Sworn in last week on June 17th by the Eighth Judicial District Court Family Division, 19 new Court Appointed Special Advocates in Clark County, Nevada, just took an oath that will change the lives of dozens of children. These new advocates are now part of a national network of trained volunteers who speak up in court for children in foster care.
The 19 new volunteers are expected to help 38 children. Court Appointed Special Advocates in Clark County now total 616 active volunteers, with 486 currently assigned to active cases. That growth says something important: more community members are stepping up to make sure foster children are not just case numbers moving through a system, but young people whose voices reach the judges deciding their futures.
What Court Appointed Special Advocates Do
A Court Appointed Special Advocate is not a lawyer and not a caseworker, but can still act on behalf of a child in foster care in similar ways.
A CASA volunteer is a trained community member who builds a relationship with a child in foster care, then gathers information from everyone involved in that child life, including caregivers, teachers, therapists, and social workers, before reporting back to the court.
That report becomes one of the most important pieces of information a judge has. CASA volunteers make a real difference for children who have experienced abuse or neglect, forming bonds with the kids they serve and pulling together the information judges need to make decisions in a child’s best interest.
For many foster youth, a CASA volunteer becomes the one consistent adult presence through an otherwise unstable and confusing process. A study conducted by the CASA/GAL Association found that CASA volunteers play a vital role by providing personalized support, fierce advocacy, and encouragement, often described as more accessible than other professionals or agencies involved in a young person’s case.
The Growing Need for Court Appointed Special Advocates in Clark County and Beyond
Clark County’s growth to 616 active volunteers is meaningful, but it also reflects how much need exists. The national CASA network now serves more than 200,000 children annually, a number that has continued to grow since the first program began in Washington state in 1977. Even with that growth, the national supply of CASA volunteers has never been enough for every child in foster care to be appointed one, meaning judges must decide which children receive an advocate and which do not.
In California alone, 7,582 CASA volunteers supported 10,844 foster children in 2025 by contributing nearly 390,000 hours. Every state’s numbers tell a version of the same story: more children need an advocate than there are volunteers to serve them, and the swearing-in of court appointed special advocates in Clark County is one small but meaningful step toward closing that gap.
A Story That Repeats Across the Country
What is happening in Clark County is not an isolated event. It is part of a much larger pattern playing out in courtrooms nationwide, where ordinary community members choose to give their time so that a child’s voice is heard. Foster Love sees this same spirit in the partners, volunteers, and donors who support our work every day. Whether someone is sworn in as a court appointed special advocate in Las Vegas or packs a STEM box for a foster youth on the other side of the country, the underlying belief is the same: every child in foster care deserves an adult who shows up for them.
MAKE A CHILD’S LIFE IN FOSTER CARE BETTER
