title: The Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program: bringing information to child abuse & neglect cases.
abstract: The Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program has been rapidly expanding in its 25-year history, although there has been little sound, empirical data assessing its value. The present study compared 21 judicial hearings regarding children who had a CASA with 20 hearings for children who were on a waiting list for a CASA. Judges, CASAs, and guardians ad litem provided the data for the study. The findings indicated that CASA involvement improves the breadth and quality of information provided to the courts. Unfortunately, CASA involvement also appears to decrease the involvement of the guardian ad litem. Implications of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center on Children, Families, and the Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 68588-0227, USA. vweisz1@unl.edu
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Weisz
authors.forename: Nghi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thai
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D002651:Child Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States