Article
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
staff@nationalcasa.org.
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