1. Child Advocates in Child in Need of Aid (CINA) Cases Anita Alves, Supervising Attorney/Guardian ad Litem Valerie Dudley, Rural Programs Specialist BIA Providers Conference November 2013 Anchorage, Alaska

2. Child Advocates Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA Volunteer)

3. Child Advocacy Section – GALs Public Guardian Section Criminal Defense Section Adult & Juvenile Representation Section Appeals & Statewide Defense Section Office of Elder Fraud & Assistance Conflict Counsel Alaska CASA

4. Anchorage 334-2678 Fairbanks451-5933 Juneau465-4173 Palmer707-1740 Other areas:269-3500 Office of Public Advocacy

5. Work closely with the GAL Four responsibilities Interview, Advocate, Monitor, Facilitate Full access to the child’s information Remains on the case until permanency is achieved Bound by strict confidentiality CASA volunteers

6. CASA volunteers listen first. Then they act. Volunteers get to know the child by talking with everyone in that child's life; Child Parents Relatives Foster parents ICWA/TFYS workers Teachers Health care providers Attorneys Social workers What does a CASA volunteer do? …then they make recommendations to the court as to what is in the child’s best interest.

7. CASA in Alaska In 2012, 168 CASA volunteers 417 abused and neglected children.

8. Local CASA Programs Role of local CASA programs: Recruit and screen volunteers Train volunteers to prepare them for a case Support volunteers as they work on their case Provide 12 hours of in-service continuing education annually

9. Staff GALs Anchorage CASA Alaska CASA Fairbanks CASA Juneau CASA Valley CASA YK Delta CASA Kenai Peninsula CASA (a partnership between KIT and OPA) Contract GALs

10. Anita Alves, Supervising Attorney/GAL Anita.Alves@alaska.gov (907)269-3500 Valerie Dudley, Rural CASA Programs Specialist Valerie.Dudley@alaska.gov (907)269-3536 Contact Information