In Gila County, only about a third of children in foster care who could benefit from a court-appointed special advocate have one, leaving dozens to navigate the court system without a consistent adult by their side, according to the local CASA agency.
CASA volunteers are trained community members appointed by a judge to advocate for foster children who have become wards of the state — or minors living under the protective custody of the government — due to abuse or neglect. Volunteers help guide these children through foster care and the court systems as they find their way into adoption by a permanent family.
In Gila County, a shortage of volunteers means many children go without that support.
Volunteers come from all walks of life. Anyone age 21 or older who is committed to the program’s mission can apply. Volunteers undergo background checks and complete extensive training before being assigned to a case. They take an oath before the court to serve as an impartial voice for the children they are appointed to. Once paired with a child, the volunteer gets to know them, advocating for the child’s best interests in court.
“Really, your role is to advocate for these kids and to be there for them, because you're the one showing up in their lives,” said Gail Pechuli, who has volunteered as a Gila County CASA for the last two years.
A national program developed in the late 1970s, CASA was adopted by Arizona several years later and is funded by the Arizona lottery. Each of the state’s 15 counties has CASA programs, and the CASA program in Gila County has existed for nearly 40 years.
The need for volunteers locally, particularly in southern Gila County, is significant.
“Our goal as a program is a CASA for every child,” said Emily Nader, Gila County CASA coordinator. “We need more volunteers, countywide, but very specifically in Southern Gila County.”
The county program currently serves about 93 children in dependency cases, Nader said, but only about 32 have CASA volunteers. The county has about 25 active volunteers.
Because of the shortage, the program must prioritize higher-need cases. Volunteers based in Payson have been assigned to children in the Globe-Miami region due to the lack of local volunteers.
At the same time, the Arizona Department of Child Safety faces heavy caseloads.
“DCS is extremely overwhelmed. They have very high numbers per case manager,” Nader said. “So these kids don't get back one-on-one often enough. The case managers are frequently changing.”
Limited local resources also mean some children are placed outside the county.
“Due to a lack of foster homes and group homes in Gila County, a large portion of our children who are not placed with family are placed out of town,” Nader said.
This means changing schools, sometimes separation from siblings, and acclimating to a foster home and an entirely new setting.
“That support from a CASA is even more important a lot of times because of that,” said Gila County CASA volunteer Karol Braddock. “My little one has asked me to make sure that if she moves again that I will find her, that I will see her there.”
A CASA volunteer may be the only constant in the child’s life, the only person they can rely on.
“I felt like I was lost in the foster care system,” shared one survivor who goes by the name Ashley in the book “Someone There For Me,” a compilation of stories from former foster children. “Then I got a CASA.”
Separated from her mother due to substance abuse, she and her brother were cycled through foster homes and eventually wound up in one where they were subjected to abuse. The foster parents were eventually arrested for more than 30 counts of felony child abuse with torture.
After five years in the foster system, Ashley received a CASA who worked to get the abusive foster family’s license revoked and helped find Ashley a family and reunite with her brother.
When a child is assigned a CASA, the volunteer is asked to work with their assigned child until the child’s case is closed. Because of the time commitment, volunteers are often assigned to just one case at a time.
During that time, volunteers learn about the child’s background, family and medical history. They work with therapists, social workers, foster families, teachers and others involved in the case, and represent the child in the courtroom and advocate for decisions that are in the best interest of the child.
Because of the role a volunteer plays in a child’s life, judges rely heavily on CASA volunteers’ reports when making decisions. Volunteers can also make recommendations that may influence attorneys and child welfare officials.
“A social worker may have 50 cases they may deal with, a hundred kids, they may see a child once a month,” said Family Court Judge M. Brent Hall during an interview with CASA of the Heartland. “A CASA volunteer is a one-on-one adult that advocates for the child, advocates for the child's needs and wants.”
“A new set of eyes and a new resource, either for the child, for the court or for the family may be necessary to prevent us going down a very tragic path,” he said. “We can't do it without CASA, it's a resource that our system crumbles without.”
Braddock just finished a three-year case. In her seven years, she estimates she’s probably worked with nine to 10 kids, sometimes handling two cases at once and sometimes working with multiple kids in one case.
Volunteer Cris Gerard described the closure of her first case resulting in adoption of four Globe children after a year and a half.
“Adoption day in the court is a very, very happy day,” she said. “The judge is happy. Everybody is, thrilled that we've gotten to this point,”
CASA of Arizona requires 30 hours of pre-service training, followed by 12 hours of continuing education annually.
“Training really helped with finding out when kids are in need of mental health care, whether there's a trauma that happened and inflicted all of these things that are swimming in their minds, to help them process this, help them get to a place where they can feel safe,” Pechuli said.
After completing training and taking an oath in court, volunteers are matched with a child or sibling group in foster care.
Beyond training, volunteers say the role requires compassion and commitment.
“Be consistent and committed,” Gerard said. “Once you're in, you're in.”
“You really need to have a love for children and understanding for them and, you know, to be their support when they go through this system process,” Pechuli said.
“Some of the kids, they just want someone to talk to, someone that will listen to them,” Braddock said. “And that's such an easy gift to give them.”
One of Nader’s favorite success stories is about a CASA who worked with a teenager who struggled a lot in various ways, including with their behavioral and mental health.
“Towards the end of the case, the child told their DCS case manager that the only one they wanted to talk to was their CASA, because their CASA was the only person who understood them,” Nader said.
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