Concerned over making decisions about abused and neglected children's lives without sufficient information, a Seattle judge conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of these children in court. In 1990, the U.S. Congress encouraged the expansion of CASA with passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act. Today more than 900 CASA programs are in operation, with 62,000 women and men serving as CASA volunteers. For three consecutive years, the San Luis Obispo Grand Jury recommended the creation of a local Court Appointed Special Advocate program to help ensure the best interests of the county’s children.   The Superior Court supported this recommendation and repeatedly requested funding from the Board of Supervisors.  Since this funding was not forthcoming, a group of foster parents and business people came together to form a CASA program in August 1991.   The first group of volunteers was trained in January of 1993.  We were appointed to our first case in March 1993.  Thus far, CASA volunteers have served more than 2,675 San Luis Obispo County children.  Our goal is to meet the court’s request and assign a CASA volunteer to each and every child under the court’s jurisdiction.