Enhanced VolunteerThe CASA movement began in 1977 when Judge David Soukup of Seattle, Washington, came up with the idea of trained community volunteers advocating for abused and neglected children. Judge Soukup felt he did not have sufficient information to make informed decisions in cases involving children. From his vision, CASA has spread across the country. There are now over 900 CASA programs nationwide with over 70,000 child advocates! Since its inception in 1977, CASA volunteers have advocated for more than 1,000,000 abused and neglected children.
The first CASA program in Kansas was developed in 1981 in Wichita, KS. In 1988 Sunflower CASA Project began in Riley county. Our program then branched out to Clay county in 1991 serving all of the 21st Judicial District. Then in 2001, we expanded again to Pottawatomie county, a member of the 2nd Judicial district.