First and foremost Piedmont Court Appointed Special Advocates helps the Court truly hear and understand the needs and desires of abused and neglected children - in all their complexity - during the specific period of time allotted for the court to place these children in safe, permanent homes. This mission imposes an ambitious goal that on the best of days we work overtime to meet. But there's more.

Raising Consciousness by Training Advocates
Perhaps less obvious are the ways that CASA programs promote positive social change through their impact on the advocates themselves, as well as other adults in the community. The underlying (and ingenious) blueprint of the CASA program, which recruits and trains citizen volunteers to provide this highly hands-on advocacy, by its very nature raises community awareness about the plight of children and families who struggle to maintain minimal standards for physical or emotional health and well being. In this way, CASA volunteers gain precious insight into exactly those children who fall between the proverbial cracks - children who isolate themselves and do not achieve in the classroom, middle-schoolers who board the bus each morning from a group home because they no longer live with their families, teenagers we demonize when they act out or cause harm to others. Each year, our program staff of seven enables close to a hundred community members to expand their awareness of and sensitivity to the needs of these "invisible" children in our midst.

Getting Other Community Members Involved
Piedmont CASA also provides meaningful opportunities for people unable to make the commitment to train and be inducted as advocates to reach out to the abused and neglected children of their community. While carefully protecting each child's identity, CASA's outreach efforts encourage all community members to understand our children and their families as human beings instead of statistics. The GE Volunteers present a great example of the wider community's embrace of the children CASA serves. For the past five years, G.E. Fanuc employees have donated dozens of individually chosen backpacks for the beginning of school in addition to generous and personally wrapped holiday gifts each December. CASA supervisors supply the GE volunteers with a list of children identified only by their age, gender, and grade in school; for the holiday gifts CASA volunteers also provide specific suggestions for one item their CASA child wants and one item that child needs. CASA volunteers then deliver the gifts so graciously chosen and donated by the GE Volunteers; these magic gift-givers never meet or learn the name of the recipient of their generosity.

This presents a unique connection between the CASA volunteer and fellow citizens who share their concern about children. In their thank you letters to GE Volunteer organizer Kristie Spencer, CASA volunteers reveal great empathy for the children they serve, as well as a great appreciation for the children's perseverance and resiliency. These advocates know their children and they care deeply about them. They want other people to care about them, or children in similar situations, as well.

Spreading the Exposure, Extending the Commitment
In her letter of thanks, CASA volunteer Lindsay Schwab wished " to express my heartfelt gratitude for the gifts that you provided for my 'CASA kids.' They got exactly what they wanted, and everything that they asked for. This was a new experience for them." Phil Giaramita wrote, " For the past few years I have been a CASA volunteer for a young man who has struggled with his self-esteem and his ability to trust the advice of others... The thoughtfulness of the GE Volunteers in providing gifts to this young man had an immeasurable effect on his outlook. I know he found it hard to believe that someone he didn't know could care enough about him to think about his happiness. One of the highlights of my time with him was in 2005 when he took the Wal-Mart gift certificate he received from your organization and instead of using it for himself, gave it to his mother so she could redeem it for something she really needed." Mary Martin expressed her thanks for the gifts provided to an eight year-old child, adding, "this little girl has had a tough year, with a lot of moves, tension, and anxiety. I know that it helped to have some great gifts on Christmas morning to open, to feel like life was normal again." Dena Lawton emphasized that, "I am a CASA volunteer working with a 12 year-old child who has had a tough year. Your thoughtfulness and generosity helped make his Christmas wonderful. I wish you could see with your own eyes what a difference your kindness made for this fine boy."

As these letters movingly attest, CASA volunteers' abiding compassion and insight make them more effective champions for the children they serve. They are roving ambassadors not only for this program and for the children we serve, but also for the needs and feelings of abused and neglected children everywhere. The CASA program's strategic involvement of a great number of volunteers who devote a portion of their time to one child, as opposed to a small number of professionals who devote a great deal of time to a great many clients, enables a larger number of people to gain exposure to the lives of children at risk. By casting our net ever wider to include volunteers who give in a variety of different capacities, we increase the potential for new efforts and alliances among community members which will strengthen our community's ability to protect children from abuse and neglect, and help those already affected to go forward in the face of difficult challenges.