About CASA
Our Mission
Knox County CASA’s mission is to recruit, screen, and train community volunteers to advocate for the best interest of children in Knox County who are victims of child abuse and neglect or otherwise endangered. CASA volunteers will make recommendations to the court in the child’s best interests to ensure a safe and permanent home.
Knox County CASA advocates for the best interest of abused and neglected children in court. We promote and support unbiased advocacy representation for all children to ensure that each child has a safe, permanent home as quickly as possible.
The success of our agency’s goals relies on the active involvement of the community. Knox County CASA welcomes and encourages advocates to participate at all levels and in all relevant programs and activities.
Our Values
Adaptability
We seek opportunities, embrace challenges, and accept changes that will improve our work supporting the network. We are willing to adapt our thinking and behavior to address the changing conditions around us.
- Maintaining productivity despite the occurrence of unknown situations
- Thinking innovatively and outside perceived boundaries to solve a problem
- Making quick and effective decisions when confronted with challenges and crises
Collaboration
We collaborate with each other, the national board, state and local programs and other stakeholders to effectively and creatively carry out our mission. We see each other as allies on whom we can rely for support. In the face of difficulties, we remain a team.
- Maintaining the environment of team work and growth
- Being considerate of other points of view when working in a team to accomplish a certain goal
- Communicating openly up, down, and across the organization
Integrity
We are committed to being responsive, respectful, honest, fair and humane. We address problems directly with each other, immediately. We express appreciation and recognize a job well done.
- Honoring our commitments
- Adhering to the highest professional standards
- Being accountable to our stakeholders for our actions, successes, and failures
- Operating legally and ethically, contributing our time, resources and know-how to improve the organization and benefit those served by the network
Respect
We respect and celebrate differences and strive to be welcoming.
- Giving due respect to self and others
- Fostering a trusting and open environment at all levels within the organization
- Being conscious of the dynamics inherent in communities
- Managing the dynamics of difference, and acquiring and institutionalizing cultural knowledge
Quality
We pursue excellence in everything we do to support our member network in providing the best advocacy for abused and neglected children. We evaluate our work and strive for continuous improvement.
- Putting the heart and mind in the work to get the best results
- Continually striving to increase our individual and collective professional knowledge and skills and to apply them to our work supporting local programs
- Working hard, celebrating our successes, and learning from our failures
- Benchmarking our work and adopting best practices across the network
Service
We believe that each employee has an integral role to play in delivering excellent service to our network of local programs and state organizations, our donors, to each other and to our stakeholders. We listen and respond to the needs of our network, each other and our stakeholders.
- Being efficient and effective in our approach to generate the best solution each time
- Giving the best world class service and achieving excellence each passing day
- Acting with integrity at all times, providing quality service, being reliable and responsible to our stakeholders
Stewardship
We operate from a common purpose, doing what is best for the organization, the CASA/GAL Network and its stakeholders. We are faithful to our mission, vision and values and endeavor to achieve long term financial sustainability. Careful and responsible management of all the financial and human resources we have been entrusted to use to advance the mission of the organization.
- Upholding the National CASA/GAL Association Mission, Vision and Values
- Valuing sustainable progress as much as immediate achievements in developing long term programmatic and financial partnerships
- Taking ownership of organizational and stakeholder success
- Building a better, stronger and more durable organization
- Exercising a high level of transparency around the financial resources we have been entrusted to manage
Our History
Knox County Youth Development Commission formed to examine the need for a GAL/CASA program
Knox County CASA Program operated under the umbrella agency of Children & Family Services (CFS)
Knox County CASA was established in May 20, 1985, as a non-profit, thanks to Superior Court Judge Theobald. Theobald was the founder of Children and Family Services.
Kay Niehaus is named Executive Director.
Jackie Foley replaces Kay Niehaus as Executive Director.
Dena Held replaces Jackie Foley as Executive Director.
Knox County CASA moved to a Court Program
Denise Swink replaces Dena Held as Executive Director.
Received VOCA grant, Victims of Crime Act
Friends of Knox County CASA, Incorporated, Non-profit aid in support and supplying us with the opportunity to hold an annual Golf Scramble/outreach
Family Recovery Court
Zero children on the waitlist, Covid-19 Affected Caseload
40 years of Knox County CASA
A Brighter Future for Our Community
Children who have experienced abuse or neglect fare better with a CASA/GAL volunteer by their side. Studies have shown:
They are
MORE LIKELY
to find a safe, permanent home
They are
MORE LIKELY
to succeed in school
They are
half as likely
to re-enter the foster care system
The Hearts Behind the Mission
Meet the dedicated staff, advocates, and community leaders working every day to ensure children in Knox County have a voice, a champion, and a brighter path forward.
Hover each face to learn more about our team.
Frequently Asked Questions
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA volunteers are trained community members appointed by a judge to advocate for the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect.
CASA volunteers build relationships with children, gather information from everyone involved in the child’s life, and provide recommendations to the court to help ensure the child has a safe and permanent home.
CASA volunteers come from all walks of life. Volunteers must be at least 21 years old, complete training, pass background checks, and have a heart for helping children.
Most CASA volunteers dedicate approximately 10–15 hours per month to their assigned case, including visits, communication, and court-related activities.
No. CASA provides all necessary training and ongoing support. No legal or social work background is required.
It’s not easy to be a CASA volunteer. It can be time consuming, frustrating and at times, and heartbreaking. But, at other times, it is incredibly rewarding. It is rewarding when you realize that without you, the judge wouldn’t have known a key piece of information that impacted his/her decision; or the child wouldn’t have received desperately needed therapy or services without your input; or that a parent wouldn’t have received needed resources that helped them create a safe and stable home for the child. Moments like these make it all worthwhile.
CASA volunteers can specify the age and gender preferences of the children they would like to work with.* Volunteers are assigned one child or a set of siblings at a time so they can focus on giving them the individualized advocacy and attention they need.
*Please keep in mind that these requests cannot always be accommodated.
CASA volunteers are appointed to children who have come to the attention of the juvenile court system due to abuse or neglect. Like a mentoring program, the CASA volunteer does develop a relationship with the child through frequent contact; however, the primary role of the CASA volunteer is to gather information about the child, write reports to the court and attend court hearings. The CASA program is not a mentoring program. The CASA volunteer does not go on social outings with the child or play an active role in the child’s day-to-day life. Instead, the CASA volunteer is involved with the child and the case while the child is in foster care, to help him or her during this difficult time, to help have the best possible outcome. Once the case has ended, the CASA volunteer does not typically remain involved in the child’s life.
Volunteers typically stay with a case until it is resolved in court, which usually lasts a year, but could go on longer if the children cannot be reunified with their parents.
Children are referred to CASA through the court system in cases involving abuse or neglect.
Yes.
Absolutely. CASA programs rely on donations, community partnerships, event support, and awareness efforts to continue serving children in need.
You can apply online, attend an information session, or contact our team to learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer or supporting our mission.