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HISTORY
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Brush Country CASA (formerly known as CASA of Kleberg County) is located in
Kleberg County, in the city of Kingsville, Texas. We are located in the heart
of an area known as the "Brush Country" - a large, vast, and rural area
comprising 5,929 square miles. The Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program began in Seattle, Washington in 1977 by Judge David Soukup, the presiding judge of King County Superior Court. Judge David W. Soukup felt that due to an overburdened system, he wasn't getting the facts needed to make a well-informed decision affecting the future of the children whose cases where before him. He believed it was feasible to recruit and train qualified community volunteers to step into the court room and speak up on behalf of the children. "In criminal and civil cases, even though there were many different points in view, you walk out of the courthouse at the end of the day and you said, 'I've done my best, I can live with this decision'," he explains. In 1978, a nationwide study was conducted for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to evaluate volunteer programs in juvenile courts. Currently there are over 800 with more than 42,000 volunteers serving over 164,000 children. In 1982, it was clear that a national association was needed to direct CASA's emerging national presence. The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association was formed that year. On April 22, 1985, President Ronald Reagan presented the National CASA Association with the Presidents Volunteer Action Award for "outstanding volunteer contribution, demonstrating accomplishment through voluntary action." In August of 1989, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges named CASA "Outstanding Volunteer Program" in America's juvenile and family courts. Today, the National CASA Association represents 710 CASA programs in all 50 states, Washinton D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It provides support for starting programs, technical assistance, training, and fund-raising, media, and public awareness services. | |
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