You have the best of intentions in wanting to become a CASA volunteer. However, since we ask for a long and sometimes difficult period of commitment, it is vital to the children, the Court, the CASA program, and yourself that you make this decision based on full knowledge of your own expectations and those of the program. Please take time to seriously consider the implications of the following questions and statements.

1. Do you have the time? Two to four hours per week may not seem like much time at all, but don’t be fooled. Think of the times you finally finish work and dread going to an evening meeting…or, after feeding your family, taking a pet to the vet and returning home just to write a report. How many times have you wished you had just one hour to yourself? If your CASA children call on a free Saturday afternoon and need to talk, are you willing to give up a weekend afternoon? Will you really make the time, not only to see the children every 7-10 days, but also to see teachers, caseworkers, parents and others? Is your work schedule flexible enough to allow you to attend a court hearing?
2. Have you recently gone through changes? In what shape is your own life? Have you recently had a life change such as divorce or marriage or medical problems? Have you lost someone especially close? Have you started a new job or had a baby or other persons added to your family? Are you still healing from your own neglect or abuse, and if so, how close to the surface are those feelings?
3. Is your work or school pressure likely to change? Are you about to take on a new position or add responsibility to the one you have now? Is there a real possibility you’ll be transferred within the next year? Are you entering your senior year at college and expect extra pressure? Do you expect to graduate and likely leave the community within the next 18 months?
4. What about your family? Do you already sometimes feel as though you aren’t spending enough time with your own family? Do you have large or especially intense family responsibilities? Have you talked with your family about taking on this role? How do they feel about it?
5. What kind of role model will you be? Have you had positive experiences with your own or other children in the past? Are you comfortable with children and aware of their need to be the children they are? Are you mature enough to be the adult a child could count on to speak up for them? Are you mature enough to do that speaking with angry parents, difficult professionals, attorneys attempting to make you look incompetent, judges and, most important, again, a hurt, wondering and frightened child?
6. What do you want from this assignment? Are you looking for a “little brother” or “little sister,” rather than a role of advocacy? Are you hoping to be a heroine or hero, charging in on a silvery steed to save these children from harm? Do you expect the children to think you’re the best thing since sliced bread? Are you going to teach these terrible parents or this incredibly stupid system a lesson?
7. Do you need immediate results/rewards? Are you able to await factual substantiation before making up your mind about parents and others? Are you able to maintain a high level of energy over a period of months, even if you feel the system should have acted differently in the beginning? Can you accept that others may need a much longer time to accomplish things you have already done or can do in a short order?
8. Can you avoid feeling “it’s my way or the highway”? Can you agree that other people’s lifestyles, though different from yours, can be acceptable for children provided they aren’t illegal or harmful to the children in a specific, provable way?
9. How strong are you? With the help of the CASA staff, other CASA volunteers and your friends and family, can you take care of yourself through emotionally stressful and powerful periods so that we don’t abandon the children?
10. Can you let go? After 18 months of intensive advocacy for “your” kids, will you be able to stand back to let the birth parents (or surrogate parents chosen by the court) take on their proper responsibility? Can you remember to be the adult so the children can just be children? Can you move on and let them do the same? 

Welcome to the world of CASA—a world of difficult questions and hard decisions. It is our hope that rather than being threatening in any way, this material is helpful to you in making your first big decision – “Should I go on?” If you would like to discuss any of the questions or statements please call the Washtenaw County Trial Court—Juvenile Court CASA Coordinator at 734-222-6900.

CASA Volunteer Application--(PDF)

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