Who We Are
Friends of CASA of Delaware and Union Counties is the nonprofit supporting organization for CASA of Delaware and Union Counties. While CASA volunteers advocate directly for children involved in the court system, Friends of CASA works alongside the CASA program to provide additional resources and support that help make the advocacy possible. Through fundraising and community support, Friends of CASA helps meet special and unexpected needs of children, creates opportunities and experiences that can make a meaningful difference in their lives, and provides resources that support CASA volunteers who advocate for them.
Mission
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program of Delaware and Union Counties recruits, screens, trains and supports community volunteers to advocate in court for child victims of abuse and neglect.
Vision
Every child deserves a powerful and consistent voice in court, and a safe and permanent home.
CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes. Volunteers stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home.
Independent research has demonstrated that children with a CASA volunteer are substantially less likely to spend time in long-term foster care and less likely to reenter care.
A Message from our Judges
David A. Hejmanowski has served as the Judge of the Probate/Juvenile Division of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas since February 2015.
Rick Rodger has served as the Judge of the Union County Common Pleas/Juvenile-Probate Court since 2020.
CASA
1977
The History of CASA
In 1977, a Seattle Juvenile Court Judge found himself faced with making life changing placement decisions about children he knew very little about. He never felt confident he had their entire story, and was deeply concerned about what might happen if he made the “wrong” decision. Out of this concern grew the idea for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).
CASA of Delaware County was founded in 1984 as a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, volunteer-based program. In 2016 the program grew with the addition of services to Union County, transitioned into a program of the Delaware County Juvenile Court and the Union County Juvenile Court.