A child and their CASA stand together for a photo. (Courtesy of CASA Central Oregon).

More than 5,000 kids are in the child welfare system in Oregon rely on a court appointed special advocate (CASA) to advocate for them, but there are 70 in Central Oregon who are without a CASA volunteer.

“When a child’s in foster care and they have a CASA, they have somebody who’s advocating for their best interest, and they have that consistent advocate,” said Heather Dion, executive director of CASA of Central Oregon. 

 These children are left without an adult advocating and speaking on their behalf in court. Some might still have caring adults in their lives like foster parents, but Dion said that a CASA has all the information about the child and can advocate for them in a way that nobody else can.

“They can speak in court. They can talk to doctors, they can talk to teachers, they have all the information about the case, and then they really can make that informed decision,” Dion said. 

CASAs work among attorneys, caseworkers, educators and families to make sure that they have each child’s unique needs heard. When a child has a CASA, they are more likely to do better in school, stay connected to health services according to Dion. When they exit the program, they are also more likely to stay in a permanent home. 

Earlier this year, Oregon CASA lost $1.7 million in federal funds due to cutbacks from the Trump Administration. With that reduction of federal dollars, Central Oregon CASA is working to increase local donations and volunteers to help the program continue to run. 

“We’re seeing an increase in the number of kids in care. So that’s what’s really a challenge for us to go, we want to serve as many children as possible, but our ability to do greater outreach and support more volunteers, to serve those additional kids, is really limited by the decrease in federal funding,” Dion said. 

Statewide, only 55% of children in the system have a CASA volunteer. Deschutes County is above the state average, but still not serving all young people who need it.

Anyone can volunteer to be a CASA. After signing up, completing a background check, application and interview, there is 40 hours of classroom training that one has to complete before they can be a CASA. 

This summer, Central Oregon CASA is offering an accelerated program in Redmond. Twice a week from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the one month program will help train volunteers to become a CASA in their community. The deadline to apply for the summer program is July 11. To learn more about being a CASA: casaofcentraloregon.org/volunteer.

“It is helping that child connect to resources. It’s helping get kids into summer camps. It’s identifying what the child’s needs are and making sure that, you know, the important people in their life are aware of it,” Dion said.