Our Story

In 1976, Superior Court Judge David Soukup of Seattle,WA, saw a recurring problem in his courtroom:

In criminal and civil cases, even though there were always many different points of view, you walked out of the courthouse at the end of the day and you said, "I've done my best; I can live with this decision", he explains.

"But when you're involved with a child and you're trying to decide what to do to facilitate that child's growth into a mature and happy adult, you don't feel like you have sufficient information to allow you to make the right decision. You can't walk away and leave them at the courthouse at 4 o'clock. You wonder, "Do I really know everything I should? Have I really been told all of the different things? Is this really right?"

To ensure he was getting all the facts and the long-term welfare of each child was being represented, the Seattle judge came up with an idea that would change America's judicial procedure as well as the lives of thousands of children. He obtained funding to recruit and train community volunteers to step into courtrooms on behalf of the children: the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers. This unique concept was implemented in Seattle as a pilot program in January 1977. During that first year, the program provided 110 trained CASA volunteers for 498 children in 376 dependency cases.

In 1978, the national Center of State Courts selected the Seattle program as the "best national example of citizen participation in the juvenile justice system." This recognition, along with a grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation of New York City (one of CASA's earliest and strongest supporters), resulted in the replication of the Seattle CASA program across the country.

It was clear that a national association was needed to direct CASA's emerging national presence and so The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association was formed in 1982.

In 1994, CASA of Harford County was started by a group of people wanting to bring the program here.  Our first child was served with an advocate in 1995.