASA was assigned to a case and had begun
interviewing parties arid providing information to the court, the average
time children spent in out-of-home care was shorter (61 days, on average)
than in the control group cases (137 days, on average). A 1991 study which
focused on minority children looked at cases with randomly assigned CASAs.
These children had a higher rate of permanent placement compared to those
without such assignment (2)
The earlier a CASA was assigned, the better. Positive changes due to
CASA intervention occurred more frequently in cases where CASA volunteers
were referred and assigned prior to case disposition.
CASAs spent a lot of time on their cases. Most of
their time was spent on court activities (10 hours), training (9 hours), and
interviewing (4 hours each interviewing school personnel, foster parents,
and social workers). Keep in mind, this effort is for one case. Previous
research found that, overall, CASAs tended to make more recommendations to
the court than social workers, (3) and were often
assigned to more complicated cases (families with multiple problems besides
abuse and neglect) (4)
Judges gave CASAs high marks. Judges in the
jurisdiction studied were asked to evaluate the work of the CASA volunteers.
All judges rated CASAs positively on the quality of their written reports,
verbal testimony, overall case assessments, and appropriateness of their
recommendations. In addition, when asked: "To what extent did the CASA
volunteers supply information that was not previously reported, or identify
resources that had not been identified by other parties to the case?", 50%
of the responses reported vital new and helpful information emerging as a
result of CASA intervention. An earlier study on CASA
(5) reported that lay volunteer advocates were found to be effective in
case investigation and mediation, specifically when it came to reporting on
the interpersonal aspects of the case, as well as in cases with older
children which needed a quick response.
PRACTICE TIPS
Lawyer- CASA Interaction
Some states' statutes require or permit the court to appoint both a
lawyer and a volunteer (such as CASA) as advocates for a child in dependency
proceedings. As a result, there are numerous jurisdictions in which lawyers
and CASAs must interact and work together for the child's best interests.
Depending upon the state and jurisdiction, the interaction between lawyer
and volunteer CASA may or may not be clearly defined. Some examples of
interaction between a child's lawyer and a CASA volunteer include models in
which:
- a lawyer acts as a GAL, with a CASA assigned at GAL's request as an
assistant/ investigator/ monitor to report to the GAL;
- a lawyer is GAL, and the CASA is an independent "friend of the court"
or is a party to the action reporting directly to the court. In this model
there may or may not be a mandate for the lawyer and CASA to work
together.
- co-appointment of both a lawyer and a CASA to act as GALs (to work
together);
- a CASA acts as GAL, represented by a lawyer in court.
In addition, some jurisdictions appoint the GAL, who may be either a
lawyer, a CASA, or another non-lawyer adult.
When Should Lawyers Request a CASA Appointment?
As a lawyer involved in child abuse and neglect cases, you may be in a
position to request the appointment of a CASA to one or more of your cases.
While any case of child abuse and neglect can benefit from the
individualized attention it will receive from a CASA volunteer, the
appointment of a CASA may be especially helpful for cases in which:
- There are multiple children in multiple placements (some CASA agencies
provide teams of CASAs to work on these cases); children have special
educational and/or physical needs (CASAs can meet with teachers,
therapists, and special needs providers);
- Children appear to be "languishing" in out-of-home care with little
progress (appointing a CASA to the case can help get things moving);
- Children are placed with relatives (limited resources and
understaffing often means these providers get fewer services from social
service agencies).
By providing the most complete, up-to-date information on a case, a
well-trained CASA can become a partner in providing effective advocacy for
children who need it the most.
Tips for Successful Collaboration
To ensure quality representation and advocacy, the partnership between
the child's lawyer and CASA volunteer should be based on the following
guidelines:
- Each should understand the definition and division of their
responsibilities. The most successful partnerships use detailed job
descriptions which clarify roles and responsibilities.
- Both the lawyer and CASA should be accessible to each other and
willing to invest the time to discuss the case as needed. Scheduling
regular telephone communication ensures that both the lawyer and CASA are
abreast of new developments and their legal implications.
- Develop a strategy to resolve differences.
Lawyers and CASAs do not always agree. They should be prepared to find
ways to resolve potential conflict. Clear job descriptions can prevent
some conflicts. For example, the lawyer and CASA might agree up-front that
the lawyer's opinion will carry more weight in conflicts which involve
legal strategies. Since the CASA probably will have spent more time
interviewing different parties in the case (e.g., foster parents, child's
relatives), his or her opinion concerning these individuals may deserve
more weight. In some cases, CASA program staff may help resolve conflicts.
