MISSION:
DeKalb County CASA Program recruits, trains and supervises court appointed volunteers to advocate for the best interest of abused and neglected children who are under the protection of the DeKalb Juvenile Court.
VALUES: Every child should have a safe, nurturing, permanent home.
VISION:
Our vision is to provide individualized advocacy for every child who is judged deprived and under the protection of the DeKalb Juvenile Court who has no one to champion his or her cause.
FOUNDING:
The DeKalb CASA Program was founded in 1990 and is an extension of both the national and state CASA programs. The DeKalb County CASA Program operates under the umbrella of the Child Advocate Network, Inc., a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
PAST AND CURRENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Since becoming a full-time program, the number of children and volunteers has multiplied with approximately 250 children assigned to 143 CASA volunteers last year. DeKalb CASA continues to provide excellent year-round training and close supervision of volunteers so that more abused and neglected children will have an individual CASA to speak for them in and out of the court. In addition to direct services, the DeKalb County CASA program partners with such collaboratives as the Communities That Care Consortium, The Multi-Disciplinary Team for Sexually Abused Children, the DeKalb County Child Fatality Review Committee and various universities and colleges in the Metro Atlanta area.
