What Does It Mean To Be "A Friend of the Court?"

It's difficult to remember in the heat of the moment what your role as a CASA volunteer is intended to be. You come to the job wanting to help, and in your desire to do all that you can to serve the best interests of abused and neglected children, it's tempting to want to stretch the role and operate outside the boundaries of the CASA program.

The staff of Tri-County CASA knows this. You wouldn't be a volunteer if your heart wasn't as big as the Dallas metroplex.

The beauty of the CASA volunteer's role is this: there is much that we can do to help abused and neglected children...and there are things we just can't do, and it's in our own best interest to know which one applies at any given moment.

Here in the Great State of Oklahoma, your role as a CASA volunteer is that of "Friend of the Court," defined as follows:

"In this model, the volunteer’s role is one of impartial observer, conducting the investigation as the judge would if time permitted. The CASA volunteer has not been given party status in this model. Her role is to function as an investigator (fact-finder) and monitor, working directly for the judge. The CASA volunteer presents a written report to the court and may testify if called as a witness. The CASA volunteer’s primary role is to ensure that the parties carry out the court’s orders. Programs using this model are often administered by non-profit agencies that have a commitment to child welfare issues."

The most important elements of the CASA as Friend of the Court role include:

1. Understanding the relationship between yourself and the court. You are to "conduct the investigation as the judge would if time permitted." This means thinking about the questions the judge might ask when assembling your report, and bringing back the pertinent details to court.

2. Maintaining impartiality. Our role isn't to decide who's a good or bad candidate for placement. We collect information and and bring the information to the court and the judge decides. We are human. We have opinions. But at the end of the day, the judge is the person who must make (and live with) the decision.

3. Remembering your status in the process. You are not a party to the case. You are an officer of the court, acting as the court's eyes and ears out in the community. As such, you cannot make motions on behalf of the child. You cannot dispense legal advice. You cannot provide any services to the child or the family. You work for the judge, and the judge only.

Frustration often sets in when we see precisely what needs to be done for the child, but we are constricted by the confines of our role. We begin bargaining with ourselves, negotiating which rules were made to be broken, and before long, we're off in a field by ourselves.

If you are feeling this way, call your Advocate Coordinator. There are things that can be done to help smooth the way, but those activities are the role of CASA staff.