Illinois Association of Court Appointed Special Advocates

Illinois CASA is the organizing body for local CASA programs throughout Illinois. The organization supports thirty-one local programs that recruit, train and manage volunteers who advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in the court system through no fault of their own.  CASA volunteers are trained and supervised by their agencies and sworn in by the Juvenile Judge of the their Circuit Court.   CASA volunteers gather objective information and report to the court regularly on the status of each child. This information is used by the Judge to determine if the child should be reunified with their family or prepared for adoption. The CASA volunteer works as a team member with the caseworker assigned by DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) and the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Attorney assigned to the child.  In all cases the CASA volunteer becomes an extra set of eyes and ears for the judge.  In many cases the CASA volunteer is the only consistent, caring, supportive adult in the child's life.  

​IL CASA's vision is to support existing programs and expand programs into unserved areas of the state to ensure that every child who needs a Court Appointed Special Advocate can have one.