Every year, hundreds of children are abused and/or neglected by the very people they trust and depend on to protect and love them. Because these parents are unable or unwilling to care for their children, these helpless children end up in foster care or group homes. Eventually they end up in the juvenile court system where it is up to a judge to decide their future.
The goal of CASA is a safe and permanent home for abused and neglected children.
Research demonstrates that abused and neglected children who rapidly find a safe, permanent home in which to heal can overcome their trauma; those who don’t often experience:
School failure
Joblessness
Welfare dependency
Become abusers themselves
Criminality
Mental illness
The Kids Count 2010 data book has recently been released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It includes national and state-by-state data and rankings on ten key indicators of child well-being. Unfortunately, Georgia has consistently ranked near the bottom of the states. The 2010 Georgia ranking was #42. You can get more information and access data from Kids Count 2010.
In August, the Office Depot Foundation, through a partnership with National CASA, donated 7,500 backpacks for foster children in Georgia. Affiliate CASA programs from across the state came to Atlanta to receive backpacks for distribution to the children they serve. A very special thank you goes to Chick-fil-A, Inc., for donating warehouse space and helping with loading when affiliate programs picked up their backpacks. View photos on our Facebook page!