CASA of Ellis County

CASA of Ellis County serves 100% of children that are removed from CPS from their homes in Ellis County. We have a volunteer base of approximately 60 volunteers serving an average of 100 children annually with over 2,500 volunteer hours and over 30,000 unreimbursed miles. Our volunteers provide emotional, education, physical, psychological and developmental advocacy by recommending services for children in foster care. Our volunteer advocates also provide recommendations directly to the Court as to where children in CPS care should reside permanently, be in back with parents who have completed CPS requirements and alleviated safety concerns, with relative placements, or with non-relative adoptive families. Our volunteer advocates do not have a social work or legal background, just a desire to help children in need.

Our Needs

YOU can make a difference in the life of a child in the foster care system! Your donation helps in three main areas of our program: incidentals for children in foster care, items needed to bolster relative placements, and training programs for our Volunteer Advocates. 

Funds will ensure that educational, physical and developmental objectives of children of all ages in licensed and relative placements are met by providing items such as tutoring, alternative therapies not covered by Medicaid, enrollment in sports and arts programs and camps, and more. Proceeds will also be used to help any teen who ages out of foster care as they embark on their own college and career paths by providing laptops for graduates, college dorm room essentials and anything else that may be needed.

Many of our children are currently placed with relatives while the CPS case against their parents remain open. Unlike licensed foster homes, those relative placements receive little funding from the State of Texas. Proceeds will help fund basic needs for these children to help strengthen their placement with items such as cribs, toddler beds, bunk beds and dressers.  

Our Volunteer Advocates are required to complete over 30 hours of initial training, along with 12 hours of ongoing training each year. Donated funds will cover registration and travel expenses for our Advocates to attend vital trauma-informed care training to help them serve children who have come from hard places.  

Thank you so much for helping our Ellis County CASA kiddos! Every dollar matters because every kid matters!