National Court–Appointed Special Advocate Program
Audit Report 07-04
December 2006
Office of the Inspector General
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As required by Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of the National Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association (NCASAA).1 The objectives of this audit, as mandated by Congress, were to determine: (1) the types of activities the NCASAA has funded since 1993, and (2) the outcomes in cases where court‑appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteers are involved as compared to cases where CASA volunteers are not involved, including:
In 1976, Superior Court Judge David Soukup of Seattle, Washington, concluded that he was not obtaining sufficient relevant facts during case hearings necessary to ensure that the long-term welfare of a child was being represented. To address this concern, he developed the concept of recruiting and training community volunteers to represent the best interest of a child in court proceedings. In 1977, the first CASA pilot program was implemented in Seattle. The purpose of the CASA program is to ensure that abused and neglected children receive high-quality, sensitive, effective, and timely representation in court hearings to determine their guardianship. In 1978, the National Center for State Courts selected the Seattle CASA program as the best national example of citizens participating in juvenile justice, resulting in the replication of the program in courts across the country. By 1982, it was clear that a national association was needed to coordinate the 54 existing state and local CASA programs and provide training and technical assistance. National Court-Appointed Special Advocate Association In 1984, NCASAA, the national headquarters for CASA programs was opened in Seattle. According to NCASAA’s web site, together with its state and local members, its mission “is to support and promote court-appointed special advocacy for abused and neglected children so they can thrive in safe, permanent homes.” NCASAA provides leadership, training, technical assistance, and subgrants to CASA programs across the country. Additionally, NCASAA stages an annual conference, promotes CASA programs through public awareness efforts, and provides counseling and other resources to help start up new programs and to provide vital assistance to existing programs. The state, local, and tribal CASA programs are responsible for recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers in advocating for abused and neglected children. At the time NCASAA was incorporated, there were 107 state and local CASA programs in 26 states.5 As of 2005, there were 948 state, local, and tribal CASA programs in 49 states that served an estimated 226,204 children.6 As shown in Figure 1, CASA program coverage varies from state to state.
According to the NCASAA Annual Local Program Survey for 2005, an estimated 226,204 children were served by an estimated 53,847 volunteers, as shown in Table 1.
Additionally, according to the 2005 NCASAA Annual Survey, nearly 15,000 new volunteers were trained and nearly 80,000 new children were assigned to a volunteer during 2005. Court-Appointed Special Advocates A number of states have legal requirements that specify whether an attorney or volunteer may be appointed as the Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to represent a child in the CWS. Other states detail the roles and responsibilities of the CASA volunteers, their qualifications and training, and their rights and powers. However, a number of states provide greater discretion to the local courts. The most common differences among states involve the role and formal status of the volunteer, the forms of attorney representation, the formal relationship between the volunteer and the attorney for the child, and types of cases accepted. There are five general activities associated with the role of a CASA volunteer:
Regardless of the parameters of the CASA volunteer’s activities within the court system, NCASAA has provided some guiding principles that help ensure the quality of the advocacy. Volunteers:
CASA Volunteer Application, Screening, and Selection According to NCASAA’s standards, all applicants who want to become CASA volunteers are required to:8
To become a CASA volunteer, applicants must be at least 21 years of age and have successfully passed the application and screening process. Before volunteers are assigned to a case, all screening must be completed with written verification on file at the program office. State, local, and tribal CASA programs train volunteers using the NCASAA’s national training curriculum or its equivalent. Training consists of 30 hours of required pre-service training and 12 hours of required annual in‑service training. Additionally, if the court served by the CASA program allows, volunteers are required to observe an in-session abuse or neglect proceeding before appearing in court for an assigned case. Statistics on Child Abuse in the United States According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in fiscal year (FY) 2004 an estimated 3 million children were alleged to have been neglected or abused and were the subject of investigation or assessment by state or local child protective services (CPS) agencies.9 Additionally, in FY 2004:
An HHS report, The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Report No. 13, Preliminary FY 2005 Estimates, September 2006 (2005 AFCARS Report), estimated that as of September 30, 2005:10
Further, according to the 2005 AFCARS report, in FY 2005 approximately 311,000 children entered foster care, while 287,000 exited foster care. Over the past 32 years, Congress has enacted the following legislation related to protecting children from abuse and neglect.
