About CASA of Camden County, Inc.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Camden County, Inc. is an independent, non-profit organization committed to advocating for the best interest of abused and neglected children in out-of-home-placement under the jurisdiction of the NJ Family Court. CASA of Camden County, Inc. provides for a corps of trained volunteers who work to ensure that needed services and assistance are made available, in a timely fashion, to children in placement while helping to move them as quickly as possible toward safe and permanent homes.
Originally, CASA of Camden County started as a court-operated program about ten years ago. Unfortunately because of the high volume of children under the supervision of the courts and the ever-shrinking state budget, the court-operated CASA program did not thrive. As a result, it was determined that the court-operated CASA program should be discontinued and that an independent non-profit CASA program should be developed in its place. Therefore in February 2003, by a very ambition Steering Committee, CASA of Camden County, Inc. was incorporated and it began operating in August 2003 with the hiring of the Executive Director. With over 800 abused/neglected children in out-of-home placement, we have a lot of work to do.
Right now in NJ, over 9,000 children are living in out-of-home placement. Camden County, Inc. alone has more than 800 of these children - children who were removed from their homes because they were being abused or neglected. These children could have been sexually abused, not fed, physically abused, educationally deprived, psychologically abused, tormented, and /or left to fend for themselves in dangerous, sometimes life-threatening situations. After being removed from their homes, their parents, and sometimes their siblings, these children enter into a system that tries very hard to help them. These children, however, often become lost in the very system which is working so hard to help them.
This is where CASA comes in!
Children who have been abused or neglected are often without a voice in the court system. A CASA volunteer can be that voice and advocate for their best interests. In order to do this, the CASA must investigate the facts of the case, recommend a course of action to the court or Child Placement Review Board (CPR), facilitate the resolution of the presenting problems, and monitor the progress toward the established goals. CASA volunteers are ordinary people who care about kids who come from all backgrounds. Some are students or retired adults; however you must be at least 21 years old to volunteer and make a one year commitment to the program. No legal expertise is required.
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