In the 16th Judicial District, children, families, lawyers, judges, and service providers all move across county lines. Until now, Piedmont CASA Advocates were limited to taking cases that originated in only four of its nine localities. This meant that children in Madison who found themselves in foster care due to allegations of abuse and neglect were going without the services and support of a CASA. It is for their sake that we expanded our service area.

In their report for 2022, the Virginia Department of Social Services (DSS) stated that Madison had an average of 20 children in each month. The average time in care was 29 months, which is above the state average. For the 60% of children who exited to adoption, that time was closer to 42 months. Piedmont CASA Advocates can help reduce the amount of time these children spend in care.

In FY25, Piedmont CASA Advocates donated approximately 11,080 hours to their advocacy work. This work is valued at $34.79 per hour by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, so the savings in professional fees is $385,473.