179 [S3E26]: How Court-Appointed Special Advocates Go to Bat for Children in Need

A person who advocates in court for those who can't for themselves is known as a guardian ad litem. But there's an even greater need for children who have suffered abuse and/or neglect and find themselves lost in the justice system. Every state except North Dakota has court-appointed special advocates, or "CASAs" for short. Despite being an integral part of the local justice system, Monroe County's CASA system [is not funded by] gets only partial funding from county government; it became a nonprofit more than 40 years ago. 

Our guest today, Tia Arthur, is the executive director of Monroe County CASA. She and a dozen employees and a hundred volunteers provide advocacy for more than 75 cases serving more than 200 children in the justice system through no fault of their own. But another [50] 60 are on the waitlist for a CASA. Arthur talks about the need for CASAs, what the intensive training requirements and challenges are like...and what it's like for a CASA to have to name an infant! But they also  the local nonprofit manages related programs, like their Child Visit Monitor program, for people with less time to volunteer but still want to help.

UPDATE March 28: Monroe County CASA reached out with corrections to the figures they gave us in this episode. It's more than 200 children being served by CASA through 75 cases, and almost 60 children who are on their waiting list for an advocate. Also, while the nonprofit organization is indeed not a county agency, they do receive some county funds, which they're grateful for. [Corrections made above via boldface and brackets.