CASA for Hunt County History

History of CASA

In 1976, Superior Court Judge David Soukup of Seattle, WA, saw a recurring problem in his courtroom:

"In criminal and civil cases, even though there were always many different points of view, you walked out of the courtroom at the end of the day and you said, 'I've done my best; I can live with this decision," he explains.

"But when you're involved with a child and you're trying to decide what to do to facilitate that child's growth into a mature and happy adult, you don't feel like you have sufficient information to allow you to make the right decision. You can't walk away and leave them at the courthouse at 4 o'clock. You wonder, 'Do I really know everything I should? Have I really been told all the different things? Is this really right?"

To ensure he was getting all the facts and the long-term welfare of each child was being represented, Seattle Judge Soukap came up with an idea that would change America's judicial procedure and the lives of over a million children. He obtained funding to recruit and train community volunteers to step in the courtroom on behalf of the children: Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers.

To-date, there are over 950 CASA programs nationwide and over 70,000 CASA volunteers. Thank you Judge Soukup!

CASA for Hunt County

CASA for Hunt County is a member of Texas CASA and an organizational member of National CASA. We have been in operation since October of 2002. Since our inception we have served over 600 children in our community and logged over 11, 783 volunteer hours (and counting). Through our commitment to the children and the volunteer service we provide to the courts, it can be argued that we have saved the county $586,000 through our volunteer service.

We desperately need more volunteers. Please consider joining our organization and become a powerful voice in a child's life.

For more information about other Texas CASA programs, please visit www.texascasa.org or www.becomeacasa.org .