Court Appointed Special Advocates® (CASA of Allegheny County) is a non-profit, social service, community organization in Pittsburgh, PA that recruits and trains volunteers to advocate for children who are before the court as a result of abuse or neglect as defined by the state child welfare laws, living at home or in out-of-home care. No fee is ever charged for this service. Every day, CASA works to expand community activism and awareness regarding dependent children and to promote a child welfare system that is child-focused in its politics and decision making. In 1992, the horrible death of a child in foster care sparked a task force created to address ways to avoid such a tragedy. CASA is named as a potential system improvement and, by 1993, system professionals secured a grant to begin CASA in Allegheny County. Our Mission: To ensure that every child has a safe, supportive and permanent home by providing volunteer advocacy for the best interests of abused and neglected children within the child welfare system. There is no easy answer to the ever-present "What is a CASA?" •A CASA is a volunteer who makes a difference in the lives of children. CASAs are assigned to the most complicated cases of children who have been victims of terrible abuse or neglect. •Our volunteers visit children regularly, contact caseworkers, interview parents, doctors, teachers and therapists, review records, report to the court and testify – all to ensure necessary safety, care and, most importantly, permanence. •Our volunteers make sure that the system operates on a child’s sense of time, being mindful that children are waiting for big decisions to be made. CASA of Allegheny County trains and supports our remarkable volunteers to do the important and life-changing work that they do on behalf of the children they serve.