Heart of Missouri CASA

Our mission is to train and support volunteers to be exceptional voices for every abused and neglected child in the Boone and Callaway County family courts. We aim to improve outcomes for children in our local foster care system. We work to ensure children remain free from re-abuse while in foster care, have all their needs met (educational, medical, therapeutic), and achieve a safe, permanent home as quickly as possible. Our CASA volunteers watch over and advocate for these children to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home. Because children in foster care change homes frequently and case worker turnover is rampant, the CASA volunteer is often the one consistent adult presence—the one adult who cares only for their best interests – throughout the child’s entire time in foster care.

CASA exists to ensure children involved in the family court due to abuse/neglect have an objective advocate focused solely on their best interests who will advocate for permanency and be a stable, constant adult, oftentimes the only constant, in the child's life until the case closes with the courts. We do this by recruiting, screening, training, and supporting volunteers who are appointed by the family court judge to act as the eyes and ears of the court. Potential volunteers complete an intensive screening process, including an interview, 3 reference checks, and a comprehensive background screening. Following completion of the 30-hour pre-service training, volunteers are sworn-in as officers of the court and are appointed to a case, which on average has 2 children. CASA volunteers promote the best interests of the children by learning all they can about the child and case, engaging with the child during regular visits, collaborating with others to ensure the necessary services are provided to the child and family, making recommendations regarding the child's placement and needed services, reporting what they've learned to the court, and monitoring the child's situation until the case closes. Volunteers have only one case at a time so they are able to become experts on that child/case, which puts them in a unique position to be that child's voice in court. To ensure volunteers provide excellent advocacy, CASA staff provide ongoing supervision and coaching to every advocate.

We employ 11 staff, 7 of whom are direct program staff focused on recruiting, screening, training, and supporting 200 CASA volunteers each year. Each volunteer advocates for 2 children on average, giving 6-12 hours a month in advocacy. We are currently serving 57% of the children in need in our judicial circuit.

We operate under a Memorandum of Understanding that details our collaborative work with our Family Court partners. This includes the Family Court Judge, Children’s Division (CD), Juvenile Office (JO), and Guardians Ad Litem (GAL). The MOU outlines the types of cases CASA receive from the court, the roles/responsibilities of the CASA, implementation of volunteer activities, working relationships with the court, conflicts of interest, and termination of a CASA appointment. The CASA role is designed to be collaborative in nature, working as part of the Family Support Team (FST) which includes the parents, children (if age appropriate), CD, JO, GAL, Parent Attorney, and CASA volunteer. The CASA volunteer must be a cooperative partner, sharing information and concerns with the entire group, in order to effectively implement the responsibility of reporting directly to the Judge regarding the children’s wellbeing and best interests. As our MOU details, the CASA volunteer’s duties complement, but do not duplicate, the duties of other professionals on the case. CASA volunteers, in a sense, fulfill some of the GAL responsibilities at a more in-depth level.

We are funded through a variety of sources including the Boone County Children's Service Fund, Victims of Crime Act funding, United Way, our state and national associations, local foundations, and community/individual support. Our revenue has nearly doubled over the last 3 years as we have grown our capacity in order to serve more children in need.

Since opening in 2005, we have trained over 500 volunteers and advocated for over 1,100 children. Since 2016, our program has grown dramatically. In 2016, we were serving 22% of the children in need. As of January 2023, we are serving 57% of those in need. We have increased our active volunteer base from 73 in 2016 to 200 in 2023. In 2019, we achieved the following outcomes:
- 100% of children with a CASA volunteer (294/294) remained free from re-abuse while in foster care.
- Children with a CASA volunteer whose cases closed with the courts (N=58) achieved permanency in an average of 20 months. The median length of time to permanency was 17 months.
- 95% (55/58) of children with a CASA whose cases closed with the court achieved a permanent outcome (reunification, adoption, guardianship)
- 95% (445/467) of volunteer recommendations to the court were accepted or ordered by the Family Court Judge.
- 97% (250/259) of hearings which required a written court report had a court report submitted.