Court Appointed Special Assistant program

CASA (Court Appointed Special Assistants) is a non-profit program whose volunteers are trained to monitor the progress of children in foster care. The volunteers are from all walks of life and are dedicated to reducing the trauma of a child in temporary foster care by facilitating the child's placement in a permanent home. The Orange County CASA Program was started in 1986 under the auspices of the Orange County Mediation Project, Inc. in cooperation with the Orange County Family Court and the financial support of the Orange County Youth Bureau. Its model is the original CASA project founded in Seattle, Washington in 1977. More than 900 programs are functioning successfully in 49 states across the country with more than 50,000 volunteers.