CASA of Southwest Iowa
Categories
Adult Volunteer Opportunity Human Service Organization
Hours:
8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Driving Directions:
Pottawattamie County Courthouse
About Us
In communities all across Iowa, there are abused or neglected children who need someone to stand up for them … someone who will be in their corner no matter what.
They have been removed from their homes and put under the supervision of the court system and the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) because their homes aren’t safe, their parents not capable of caring for them due to substance abuse, mental health problems or incarceration.
There were more than 11,460 abused or neglected children in Iowa in 2019 (9,532 of them referred for supervision by DHS) at a cost of nearly $230 million. More than 500 CASA volunteers served 1,340 children, contributing a value of close to $1.75 million. But for every one child who’s represented by a CASA, there are eight who aren’t.
If every child who needs a CASA had one, there would be fewer children in foster care, for less time, and more children who move toward a successful adulthood. CASAs help break generational cycles of abuse, neglect, and failure. CASAs help children know that someone cares, someone is THERE to speak for them.
