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Each year over 500,000 children in the United States are thrust into the court system through no fault of their own. Some are victims of violence, psychological torment or sexual abuse. Others have been neglected or even abandoned by their own parents. Most of them are frightened and confused.

In Wyoming approximately 7,000 reports of child abuse or neglect are received each year, 4,000 of which require serious investigation. Often, these children become victims of this country's overburdened child welfare system - a complex legal network of lawyers, social workers and judges who frequently are too overburdened to give thorough, detailed attention to each child who comes before them.

The CASA program was created in 1977 to make sure that the abuse and neglect that these children originally suffered at home doesn't continue as abuse and neglect at the hands of the system.

A CASA volunteer is a trained community member who is appointed by a juvenile or family court judge to speak for the best interest of children who are brought before the court. The majority of a CASA volunteer's assignments are home placement cases where an abused or neglected child has been removed for protection from the care of his or her parents.

The CASA concept is based on the commitment that every child has the right to a safe, permanent home. In court jurisdictions that have adopted the program, the juvenile or family court judge turns to a specially trained pool of CASA volunteers each time a case involving a child is received. The volunteer then becomes an official part of the judicial proceedings, working alongside attorneys and social workers as an appointed officer of the court. The CASA volunteer speaks exclusively for the child's best interests.

By handling only one or two cases at a time (compared to a social agency caseworker's average case load of 30 to 60 cases), the CASA volunteer has the time to explore thoroughly the history of each assigned case. The volunteer talks with the child, parents and family members, neighbors, school officials, doctors and others involved in the child's background who might have facts about the case. The volunteer also reviews all records and documents pertaining to the child. The CASA advocate then submits a formal report to the court making recommending for the best interests of the child.