Voices for Children

What Voices for Children does

Voices for Children, Inc. is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1980 and headquartered in San Diego, California, that recruits, trains, and supervises volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) for abused, abandoned, and neglected children in foster care. The organization operates as the designated CASA program for dependency courts in San Diego County and Riverside County and, since 2023, for the Pechanga Band of Indians Tribal Court. Its core service is the CASA Program, delivered through two geographic service lines (San Diego County and Riverside County) and a specialized Juvenile Justice CASA Program that includes RISE Court assignments for victims of commercial sexual exploitation. CASAs are trained through a proprietary curriculum (Advocate University), supervised by a dedicated Training Coordinator, and provide individualized court reports; the organization annually reviews the case files of every foster child in San Diego County.

The organization is funded entirely through charitable contributions rather than service fees to recipients. Revenue is generated across five streams: individual and recurring donations (including the Amicus Circle and Starfish Giving Circle), institutional grants from foundations and government entities, special-event fundraising (anchored by the Starry Starry Night gala, which historically netted more than $600,000 in a single year), merchandise e-commerce via its own storefront (shop.speakupnow.org), and corporate partnerships. Auxiliary volunteer groups (Makua, Young Professionals Group, Community Advisory Councils) extend fundraising and grassroots outreach. Distribution is community-led, with prospective CASAs moving through information sessions, online applications, and court swearing-in; donation capture occurs primarily through the speakupnow.org website.

Underlying technology consists of an internal database and operations system managed by a dedicated Database & Operations System Specialist, supporting case-file tracking, volunteer matching, and donor records, paired with a public-facing advocacy and fundraising website. The organization operates from offices in San Diego and Riverside Counties with 101-250 employees, is led by an Interim President & CEO, and is governed by a board of directors. It maintains donor privacy in alignment with the Donor Bill of Rights, adheres to a self-attested non-discrimination policy, and has received national recognition including the Angel in Adoption award (2012), a CLASSY Awards Charity of the Year finalist designation (2010), and a "Best Nonprofit to Work For" designation (2012).

Name

Voices for Children

Legal name

Voices for Children, Inc.

Website

https://speakupnow.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Voices for Children is a San Diego-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1980 that recruits, trains, and supervises volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) for abused and neglected foster children across San Diego and Riverside Counties in California.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Child Welfare Advocacy Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Welfare, Foster Care & Adoption Services (BPAGAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO)

Keywords

• Court appointed special advocates
• Foster care advocacy
• Volunteer child advocacy
• CASA program services
• Child welfare nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual & Online Donations: Year-round donations solicited through online giving forms, year-end appeals ("Your year-end gift helps provide life-changing advocacy"), and recurring giving via the Amicus Circle and Starfish Giving Circle; one-time and recurring gifts processed without stored credit-card data on-site.
2. Institutional Grants: Major gifts and grants from foundations and government entities (e.g., $250,000 from the Price Family Charitable Fund; $15,000 from the Fallbrook Regional Healthcare District; $210,000 in gifts and grants during 2012) supporting CASA programming.
3. Special-Event Fundraising (Galas, Golf, Mixers, Fashion Events): Large annual galas (e.g., Starry Starry Night in San Diego; historic $600,000+ net proceeds event in 2010) plus Wine Women & Shoes, Fostering Hope Golf Classic, Makua annual fundraisers, and Young Professionals Group mixers.
4. Merchandise & E-commerce Sales: Branded merchandise sales through the organization's own online storefront (shop.speakupnow.org).
5. Corporate Partnerships: Sponsored corporate partnerships providing businesses a way to support CASA programming, including event sponsorship and year-round engagement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Voices for Children recruits, trains, supervises, and supports volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) who are appointed by juvenile dependency judges to advocate for the best interests of abused, abandoned, and neglected children in foster care in San Diego County and Riverside County. CASAs serve as a consistent, caring adult presence, problem-solve across court, school, medical, and placement settings, and submit individualized reports to dependency judges on each child's progress, needs, and preferences.

