"As a judge, I had to make a tough decision. I had to decide whether to take a child from the only home he’s ever known, or leave him someplace where he might possibly be abused. I needed someone who could tell me what was best for that child—from the child’s viewpoint. That’s what CASA does."
                    (The Honorable David Soukup, Founder of CASA)

Some state statues require the guardian ad litem to be an attorney. Therefore, the term CASA (Court appointed Special Advocate) was coined to denote volunteers from the local community who had been trained to serve as advocates for children involved in court proceedings.

In 1982, the National CASA Association, Inc. was established to serve as an umbrella organization for the growing number of programs in the country. National CASA provides information, technical assistance, research, training and hosts an annual national conference. Membership in National CASA is open to programs and individuals throughout the U.S.

Today, there are over 800 CASA programs in all 50 states. Approximately, 47,000 men and women are CASA volunteers serving an estimated 183,339 abused and neglected children annually.

In the Southern Tier
In the spring of 1988, the Executive Director of the New York Task Force on Permanency Planning for Foster Children wrote the Chemung County Family Court Judge, John D. Frawley and Susan T. Rogers, President of the Junior League of Elmira. The Executive Director requested that someone from Chemung County participate in the first New York State CASA conference.

League representatives came back from the conference very enthused about starting up a CASA in Chemung County, and the Junior League funded a six-month feasibility study to explore the development of such a program in Chemung County. During that six-month period, support for the development of a CASA Program was sought and gained from Judge Frawley, the Chemung County Department of Social Services and Elmira Glove House.

A luncheon was held in the fall of 1988 to introduce the concept of CASA to other non profit social service agencies having ties to the foster care system and to enlist potential CASA Board members. The luncheon was successful and the first board meeting of the CASA of Chemung County Program was held in December 1988. Committees were formed and sources of potential funding were explored. Organizational By-laws, program guidelines and personnel policies were developed. The Junior League of Elmira, a Chemung County United Way Venture Grant and IBM Corporation provided funding for the program in the spring of 1989. The first director was hired in June 1989 and volunteer/board training was held in August.

In October 1989, a reception was held at Elmira College to introduce CASA of Chemung County, Inc. to the community. An informational meeting for potential CASA volunteers was conducted in January 1990 and followed by a 26-hour volunteer training course. Five individuals completed the training and three were sworn in as CASA volunteers by the Family Court Judge. Chemung County Family Court Judge John Frawley assigned the first CASA case in January of 1990.

In April 1990, the NYS CASA Association was formed. This Association originally composed of representatives from the individual CASA Programs in the state of New York was incorporated as a not-for profit corporation in 1995. The Association is staffed by a full time director who provides technical assistance to the individual programs in the areas of development, planning, fund-raising, judicial concerns and public relations. The Association also plans regular conferences and training for NYS CASA staff and volunteers and provides legislative advocacy for CASA services and funding. Current Association goals include developing a statewide public image campaign, developing sources of stabilization funding for member programs and seeking statutory recognition of CASA services.

With the majority of the organizational phase completed in 1990, the Board turned its attention to program issues and adopted a new program model in March of 1991. This allowed volunteers to be appointed earlier in the court process and express concerns and make recommendations on issues which appear to be impeding a child’s timely discharge from foster care. A new training course was developed based on these guidelines as well as the National CASA training curriculum and new volunteer recruitment began in April of 1991. In November of 1992 the program moved into new office space donated by Chemung County as in-kind support.

A Senate initiative grant was secured from Senator Randy Kuhl in the fall of 92 and the director’s position expanded to full-time. In the spring of 1993, the Schuyler County Task Force approached CASA of Chemung County on Child Abuse to investigate the possibility of expansion of services to Schuyler County. The Task Force agreed to sponsor the development of a CASA program and appointed a CASA committee to explore funding opportunities and program issues. Discussions were held with representatives of the Department of Social Services and the Family Court who expressed their enthusiasm for the project and provided assistance and support. Task Force members contacted the Schuyler County Youth Bureau to initiate a 1994 DFY grant and assisted with applying for a senate initiative grant for volunteer recruitment and training in both counties which was awarded in the summer of 1995. A part-time Volunteer Coordinator position was added in May of 1994 to allow for increased volunteer recruiting, training and supervision activities and prepare for expansion of services to Schuyler County. The Schuyler Task Force in Child Abuse recruited a local Advisory Committee who began meeting in the fall of 1994 to assist with program development. The agency began training new volunteers for both counties during the months of September and October and accepted appointment to the first Schuyler County cases in November of 1994. Organizational Bylaws were amended in April of 1995 officially changing the name of the Organization to CASA of Chemung and Schuyler County, Inc.

In the summer of 1996, CASA was awarded a Community Development Block Grant from the City of Elmira to fund a case supervisor for volunteers assigned to cases of children originating in the City of Elmira.

In 2002, CASA received a National CASA Association grant that allowed the organization to expand services into Steuben County. In January 2003, the bylaws were amended to change the name of the organization to CASA of the Southern Tier, Inc.

CASA support is diverse and includes monetary and in-kind contributions. Supporters include, but are not limited to, the following: