Henrico County Court Appointed Special Advocates

Child Abuse and Neglect:Henrico CASA is the only court advocacy program for abused and neglected children in Henrico County and this service is offered at no charge to the children or their families. CASA advocates commit to working with children for the entire duration of their court case with the goal of securing safe, stable placements, and the prevention of further abuse or neglect. Specific achievements include: 359 children were assigned an advocate in the fiscal year; 99% of children did not re-experience abuse when appointed an advocate; celebrated 29 years of advocacy to Henrico County's children; and served 100% of th emore than 4000 child victims referred to our agency since 1994.

Reporting:The final work product of each volunteer advocate's efforts is a detailed report to the Court, complete with a case history, documented factual findings, and recommendations for placement and family stabilization services. Specific highlights include: 114 advocates submitted 347 reports; 98% of children were placed in secure, long-term home environmentse at case closure, 97% of the recommendations included in the written reports and considered by the juvenille court judges were accepted and incorporated into a court order.

Volunteers: CASA volunteers advocate for children from birth to eighteen. Without an advocate, hundreds of abused and neglected children would not have a strong voice in their corner. Advocates complete 40 hours of in-person training and once assigned a case, conduct an independent evaluation of each child's circumstances, focusing on the safety and well-being of the child. Specific achievements include: 114 active volunteers with an average length of service of 4 years; 95% of children had the same dedicated and consistent advocate throughout the entirety of their case; advocates dedicated more than 10,000 hours and made 22,100 contacts with family members and case professionals; savings of $323,530 in taxpayer dollars for the advocates service to Henrico County.