 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Our Programs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 Court Appointed Special Advocates™ (CASA™) About Court Appointed Special Advocates: We are a program in which volunteers advocate in court for children's emotional, physical and educational needs while they are in the care of the child welfare system. We currently have a CASA volunteer assigned to EVERY child in CPS custody in Fort Bend County – an accomplishment very few counties can claim. We serve approximately 250 children annually with 50-70 new children per year ranging in age from newborns to 18 through our CASA program and its components - Zero to Three Court Team Project and WINGS Project which are targeted to children at both ends of the age range. What is the Zero to Three Court Team Project? Over a third of all children entering the foster care system are under age three. The problems of the child welfare system are magnified for infants and toddlers because of the large numbers entering the foster care system and because the first three years of life are so critical for healthy mental, physical and emotional development. The Zero to Three Court Team Project is a component of our CASA program targeting children from birth to age three. We are the pilot program and the largest of 11 programs in the United States participating in this initiative which provides closer supervision of these children with more frequent contact, pediatric visists, health screenings, court appearances, and communication and collaboration between agencies. What is the WINGS Project? The WINGS Project is a component of our CASA Program to prepare youth ages 14-18 for independent living. We developed the WINGS Project to empower these teens to actively work toward their own plans for successful and productive adult living because we believe that education, connections with caring adults, and basic life skills are critical to improving a child's chances of achieving a normal life when they leave the foster care system. Each Summer, youth enroll in our Lifeskills Training where they learn how to apply to college, interview for a job, manage a budget, rent an apartmnet, navigate public transportation, open a checking account, start a home garden and cook. What do the volunteers do? Volunteers provide legal advocacy, mentoring, and support to the children. Volunteers contact the child to find out about their living situation, health, education and emotional needs. They also make contact with others involved in the child's life – teachers, doctors, coaches, relatives or others who can give pertinent information about the child. What do volunteers do in the legal system? Appointed as Guardians ad Litem under the Texas Family Code to represent the child's best interest in the legal system, they submit court reports to the judge and give verbal testimony about the child's physical, mental, educational and emotional needs. For more information about what CASA volunteers do , view our FAQs or check out www.becomeaCASA.org       |