Become an Advocate

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate for San Luis Obispo County. 

CASAs are the only volunteers appointed by a judge and empowered to stand up for an abused or neglected child.  We ask each volunteer to make a 12-month commitment, or until a permanent plan for the child's care has been implemented.

We encourage you to attend an information session to learn more about the role of a CASA advocate.

If you have determined you would like to apply to become an advocate, click here to download an application.

Upon receiving your completed application, a CASA staff member will contact you with further information and to schedule an intake interview. If your interview is successful, you will then need to submit to fingerprinting and background checks. At that time, you will be able to begin the training process. Please view the Advocate Training Schedule for upcoming dates and times. All training will be held at the CASA office, located at 75 Higuera Suite 180, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, unless otherwise specified.

• The initial CASA volunteer training is thirty hours, sessions alternating between daytime and evening hours and conducted at the CASA office in SLO.
• CASA volunteers are required to complete a minimum of 12 hours per year of continuing education after completing the initial training requirement.
• We use the California CASA Manual including additional supplemental enrichment materials to train CASA volunteers. The training curriculum covers the following topic areas:
• Child Development and Family Systems
• Dynamics of Child Abuse and Neglect
• Role of Law Enforcement, Child Welfare Agency, Juvenile Court
• Dependency Law and Procedure
• Ethics, Confidentiality of Information, and Mandated Reporting
• Community Resources for Children
• Cross-Cultural Issues
• Roles and Responsibilities of a CASA Advocate
• Investigation, Interviewing, Report Writing
• Advocacy
• Fees associated with becoming a CASA advocate include: 
• Fingerprinting - $15
• Administrative fee to help CASA offset the cost of screening and training - $35
  
• DMV Records - $5