The Indiana Supreme Court is working with National Court Appointed Special Advocates to strengthen the partnership between CASA and The American Legion.  A proposal is under consideration by The American Legion to provide further support to Court Appointed Special Advocates.  Media are invited to learn more about the proposal and how a continued partnership will help children.

Monday, May 4th
1:45 p.m.
Indianapolis Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre
21st Floor, Room: Panorama A
31 West Ohio

Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard will meet with National Court Appointed Special Advocates CEO Michael Piraino on May 4th in Indianapolis.  Piraino and Indiana State GAL/CASA Director Leslie Dunn will meet with American Legion leaders, including Dennis Boland, President of The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation, Monday as well.

The National CASA Association represents the more than 68,000 volunteers in over 970 locations across the country. Last year, CASA and GAL volunteers served nearly a quarter million children, about one-third of the over 780,000 children in foster care.

The American Legion serves as a voice for veterans.  The non-profit group is a community-service organization with 2.6 million members in more than 14,000 American Legion posts worldwide.  The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation supports National CASA’s efforts to recruit and train CASA volunteers for the children that need them.  The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation has also provided grants to National CASA in support of its mission.
In Indiana, Guardian Ad Litem/Court Appointed Special Advocates is a mostly volunteer program.  It is run independently in 67 counties. CASA volunteers come from all walks of life and, after at least 30 hours of training, are appointed by judges to speak for the safety and well being of abused and neglected children.  Research shows that a child with a CASA volunteer is half as likely to spend time in long term foster care and is substantially more likely to find a safe permanent home.  
Indiana Directors from across the state recently provided lawmakers with a 2008 Progress Report which highlighted the following:

• 2,498 GAL/CASA volunteers advocated for abused and neglected children
• GAL/CASA programs recruited and trained 911 new volunteers in 2008
• The new volunteers represent a 50% increase in the number of new volunteers from 2007
• GAL/CASA volunteers provided a voice for 14,004 children in abuse/neglect cases
• GAL/CASA volunteers provided a voice for 2,897 children in termination of parental rights cases
• Volunteers donated 422,841 hours advocating for Indiana’s children
• Those hours saved the State of Indiana an estimated $21 million
• There are still over 4,000 children waiting for a volunteer to guide them through foster care, and advocate for their best interests in court

The Indiana legislature provides funding for the statewide programs.  The Indiana Supreme Court distributes that funding and provides support to the program through its Division of State Court Administration.