History 

CASA DeKalb County Inc. was established in the spring of 1993 by a group of interested and concerned citizens and members of the Women's Law Caucus at Northern Illinois University . This committee held an initial meeting with the circuit court judges of DeKalb County who encouraged the group to continue their planning for the introduction of CASA to the DeKalb County Juvenile Court. The committee also received assistance and encouragement from the already established and operational CASA programs in Kane, Lee, and Winnebago counties and Illinois CASA Association.

Planning proceeded throughout the summer of 1993 and in August, CASA DeKalb County Inc. was chartered as an Illinois not-for-profit organization operating under the direction of a volunteer board of directors. Start-up funding was solicited and received from generous community donors and also from the DeKalb County Community Foundation as well as office space provided by the DeKalb County Board in the Public Safety Building in Sycamore, Illinois.

In the spring of 1994, recognition as a 501C(3) organization was received from IRS. CASA DeKalb County Inc. is now registered and recognized by the state and federal governments as a not-for-profit tax exempt organization .

In November 1996, CASA moved to larger quarters at 407 W. State Street in Sycamore, Illinois as the program continued to grow. The current number of volunteer advocates stands at 48 and 19 local attorneys. The office staff includes an Executive Director, one part-time Case Coordinator, and one part-time intern. In 2003, CASA celebrated 10 years of service in DeKalb County . During that time, CASA volunteers have advocated for over 260 abused and neglected children.

Today

In 2005, 49 DeKalb County CASA volunteers and the CASA DeKalb County Inc. program have:

• Advocated for 103 children.
• Spent 4,608 hours on their cases.
• Drove 12,110 miles for their cases.
• Spent 332 hours in court.
• Spent $1,664.00 per volunteer and $898.00 per child to advocate for abused and neglected children.