What s a CASA?
Court-appointed special advocates, called CASAs, are trained volunteers who help children impacted by the welfare or justice systems navigate the judicial process, serving as their adult eyes and ears and mentors who can help them access needed services.
What s a GAL?
Guardians ad-litem, or GALs, are volunteer investigators appointed by the court to represent a child s best interest in family court cases, typically involving divorce, custody and adoption cases. Sometimes, but not always, GALs are trained lawyers or mental health professionals.
Why did Child Advocates lose its contract?
Child Advocates had performed CASA services in Marion County courts since the 1980s. The city s decision to allow the contract to expire was influenced by an external assessment of the organization s finances and reporting to the Office of Public Health and Safety.
The organization that has provided court-appointed advocates for children passing through the Marion County judicial system for nearly 40 years has pulled out of contract negotiations more than a week before the new contract takes effect May 1.
The move throws into uncertainty the county s ability to provide enough guardians ad litem or child advocates, known as GALs or CASAs, to children who find themselves navigating legal dilemmas in the judicial system, like divorces, child abuse or neglect cases.
Child Advocates had been the court s provider of court-appointed special advocate services since 1982, but an external audit completed in January raised flags about how the organization was spending city funds. The city s contract with Child Advocates that started January 2020 for $5.4 million had to be re-negotiated twice to be increased to $8.8 million, according to the Office of Public Health and Safety.