CASA advocacy services are guided by three principals: increase safety, respect autonomy and hold the batterer accountable

Residential Advocacy Services

Shelter
CASA provides refuge, crisis intervention, and advocacy for up to 45 days when home is not a safe place. The shelter is always open, and the location is confidential. Call CASA’s 24-hour access line to reach a CASA advocate. Shelter residents receive emergency clothing, food, personal care items, and ongoing individual and group empowerment support.

Gateway Transitional Housing
Shelter residents can be referred to CASA Gateway as space becomes available. There are two apartment complexes, each with six, three-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom apartment accessible to those with differing abilities.  Residents pay reduced rent, utilities and participate in on-going safety planning, support groups, and empowerment to enhance employment skills, life skills, and personal development.

Group and Individual Support

• Life Skills/Employment
• Mental Health
• Personal Development
• Referrals to Legal & Social Services
• Safety Planning
• Substance Abuse

Children’s Programs

• Kid’s Club
• Support Groups
• Safety Planning
• Tutoring
• Fun & Games

Community-Based Advocacy Services

• Cell Phone Program - CASA provides donated cell phones to survivors for instant access to 911 emergency services.

• Emergency Response Team- Family members at immediate risk due to domestic violence are referred to CASA’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) by child protection investigators.

• Incarcerated Women - Women arrested for defending themselves from  domestic violence receive group and individual CASA advocacy and support.

• Individual & Group Support - CASA advocates assist survivors to understand power and control issues that lead to domestic violence, develop safety plans for themselves and their children, and provide access to community resources.

• Legal Advocacy - CASA advocates offer assistance and support to survivors as they apply for injunctions for protection at Clerk of Courts offices, provide moral support to survivors in criminal court proceedings and refer victims to legal services as needed. To learn more about laws related to domestic violence please click here. 

• Outreach to Special Communities - CASA advocates make an effort to reach out to the elderly, deaf, African-American, gay and lesbian communities to bridge logistical and cultural issues related to domestic abuse.

• CASA Collection Thrift Store - CASA participants receive gift certificates that can be used in CASA’s thrift store.

• Visitation Centers - CASA’s Visitation Centers provide children with an opportunity to visit a non-residential parent who has been estranged from the child due to separation or divorce.  CASA’s supervised visits and monitored exchanges provide safety with a special focus on the needs of children from homes where violence, substance abuse and mental health problems occur. Participants are accepted via referrals from the Family, Domestic Violence and Dependency courts.

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