CASA's Mission
Concerned over making decisions about abused and neglected children's lives without sufficient information, a Seattle judge conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of these children in court. So successful was this Seattle program that soon judges across the country began utilizing advocates.
In 1990, the U. S. Congress encouraged the expansion of CASA with passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act.
Today more than 900 CASA programs are in operation with 70,000 women and men serving as CASA volunteers. CASA volunteers are powerful, caring advocates for more than 280,000 abused and neglected children nationwide, appointed by judges to champion the best interests of these children so that they have a chance to thrive.
CASA Corridor of East Tennessee is a non-profit agency created to recruit and train diverse volunteers to act as advocates for the best interests of children in McMinn, Meigs, and Rhea Counties involved in court proceedings primarily as the result of child abuse and/or neglect.
The Need Is Great
- More than three million children are reported abused or neglected in the United States each year.
Child abuse is reported, on average, every 20 seconds. - Over 600,000 children are in foster care because they cannot safely live with their families.
- On average, 3.5 children die every day as a result of abuse or neglect, which equates to one death every 7 hours.
- Abuse and neglect are the leading causes of death for infants and young children, and more than three-quarters of these deaths involve children under the age of five.
- One out of every six victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement agencies was under the age of six.
- Men and women serving time in prisons and jails report a higher incidence of abuse as children than the general public.
For more information please contact us here: CASA Corridor Director
