WHEREAS, courts are charged with providing accountability to the system responsible for protecting abused, abandoned and neglected children; and 

WHEREAS, courts, children's services agencies and other governmental agencies cannot fully address the needs of abused, abandoned and neglected children without complete information regarding their cases and their lives; and 

WHEREAS, citizen volunteers, including the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program, have assisted the courts in many ways in meeting the need for such information; and 

WHEREAS, there are more than 978 CASA programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia with more than 70,000 CASA volunteers who provide more than 10,000,000 hours of service to children each year; 

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators:

1. Recognize and express appreciation to citizen volunteers who work with the court to assist our nation's most at-risk children, and encourage more citizens to volunteer; and

2. In particular recognize and commend the efforts and contributions of the CASA volunteers in assisting children before the court.

Adopted at the Conference of State Court Administrators 2003 Annual Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 31, 2003.

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