COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF SOMERSET HUNTERDON & WARREN

Our organization hopes to one day be in the position to provide an advocate for every child living in foster care who needs one in our tri-county vicinage. By providing them with advocates, we can stabilize their functioning while in placement, ascertain what, if any, unmet needs exist, strengthen their academic skills, ensure that their medical needs are met, and make targeted recommendations on their behalf. Our primary aim is to ensure that each of these children achieves permanency - that they transition from foster care to safe, loving, and permanent homes with their "forever families."

We at CASA SHaW work to make our goals a reality by ensuring that our advocates are well-trained, that they have access to staff with expertise in child welfare, and through the development of strong working relationships with other stakeholders like the Court, child protective services, and the families with which we work. In order to do this, we must also fundraise and cultivate a significant donor base, which in turn provides us with the resources necessary for us to continue our work.

Our capability for doing this work is strong - we have a proven track record for efficacy for this work. While 12%-21% of children in foster care can expect to return to foster care within 12 months, less than 4% of the children served by CASA SHaW have returned to foster care within the last 12 years. We have very low administrative costs and run a lean organization which effectively and efficiently serves the needs of children in foster care. Our staff is tremendous and very well qualified - most of us started as volunteers ourselves and have a passion for the work we do. We have mutually supportive relationships with other stakeholders and a volunteer retention average of about 3 years. We have the capability and the capacity to do this work.

We are currently serving all of the children eligible for an advocate in the tri-counties. We are headed in the right direction of educating the public, recruiting new advocates and board members, and raising revenues to support our work. We've developed a growth plan that we are actively working in order to train new advocates and serve every child in need of an advocate. CASA SHaW is a program on the move, striving to incorporate best practices into every facet of our organization, from administration to child advocacy to training to volunteer support.