About CASA of Travis County
“CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Travis County believes every child who’s been abused or neglected deserves to have a dedicated advocate speaking up for their best interest in court, at school and in our community. To accomplish this, CASA educates and empowers diverse community volunteers who ensure each child’s needs remain a priority in an overburdened child welfare system. When the state steps in to protect a child’s safety because the people responsible for protecting them have not, a judge appoints a trained volunteer advocate to make independent and informed recommendations and help the judge decide what’s best for the child.”
https://www.casatravis.org/about
Volunteer Opportunities
- Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Volunteers: Get to know the child while also gathering information from their family, teachers, doctors, therapists, caregivers, and others involved in their life in order to make independent and informed recommendations to help the judge decide what’s best for the child.
- Early Family Engagement (EFE) Volunteers: Focus on ensuring that children remain connected to their families from the earliest stage of a CPS case. A short-term, fast-paced role that conducts initial visits and assessment with children and the adults in their lives to represent CASA at the first case hearing.
- Family Finding (FF) Volunteers: Find and engage relatives for CASA volunteers by data mining, reviewing case files, and researching online to locate disconnected relatives, and contact them in an attempt to engage or re-engage them in the lives of children.
Volunteer Requirements
- Must be 21+ years of age and be able to pass extensive reference and background checks.
- Have effective oral and written communication skills and comfort with computer technology, including email and word processing.
- You may not be a current foster parent or in the process of adopting a child from Child Protective Services.
- If an attorney, you may not concurrently be appointed to any cases involving Child Protective Services in Travis County.
- Time Commitment & Training
- CASA Volunteers
- Time Commitment: 15–20 hours/month for the duration of case (average 17 months)
- Training: 39 hours of initial training & courtroom observation
- Continuing Ed Requirements: 12 hours/year
- EFE Volunteers
- Time Commitment: 10–12 hours/case over a 7–10 day period, 6 cases per year
- Training: 39 hours of initial training & courtroom observation + 2.5 hours EFE training
- Continuing Ed Requirements: 12 hours/year
- FF Volunteers
- Time Commitment: 5 hours/week, cases range from 2 weeks–5 months
- Training Requirements: 39 hours of initial training & courtroom observation + 2.5 hours FF training
- Continuing Ed Requirements: 12 hours/year
- CASA Volunteers
To apply to be a volunteer, go to CASA of Travis County’s Volunteer page.
Or visit their homepage: https://www.casatravis.org/
CASA of Travis County Locations
Volunteer Opportunities by Interest
- Affordable Housing
- Animals
- Arts & Culture
- Children & Youth
- Education
- Emergency & Disaster Relief
- Environment
- Faith-Based Outreach
- Foster Care
- Health
- Homeless Populations
- International Aid
- LGBTQIA+
- Low-Income Neighbors
- Mental Health
- Neighbors with Disabilities
- Other Opportunities
- Refugees
- Seniors
- Sports & Fitness
- Uncategorized
- Veterans
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