Story County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is bringing opportunity to several ISU students.

Steve Ward, head of the Story County CASA, said the national program began about 25 years ago and is active in 33 Iowa counties.

“The judge approached me who wanted it in Story County,” Ward said.

Participants in the program are children on probation, he said.

“The children are in a situation that cannot be resolved and with the CASA program, the child is protected,” said Ward.

Many children in the program are from backgrounds of abuse and neglect, he said.

Ward said children have food and shelter when sent to the detention center in Eldora.

The CASA program grew out of a judge and a group of court workers who were tired of the situation and who felt that a child needs safety and security.

Ward said with the CASA program, kids that previously would not have been given enough attention from the court system now will.

“There are kids who have been through horrible abuse and neglect and we have so many cases that we aren’t going to be able to make all those visits required,” Ward said.

Still, much work remains.

“We are swamped, and the volunteers with CASA can take one case at a time and that is all they have to focus on,” he said.

Ward said he is happy with the volunteer pool. Four undergraduate and two graduate volunteers currently assist with the program.

“We have over 60,000 volunteers and over one million children have been helped,” Ward said.

Teresa Bridges, senior in child and family services, said she heard about Story County CASA in a class and decided it was something she’d like to do.

Bridges was assigned a case last June.

“[The family I help] has six kids and I work with the three youngest, who I visit once a month,” she said.

Bridges said she plays with the kids and talks to their foster parents during her visits.

Carrie Baier, senior in child and family services, is the ISU intern for the program.

The volunteers are court appointed and they go into the designated homes to make sure needs are being met, she said.

Baier said volunteers go through a training program and do most of the legwork for the social workers who have too much work to do.

“[I’m] just another person making sure the well-being of the child is being met,” she said.