Illinois Association of Court Appointed Special Advocates
Change A Child's Story
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
On any given day, more than 18,000 children are in Illinois’ juvenile court system because they have experienced abuse or neglect. The average length of stay in foster care in Illinois is 50.8 months. At least 52% of these children experience 3 or more placements. The indirect costs of prolonged foster care impact the welfare system, the criminal justice system, and the health care system in Illinois. Children who remain in the foster care system until 18 are likely to experience the following outcomes as adults: 2% obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher, 51% were unemployed, 30% had no health insurance, 25% were homeless, 30% receive public assistance and 54% had at least one mental health problem. Illinois has the longest time to permanent placement in the United States. Collaboration among child protection stakeholders is key to improving outcomes for children and families.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Illinois CASA
The Illinois CASA program provides screened, trained, and qualified community volunteers to advocate for the best interests of children and youth who are before the court as a result of abuse or neglect as defined by child welfare laws; living at home or in out-of-home care.
Where we work
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
CASA stands for court appointed special advocate. A CASA is a trained, community volunteer who advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children who are involved with the child welfare system. CASA volunteers serve in child abuse and neglect cases, Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) cases and sometimes in adoption proceedings. In Illinois there are 31 non-profit CASA programs with more than 3,000 volunteers who in FY2021 advocated for the best interests of 8,200 child victims of abuse and neglect.
Our goal is to ensure every child has access to a CASA volunteer by 2025.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Illinois CASA champions child victims by supporting, uniting and growing the statewide network of 31 local programs to provide a court appointed volunteer advocate for youth who have experienced abuse and/or neglect and are in the protective care system. Illinois CASA does this by providing direction, innovation, and strategies around the unique work and training requirements of CASA programs as well as the changing world of child welfare. Here is what we do:
BRANDING
Illinois CASA creates and oversees a statewide marketing campaign to increase public awareness. This campaign helps to recruit volunteers and reinforce local marketing efforts with billboards, radio, television and social media efforts. 1,200 number of new volunteers were recruited in FY2021.
EDUCATION
Illinois CASA acts as a bridge between the local CASA programs and the child welfare system. We provide continual education and training so that volunteers will have a better understanding of the system and the needs of children and families.
SUPPORT
Illinois CASA provides access to information, training and other resources for local programs. This helps local programs be better able to focus on helping the children and families within the child protection system.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Illinois CASA acts as a trusted partner in the management and dispersal of federal, state and private funds. We also help the local CASA programs effectively identify and utilize funding to achieve their mission.
LEADERSHIP
Illinois CASA provides innovative trainings, mentorship and resources that build strong local CASA program board members, executive directors and staff so that they may better serve children and families.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
When a family is in crisis and becomes involved in the child welfare system, a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer may be appointed by a judge to advocate for the best interest of the child. This highly trained volunteer is someone from the child’s community. Their responsibility is to get to know the child, their parents, their family and everyone else involved in the case. A CASA volunteer will advocate for the child’s safety, permanency and well-being while in foster care.
At the local level, the 31 CASA programs in Illinois do the hands-on work of recruiting, training and supervising these dedicated volunteers. At the state level, Illinois CASA partners with the programs to provide training, coaching and other resources.
As the statewide membership organization, we work to connect each part of the CASA community and empower the local programs to perform at their highest level. Illinois CASA also works to improve the child protection system through legislation and positive public policy changes.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Solving critical community challenges requires collective action. CASA volunteers are just one player in the larger child welfare system. We believe in a collaborative, holistic approach to support children and their families and work to support reunification whenever possible. We train our volunteers that all individuals deserve respect and cultural competency matters.
Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has made for a challenging year, especially for families and children already struggling. Since March of 2019, the number of children assigned to the Illinois CASA Association increased by 28% - from 7249 to 9293. Judges relied on CASA volunteers more than ever to keep up with the influx and fill gaps in the child welfare safety net. Our work ahead is to recruit enough new volunteers to meet this need, and we have an ambitious plan to recruit 2,022 new volunteers in 2022.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Illinois Association of Court Appointed Special Advocates
Board of directorsas of 03/18/2024
Missy Greathouse
Dispute Resolution
Term: 2024 - 2026
Missy Greathouse
DRI
Lynn Harvey
Linda Zekas
Lurie Children's Hospital
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/02/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.