The local CASA program in Henderson County began in July of 2007 at the request of Judge Steve Beal, and several concerned Henderson County residents. Henderson County CASA, at that time, was only the third program in West Tennessee. The first CASA volunteers for Henderson County were sworn-in by Judge Beal in November of 2007, with the first appointment to a child following that December. In October of 2008, Henderson County CASA expanded into neighboring Decatur County where they have just trained their first group of volunteers and taken their first case.

On any given day, 500,000 children in the US are living in foster care because they cannot live safely at home. But only half of these kids have someone who speaks out just for them—a Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA volunteer.

CASA volunteers (sometimes called Guardians Ad Litem, or GAL volunteers) are appointed by judges to be the independent eyes and ears of the court, watching over and advocating for a child until the child is placed in a safe, permanent home.

The National CASA Association links a network of 954 local CASA programs in 49 states. Last year, 59,000 CASA volunteers served 240,000 children and youth living in foster care, getting them into safe, permanent homes sooner and saving taxpayers an estimated $582 billion. It’s a huge return on a very modest investment—the cost to give a kid a CASA volunteer is just $950 a year.