At our regular Club meeting on September 24, 2026, we heard from Josie Martinez, Community Engagement Manager for CASA of Adams and Broomfield Counties. Martinez is a passionate advocate for CASA and her energy was contagious. CASA stands for Court-Appointed Special Advocate. In Colorado, each CASA organization is a 501(c)(3) that serves a particular judicial district at the state level. There are 18 judicial districts in Colorado and therefore 18 CASA organizations. Nationwide, there are some 900 CASA organizations. A CASA advocate serves as a child’s voice in the court system. Most often, advocates get appointed in cases involving dependency and/or neglect, although sometimes, truancy or other issues bring a child into the court system under circumstances appropriate for appointment of an advocate.
CASA has three programs: (1) dependency and neglect, (2) truancy and (3) Family Engagement, with the third being largely preventative. Last fiscal year (July to June), CASA of Adams and Broomfield Counties provided advocates for well over 300 children. This fiscal year, some 230 children were awaiting advocates as of the date of the presentation.
Each CASA advocate gets assigned one and only one client child. The advocates meet with their client child at least twice per month. Meetings enable the advocate to get to know and observe the child and the child’s family situation. This helps the advocate understand the child’s needs and to articulate those needs to the judge and other participants in the court proceedings. Advocates work alongside lawyers, case workers and other professionals. In court proceedings, which can be intimidating, children are not often their own best advocates. Nor do they necessarily understand what their own needs. This is especially true for younger children. Everyone involved in these proceedings wants what is best for the child. Where it is safe, everyone also wants to keep the child with their family, per Martinez. The other participants in the proceedings tend to give the advocate’s views a lot of weight. Many of the client children have remarked that the CASA advocate is the most consistent person in their life.
Advocates tend to devote 10-15 hours per month to the child. This includes meetings with the child, attendance at court hearings and independent research. Advocates further must commit to staying with the program for at least 18 months. Before being accepted, potential advocates undergo a background check. Once accepted, advocates get fingerprinted. The advocate position starts with 2.5 full days of classroom training. All advocates have a supervisor and an obligation to keep confidential, all information they receive about the client child and the child’s circumstances. CASA advocacy generally ends either when the case is closed or when the child turns 18 with the case still open. Most cases end within the 18-month commitment period.
There are other ways to support CASA of Adams and Broomfield Counties besides being an advocate. These include volunteering in another capacity and offering financial support, for example. For more information about CASA of Adams and Broomfield Counties, you can visit https://casa17th.org.