In 1977, Judge David Soukup, a Seattle-area juvenile court judge, founded the Court Appointed Special Advocates program when he was concerned that he was making drastic decisions for children and families without sufficient information.

“I realized that there was no one in the courtroom whose only job was to provide a voice for the children.”

His idea was for citizen volunteers to advocate for the best interests of the child, helping him and other judges get all the facts when deciding on the long-term welfare of a child before the court. Since then, the idea grew into a network of 933 CASA programs recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers in 49 states and Washington, D.C.

CASA of Maury County is part of the national organization, organized in the fall of 2005 by a group of committed and dedicated community leaders. Judge George “Buzz” Lovell wanted CASA in Maury County for several years and in September 2006, he administered the oath to the first class of ten CASA volunteers. These CASAs began serving the abused and neglected children of Maury County. To date, over 100 CASAs have helped more than 1400 children find safe and permanent homes in our community.