Since 1984, DOJ Office of Justice Programs (OJP) has worked to improve the juvenile justice systems and assist crime victims. The Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, as amended, authorized the OJP Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to administer a newly created CASA grant program. The OJP Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) also provides funding through the Tribal Court CASA Program, which assists in developing and enhancing programs that provide volunteer advocacy for abused or neglected Native American children. Additionally, CASA programs are also eligible to receive Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding at the state level, which provides support services to crime victims. OJP partners with the NCASAA to administer the CASA program and provide funding, training, and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal CASA programs. Since 1993, OJP has awarded NCASAA 15 grants totaling $100.4 million, including 12 OJJDP grants totaling $98.52 million, and 3 OVC grants totaling $1.88 million, as shown in Table 2.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention The mission of OJJDP is to provide national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. OJJDP supports states and communities in their efforts to develop and implement effective and coordinated prevention and intervention programs, and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds offenders accountable, and provides treatment and rehabilitative services tailored to the needs of juveniles and their families. Additionally, OJJDP administers the distribution of grants to the CASA program, authorized by the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, as amended, which directs that a CASA shall be available to every victim of child abuse or neglect if needed. As stated previously, OJP partners with NCASAA to administer the distribution of grants to the CASA program. Since 1993, OJJDP has awarded NCASAA 12 grants totaling $98.52 million. In turn, NCASAA uses a portion of this funding to provide subawards to state, local, and tribal CASA programs on a competitive basis. The subgrants awarded by NCASAA are used for: (1) new program development, (2) expansion programs, (3) state organizations, (4) urban program demonstration, and (5) increasing the diversity of CASA staff and volunteers to better meet the needs of children from diverse communities. In awarding subgrants, NCASAA stated that it emphasizes increasing the availability of advocates in communities where existing services do not meet the needs of families and children. The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) was formally established in 1988 as a result of an amendment to the 1984 Victims of Crime Act. OVC provides leadership and funding on behalf of crime victims. In addition, OVC provides funding for the Tribal Court CASA Program mentioned previously, which is also administered by NCASAA. Since 1993, OVC has awarded NCASAA three grants totaling $1.88 million. CASA programs are also eligible to receive Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding at the state level. VOCA victim assistance grant funds support services to victims of crime. However, not all children represented by a CASA volunteer are victims of crime. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System The 1988 amendment to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act directed HHS to establish a national data collection and analysis program through its Children’s Bureau in the Administration for Children, Youth and Families. The data is then input into the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). The NCANDS collects case-level data on all children who are involved in an investigation or assessment by a CPS agency. The data are submitted voluntarily, and used for an annual Child Maltreatment report, which is published each spring. In addition, data are used in several efforts by the Children's Bureau to measure the impact and effectiveness of CPS agencies. The NCANDS data includes information on:
The Adoption and Foster Care Reporting and Analysis System The HHS Adoption and Foster Care Reporting and Analysis System (AFCARS) collects case-level information for placement, care, or supervision on all children in foster care for whom the state CWS agencies are responsible. In addition, AFCARS contains data on children who are adopted under the auspices of the state's CWS. States are required to submit AFCARS data semi-annually to the HHS’ Administration for Children, Youth and Families. The semi-annual AFCARS reports cover the periods October 1 through March 31, and April 1 through September 30. The AFCARS report provides information on the:
Since inception of NCASAA in 1982, over 70 reviews, studies, and surveys of the CASA program have been conducted by a wide range of institutions, agencies, individuals, or other organizations. Out of the 70 prior reports, we identified two studies of the CASA program that in our judgment provided the most comprehensive and current information related to the outcome objectives mandated by Congress for this audit.
The results reported in the Youngclarke Review and Caliber Study that pertain to the objectives of this audit are discussed in the Findings and Recommendations sections of this report. In addition to the Youngclarke Review and the Caliber Study, we identified two surveys that provided useful information in understanding the relationship between CASA volunteers and judges, attorneys, child welfare workers, and both biological and adoptive parents. While these surveys do not speak directly to the audit objectives, they provide useful insight into the effectiveness of CASA programs.
Footnotes
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