Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Welfare topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CASA of Cuyahoga County asks council for help recruiting volunteers and funding to serve hundreds of children
Summary
Casa of Cuyahoga County told the juvenile justice subcommittee it has about 83 active volunteers and five staff, is serving 875 children with a goal of 1,000, and estimates roughly 1,500 children could benefit from advocacy; the group requested recruitment help and sustainable funding.
Nikita Stang, the community outreach and recruitment coordinator for CASA of Cuyahoga County, asked the subcommittee for help recruiting volunteers and funding to expand the program’s capacity. “CASAs are everyday people,” Stang said, describing volunteers as teachers, parents, servers and retirees who provide focused case advocacy for court‑involved children.
Stang and program director Hannah Wilshire told the committee CASA is a relatively small program locally — about five full‑time staff — with 83 active volunteers and a goal of serving 1,000 children this year. They said about 1,500 children could benefit from a volunteer advocate, but that the program cannot scale without additional staff to supervise volunteers and funds for basic operations such as health insurance and office space.
CASA staff explained the role difference between a CASA volunteer and a guardian ad litem (GAL). While GALs are court‑mandated to perform specified duties, CASA volunteers said they supplement those duties by spending more frequent time with children (twice a month for the first six months, then at least monthly) and by helping to identify and connect families to community resources. Stang said volunteers invest roughly 10–12 hours per month on a typical case, including visits, record review and coordination with professionals.
Committee members asked about assignment procedures, partnerships with schools and how CASA coordinates with GALs and social workers. CASA confirmed cases are court‑appointed and volunteers may assist with educational‑records access, resource referral and case monitoring; volunteers do not provide legal advice or transportation.
The committee thanked CASA for the presentation and invited the organization to provide a written wish list of programmatic funding needs and recruitment priorities to council staff for consideration during budget discussions. No formal funding decision was made at the meeting.
