Ohio CASA/GAL

Ohio CASA/GAL Association: Court Appointed Special Advocates / Guardian ad litem

MISSION STATEMENT

The Ohio CASA/GAL Association supports local volunteer CASA/GAL programs throughout Ohio with technical assistance, funding, and legislative support, so that they may advocate for abused, neglected, and dependent children in the court system.

VISION STATEMENT

It is our goal to be a financially sound, advocacy-based, collaborative organization providing needed support to local volunteer CASA/GAL programs, with program expansion to all 88 counties in Ohio.

Purchase a Celebrate Kids! License Plate

The Celebrate Kids! license plate is available from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. This plate costs an extra $25.00 added on to normal vehicle registration. $15.00 of that is tax deductible and goes to support the Ohio CASA/GAL Association and our efforts to help abused, neglected, and dependent children throughout Ohio.

For more information, visit

Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles click here and

online license plate renewal system click here

call the BMV at 1-888-PLATES3.

National C.A.S.A. : Court Appointed Special Advocates / Guardian ad litem

The national CASA program was started in Seattle, Washington in 1977. Seattle Superior Court Judge David Soukup was concerned about making decisions about abused and neglected children's lives without sufficient information. Judge Soukup conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of these children in court. So successful was this Seattle program that soon judges across the country began utilizing citizen advocates.

In 1990, the U.S. Congress authorized the expansion of CASA with passage of the "Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990", so that "court appointed special advocate shall be available to every victim of child abuse or neglect in the United States that needs such an advocate". Today more than 950 programs are in operation, with 58,000 women and men serving as CASA volunteers.

To learn more about CASA visit the National CASA Association site:

Visit National CASA

Visit CASAnet the website for CASA and GAL network