The 8th Judicial District CASA program covers Wapello, Davis, Monroe and Appanoose counties. The need for volunteers to speak up for a child in court is great. In the summer of 2007 there were 340 children adjudicated as children in need of assistance due to abuse and neglect in Wapello County, 64 in Appanoose County, 26 in Davis County and 57 in Monroe County.

These children are part of the child welfare system through no wrong doing of their own, but because they have been abused and neglected by the very people who were meant to protect them, their parents.

Do you have 10 hours a month to give? Volunteers must be computer literate, able to communicate effectivelty, both verbally and in written form, available to attend an indepth training, able to maintain confidentiality, and enjoy working with children.

If your heart hurts when you read what children go through, consider becoming a CASA volunteer.

On any given day, 500,000 children in the US are living in foster care because they cannot live safely at home. But only half of these kids have someone who speaks out just for them—a Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA volunteer.

CASA volunteers (sometimes called Guardians Ad Litem, or GAL volunteers) are appointed by judges to be the independent eyes and ears of the court, watching over and advocating for a child until the child is placed in a safe, permanent home.

The National CASA Association links a network of 954 local CASA programs in 49 states. Last year, 59,000 CASA volunteers served 240,000 children and youth living in foster care, getting them into safe, permanent homes sooner and saving taxpayers an estimated $582 billion. It’s a huge return on a very modest investment—the cost to give a kid a CASA volunteer is just $950 a year.