Welcome to the Volunteer Page

STAND UP FOR A CHILD. SECURE A BETTER FUTURE.

Every child needs someone in their corner. But for a young person facing the complex foster care system, that one trusted adult can be hard to find. As a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), you can make all the difference in the world to an Alameda County youth. With training and support from ACCASA, and a commitment of a few hours each week, you help advocate for a child in legal proceedings, family visitations, and educational, medical and mental health needs. You collaborate with child welfare and legal professionals to ensure each child’s story is heard and their needs are addressed. Your mentorship expands their world through enriching experiences and activities, showing a child the life skills that lead to educational opportunities, positive relationships, and purposeful lifestyles. ACCASA volunteers often forge bonds that last into successful adulthood, a powerful measure of one person’s ability to affect real change.

Upcoming Virtual Info Sessions
Are you interested in standing up for a child?

Learn if being a CASA Volunteer is right for you! At the virtual info session, you will hear a brief history of CASA, our mission, and the role of a CASA Volunteer. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions to a volunteer!

Thursday, June 26th, 2025, 6:30 – 7:45 pm PDT

Saturday, July 5th, 2025, 10:00 – 11:15 am PDT

Thursday, July 10th, 2025, 12:00 – 1:15 pm PDT

Monday, July 14th, 2025, 4:00 – 5:15 pm PDT

 

How Do I Get Started?

The Alameda County CASA program must ensure the safety of children so the process for volunteering is thorough and comprehensive.

  1. See Upcoming Information Sessions on left of screen to sign up to attend for the date of your choice. 
  2. Once you’ve attended an Information Session you will receive a link to complete an online Volunteer Application.
  3. You will be contacted to schedule an interview.  The interview will last 60 – 90 minutes.
  4. If accepted, you will need to be fingerprinted.
  5. You will complete a 30- hour training course.  Upon graduating from the training course, you will be sworn in by an Alameda County Judge.
  6. Advocacy begins!
What do Court Appointed Special Advocates Do?
CASA volunteers get to know the child and speak to everyone involved in the child’s life including their family members, teachers, attorneys, social workers, therapists, psychiatrists, and others. To effectively advocate, CASA volunteers research the facts of the case, create a plan for advocacy, facilitate a collaborative relationship between all parties on the case, make written recommendations to the court and monitor progress towards established goals. The information they gather and their recommendations help the court make informed decisions.

To read about other ways you get involved go to Other Volunteer Opportunities.  

For more Information contact Ginni Ring, Executive Director, at gring@acgov.org.

Who are CASA Volunteers?
CASA volunteers are people like you. They are teachers, college students, business people, retirees, stay-at-home parents, etc. They are ordinary people doing extraordinary work. They are people who want to ensure that foster children have their needs met and make certain that the voices of abused and neglected children are heard. You don’t need any special educational background, only the desire to help abused, neglected and abandoned foster children.

We look forward to meeting you. You can make a difference in the life of a foster child!

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