Product overview

Voices for Children is a single nonprofit organization (founded 1980) delivering a unified service offering centered on its CASA Program, rather than a platform-plus-modules product. The CASA Program is delivered through two geographic service lines — CASA Volunteer Service – San Diego County and CASA Volunteer Service – Riverside County — supplemented by a specialized Juvenile Justice CASA Program that includes RISE Court assignments and trafficking-risk advocacy. Surrounding the core CASA service, Voices for Children operates a portfolio of auxiliary programs and revenue-generating activities: the Real Word Speakers Panel (lived-experience outreach by former foster youth), annual fundraising events (Starry Starry Night gala, Fostering Hope Golf Classic, Uplifting Voices), judicial engagement events (Judges' Luncheon and Judges' Reception), donor and partnership programs (Amicus Circle, The Starfish Giving Circle, Corporate Partnerships), an e-commerce merchandise channel (Voices for Children Shop), auxiliary volunteer groups (the Young Professionals Group / YPG and Makua), the annual "Your Voice, Their Future" recruitment campaign, and the Impact Report 2024-2025 annual publication. Together these elements recruit, train, deploy, and financially sustain the volunteer CASA advocates who advocate for children in foster care across San Diego and Riverside Counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) Program Trains and supervises volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) who are appointed by judges to advocate for the best interests of abused, abandoned, or neglected children in foster care in San Diego and Riverside Counties. CASAs provide consistent presence, problem-solving, and individualized advocacy by reporting to dependency judges on each child's progress, needs, and preferences.
• CASA Volunteer Service – San Diego County San Diego County branch of the CASA program, in which Voices for Children annually reviews and monitors the case files of every child in foster care in San Diego County and provides CASA training, supervision, and continuing education for volunteers. The Impact Report 2024-2025 reports children served with advocacy in San Diego County from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
• CASA Volunteer Service – Riverside County Riverside County branch of the CASA program, providing CASA volunteers to children in foster care throughout Riverside County including Riverside, Corona, Moreno Valley, Temecula, Palm Desert, Murrieta, Menifee, Banning, Indio, Hemet, Perris, and the Coachella Valley. Includes specialized programs such as the Juvenile Justice Program, Distance Advocacy, and a partnership with the Pechanga Band of Indians Tribal Court.
• Juvenile Justice CASA Program Specialized CASA track serving youth involved in both the dependency and juvenile justice systems, including participants in the San Diego Superior Court's RISE (Resiliency is Strength and Empowerment) Court for victims of commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC) and youth at risk of trafficking. Program Manager: Kelly Grant Jones.
• Real Word Speakers Panel Panel of former foster youth who share their lived experience to increase public awareness about the foster care system and the impact of CASAs. Available for booking by schools, courts, and community groups.
• Voices for Children Shop Online merchandise storefront (shop.speakupnow.org) whose proceeds benefit Voices for Children's CASA programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Provides a CASA advocate for children in foster care; organization aims to match 175 children with CASA volunteers annually through "Your Voice, Their Future" campaign
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Liz Jones (Murrieta Community Leader, Board of Directors)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 4 February 2025Liz Jones, lead of the Jones Realty Group at Keller Williams in Murrieta and VFC volunteer since 2019, joined Voices for Children's Board of Directors on February 4, 2025; brings nonprofit service, real estate, and community leadership connections across the Inland Empire.
• "Your Voice, Their Future" Campaign Partners (Riverside County)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 January 2025Annual "Your Voice, Their Future" campaign launched January 22, 2025 in Riverside County to recruit volunteers to advocate for vulnerable Riverside County children in foster care, running through National Foster Care Awareness Month.
• Pechanga Band of IndianscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023In 2023, Voices for Children entered a groundbreaking partnership with the Pechanga Band of Indians to serve as the designated CASA program for any child under the jurisdiction of Pechanga's Tribal Court; CASA volunteers advocate for tribal children and families.
• Young Professionals Group (YPG)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 7 February 2013The Young Professionals Group is an auxiliary of Voices for Children that hosts mixers and events to benefit San Diego County foster children, providing volunteer-led fundraising and awareness support.
• Makua (Voices for Children Auxiliary Group)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 December 2011Makua is an auxiliary group of Voices for Children that extends the organization's outreach; in December 2011 it released "Voices from the Heart," a CD of original music by San Diego-based musicians with all proceeds benefiting VFC. Makua also hosted its 60th annual "Back to the Beach" fundraiser on June 1, 2013 at the Kona Kai Resort.
• Joan Waitt (philanthropist, Celestial Award honoree and recurring event host)minorOthers · 10 September 2010Philanthropist Joan Waitt hosted the annual Starry Starry Night gala at her La Jolla estate for multiple years; received the first-ever Celestial Award from Voices for Children on September 10, 2010.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• National CASA Association: Umbrella network of 950+ state and local CASA/GAL programs including Voices for Children. Directly comparable as the national parent brand and standards body governing local CASA organizations like VFC.

Direct peers

• CASA of Los Angeles: County-designated CASA program serving dependent children in Los Angeles dependency courts. Closely comparable mission, volunteer model, and court-designated status to Voices for Children's San Diego and Riverside operations.
• CASA of Travis County: Court Appointed Special Advocates program serving Travis County, Texas, with a similar volunteer recruitment, training, and court-advocacy model. Comparable scale and operating model to Voices for Children.
• CASA of Cook County: Chicago-area CASA organization that recruits, trains, and supervises volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in juvenile court. Highly comparable in mission, scope, and volunteer-led advocacy model.
• CASA of Orange County: California county-designated CASA program serving abused and neglected children in Orange County dependency courts. Directly comparable geographic and regulatory model to VFC's San Diego and Riverside programs.
• Child Advocates of San Antonio (CASA): Court Appointed Special Advocates program serving Bexar County, Texas, with a volunteer recruitment, training, and dependency-court advocacy model directly comparable to Voices for Children's CASA operations.

Emerging players

• Voices for Children Baltimore County: Recently rebranded CASA program in Baltimore County sharing the 'Voices for Children' name and CASA mission. Comparable operating model but in a distinct geographic market and separately incorporated.

Regional players

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County: San Diego-based youth mentoring nonprofit that recruits community volunteers to provide consistent adult mentorship to at-risk youth. Comparable volunteer-driven, relationship-based youth-advocacy model, but serving a different mandate (mentorship vs. court advocacy).
• Promises2Kids: San Diego County nonprofit serving foster children through programs including Promises Camps, college scholarships, and the Polinsky Children's Center. Comparable geographic focus on San Diego foster youth and donor/event-driven revenue model.
• Just in Time for Foster Youth: San Diego-based nonprofit providing transition-age foster youth with housing, education, employment, and advocacy support. Comparable San Diego foster-youth focus and similarly dependent on individual donors and corporate partnerships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Voices4Childrn
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Voices4ChildrenSD1
• Facebookfacebook.com/VoicesForChildrenSD
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/voices-for-children-inc
• Instagraminstagram.com/voices_for_children

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Voices for Children