A Message From The Marion County Circuit Court Dependency Judges:
"Marion County CASA's primary responsibility is to represent the best interest of the child and work to ensure that each child safely returns to, or is placed with, a safe and permanent family as soon as possible. The Marion County CASA program and its dedicated volunteers are essential to the court's ability to effectively serve abused and neglected children. Marion County CASA's serve the court, and in turn the children, by collaborating not only with the other parties, but with the community and placement resources as well.
On behalf of the Marion County dependency judges, I would like to say 'thank you' for your service to the children of Marion County." - Tracy A. Prall, Marion County Juvenile Court
Court Appointed Special Advocates are community volunteers appointed by a judge to advocate for abused and neglected children that have ended up in state care. A CASA is often the one constant person in a child's life, staying on a case until it is closed.
CASAs are specially trained to understand the juvenile court system and the policies and procedures of the Department of Human Services. They are taught how to investigate cases of abused and neglected children who are wards of the court, while being the voice of the child in court proceedings, and keeping the Judge informed of the child's health and welfare by offering carefully researched, objective and unbiased information about the child.
Marion County Statistics:
Children in Foster Care as of July 31, 2010: 1053
Number of CASAs needed to serve them all: 350
Number of Children we CURRENTLY serve: 135
Number of CASAs CURRENTLY serving: 58
Number of Pending Referrals (cases with 1 or more kids waiting for a CASA): 56
*This data was last updated December 2011*
CASA of Marion County, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non profit corporation. All financial donations are appreciated and tax deductible.