OJJDP FY 12 Court-Appointed Special Advocates Membership and Accreditation Program

This project will support the development and expansion of state and local programs Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) programs, which serve abused and neglected children in need of advocacy before the courts. The project will enhance the capacity of these programs to recruit, train and supervise qualified volunteers, and support state CASA organizations that increase the capacity of local programs to serve children. The National CASA Association will award 1-year grants to 18-24 local CASA programs; award 1-year grants to 8-10 state CASA organizations; increase the number of new volunteers; increase the number of children served; fund the establishment of new CASA programs in communities where an interest has been expressed by the court and a documented need exists; and support the expansion of existing CASA programs through new grants to enable them to serve more children in need. In addition, the project will help CASA state organizations build their capacity to help existing local programs serve more children while maintaining quality advocacy. The project will also increase the number of volunteer advocates recruited and completing training who have ethnic, cultural or racial backgrounds similar to the children served by the CASA program. Specifically, the project will increase the number of African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American and multi-racial volunteers. CA/NCF