Since 1990, local Juvenile & Domestic Relations judges have appointed CASA volunteers to intervene in the lives of abused and neglected children by investigating the children’s circumstances, recommending helpful services, and protecting them from further abuse.
In our most recent fiscal year, which started on July 1, 2022 and ended on June 30, 2023:
- 40 volunteers advocated for 124 abused and neglected children in the city of Fredericksburg and the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania and King George.
- Our volunteers logged nearly 4,500 case hours on behalf of those children, a financial contribution to this community of $146,655, based on Independent Sector’s 2023 Value of Volunteer Time Report. That report estimates the value of an hour of volunteer time in Virginia at $32.59.
- Those volunteers also logged 10,808 “contacts,” or conversations with teachers, therapists, social workers, foster parents, parents and other service providers in the children’s lives to better understand the children’s needs and provide targeted advocacy.
- Of the 124 children CASAs served, 69 were pulled into foster care, 22 were placed – with their parents’ cooperation – with other relatives or family friends, and 33 remained in the care of their parents or guardians under Child Protective Orders or Child in Need of Services petitions.
- About 56% of the children we served were Caucasian while 23% were African-American and 21% were multi-racial. Roughly 22% of these children were Hispanic or Latino. And 70% of them were 12 or younger.
- Volunteers and staff members attended more than 200 court hearings on behalf of those children and filed 117 written reports for judges to consider. Within those reports, volunteers routinely make recommendations about the kinds of services they believe children and families should receive and ultimately, where they believe it’s safest for children to live – with parents who have improved their caretaking skills and made their homes safer; with a caring relative; or with an adoptive family. Of the recommendations CASAs made that judges considered, 95% were included in the court’s orders.
- Our volunteers complete 35 hours of pre-service training before ever receiving a case. In addition, they must complete 12 hours of ongoing training each year after they’re sworn in to maintain their certification. In calendar year 2022, our 24 veteran volunteers completed nearly 300 hours of continuing education on a range of topics, including how best to serve teenagers, the impact of trauma on children and families, culturally responsive child advocacy and how to help children build resilience.
- The average volunteer had 5½ years of experience with Rappahannock CASA – and our longest-serving volunteer had nearly 15 years under her belt and had served 54 children in her time with us.