In other cases, the lawyer and CASA will just have to agree to disagree
(e.g., the CASA submits a report, and the lawyer makes his or her argument
to the judge).(6)
CONCLUSION
The new research on CASA confirms previous findings which show that
assigning a volunteer advocate can positively impact the outcome of a case,
particularly in terms of the number of out-of-home placements and time spent
in out-of-home care. Lawyers who represent children should consider
requesting the assignment of a well-trained CASA as early as possible in the
proceedings, particularly in cases which tend to be more complex (e.g.,
multiple children). Working together, the child's lawyer and CASA offer a
strong model of advocacy which can help children achieve permanency in a
timely and sensitive manner.
RESEARCH DESIGN
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
- Does the CASA program contribute to positive changes in cases of child
abuse and neglect?
- Does having a CASA assigned to the case impact the amount of time
children spend in foster care?
- At what point in time is the assignment of a CASA most effective in
achieving these positive changes, thereby helping the court to reach a
permanency plan?
- What is the quality of service given by CASAs? How do judges feel
about the services CASAs provide?
- What tasks do CASAs perform? How much time is devoted to cases?
STUDY TYPE: Longitudinal study
SAMPLE
Three types of child abuse and neglect cases from a large Midwestern city:
- 66 cases in which a CASA was referred and assigned to the case;
- 107 cases with no CASA assignment or referral (control group 1);
- 24 cases with a CASA referral, but no CASA assignment due to lack of
volunteers (control group 2).
To ensure consistency, all three groups had similar characteristics in
terms of the number of children, the type and severity of abuse, the ages of
caregivers and children, and the number of moves made by children in
out-of-home care. There was no statistical difference between the
experimental and control groups.
VARIABLES:
The following variables were used to measure the effect of a CASA assignment
on a case: (1) number of out-of-home placements for the child; (2) length of
out-of-home placement; (3) frequency of placement changes; and (4) types of
placement changes.
DEFINITIONS:
Positive changes include: (1) keeping the child at home; (2) returning the
child home from care; (3) keeping the child in one family foster home at all
times; (4) keeping the child in one relative home at all times.
Negative changes include: (1) placing the child in out-of-home care; (2)
placing the child in more than one out-of-home placement; and/or (3) placing
the child in more than one relative placement.
SOME FACTS ABOUT CASA
Founded: 1977 - by a Seattle juvenile court judge
Purpose: Provides training and guidelines for local jurisdictions to
establish court-appointed volunteer advocate programs for children in child
abuse and neglect cases.
Number of CASA Programs in Existence: 642 CASA programs exist in all
50 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
CASA Roles: fact finders, case monitors, mediators, and information
or resource brokers. In some jurisdictions, CASAs may also provide legal
representation.
Number of Children Represented: A total of 38,000 CASA volunteers
have advocated for about 129,000 children each year. The National CASA
Association estimates that about 25% of the nation's abused and neglected
children have a CASA in dependency proceedings.
Operation: Local programs adapt National CASA's standards and
procedures to meet the specific characteristics and needs of their own
population of children. How each program operates depends on specific state
statutes and court preferences. Even though each CASA program is different,
each provides a model of lay volunteer advocacy for children involved in
abuse and neglect cases.
Funding: Some programs are privately funded, others are supported
entirely or partially with public funding.
CASA ON-LINE
The National CASA Association has established "CASAnet," an on-line
communication network for child advocates. It includes:
- a homepage on the world-wide-web
- technical assistance for child advocates via e-mail
- information about CASA, including how to volunteer locally
- a resource library
- legislative updates on child welfare-related issues
- Referrals to case law relating to volunteer advocates is planned for
the future
Endnotes
- Leung, P. (1996). Is the court appointed special advocate program
effective? A longitudinal analysis of time involvement and case outcomes.
Child Welfare, 75, 3, 269-284.Abramson, S. (1991) Use of court appointed
advocates to assist in permanency planning for minority children. Child
Welfare, 70, 477-487 Back
- Abramson, S. (1991) Use of court appointed advocates to assist in
permanency planning for minority children. Child Welfare, 70, 477-487
Back
- MGT of America, Inc. (1981). An evaluation of the volunteer guardian
ad litem pilot program. Tallahassee, FL: MGT of America, Inc.; Bogle, T.,
Browning, K., and Orchowsky, S. (1996) Evaluation of the Virginia
court-appointed special advocate (case) program: executive summary.
Richmond, VA: Criminal Justice Research Center. Back
- Ibid. Back
- Condelli, L. (1988). National evaluation of the impact of guardians ad
litem in child abuse or neglect judicial proceedings.Washington, DC: CSR,
Inc Back
- Heartz, Rebecca H., and Cooke, Irene, (1995) CASA Volunteers and
Attorneys: A Partnership that Works (posted 3/97) Back
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