Overview

What is CASA?

CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. The Cobb County CASA program is a court-based program of the Juvenile Court of Cobb County. It was created to provide a voice to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children in deprivation proceedings.

Federal law requires that a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) or a CASA volunteer or both be appointed in all cases of child abuse or neglect. CASA volunteers are carefully recruited, screened, trained, and supervised by the courts. 

The CASA volunteer's main purpose is to speak for the best interest of the child.

Our Mission at Cobb County CASA

The Juvenile Court of Cobb County Court Appointed Special 
Advocates (CASA) program provides screened, trained, and 
supervised community-based volunteers to advocate for the
best interests of children involved in juvenile court 
deprivation proceedings. Cobb County CASA volunteers speak
up for the rights and needs of child victims of abuse and 
neglect, one child at a time.

Our History

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 citizen 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 program offices are in operation, with trained women and men serving as CASA volunteers. The Juvenile Court of Cobb County CASA Program started serving children in 1991.

Cobb County CASA is a member of the National CASA Association, Inc. (www.casaforchildren.org) and affiliated with Georgia CASA, Inc. (www.gacasaa.org).