The National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Association for Children (National CASA/GAL)

Program Overview and Background

National CASA/GAL, along with our nationwide network of 950 state and local CASA/GAL programs, serves children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect. A majority of those children and youth served by our member programs have been removed from their homes and are in foster care. The CASA/GAL mentor ensures the children and youth have a consistent and highly trained adult by their side to advocate for their best–interest in court and navigate through the complex foster care system to achieve permanency, safety and well–being.

Program Services

National CASA/GAL supports our member programs across the country that recruit, train and support more than 93,000 CASA/GAL mentors in their advocacy on behalf of the country’s most vulnerable children and youth in 49 states (all but North Dakota) and the District of Columbia. National CASA/GAL develops and implements standards, training requirements and curriculum, technical assistance and other resources that support the consistent delivery of quality best interest advocacy to abused and neglected children through our network. Resources developed by National CASA/GAL enable member program staff and volunteers to place their energy behind the work of helping vulnerable children. CASA/GAL mentors are uniquely qualified through their training and are matched by CASA/GAL staff who align the youth’s needs with the mentor’s qualities and strengths. CASA/GAL mentors are appointed by juvenile court judges, which provides them with broad access to the children with whom they have been matched—home, school, and neighborhood—in order to facilitate high quality one–on–one relationships.

Target Population

The age range of children and youth that will be served is 0–17 as neglect and abuse are not exclusive to age. The target population for the program includes American Indian/Alaskan Native youth, children of incarcerated parents, youth impacted by the opioid crisis, and youth living in rural communities.