Court Appointed Special Advocates

What Court Appointed Special Advocates does

CASA Nashville is a Tennessee-incorporated nonprofit organization founded in 1984 that recruits, trains, and supports volunteer court-appointed advocates for abused and neglected children in Davidson County Juvenile Court proceedings. The core service is the Court Appointed Volunteer Advocate Program, in which trained community volunteers are appointed by Juvenile Court Judges to represent the best interests of children in foster care for a 12-18 month case duration. Volunteers gather information from families, schools, doctors, social workers, and lawyers, then submit reports and recommendations to the court; CASA reports that 100% of its recommendations are accepted by the courts. Specialized offerings include Project STARFISH (advocacy for youth involved in both the Juvenile Justice system and the Department of Children's Services) and a 36-hour Volunteer Advocate Training Program with ongoing monthly training and 12 hours of annual continuing education. The organization also operates a Community Resources Directory connecting families with adoption, counseling, education, housing, legal, and refugee services in Nashville.

The organization has no proprietary technology platform and relies on standard nonprofit vendor tools: Optima Login (Evinto Solutions) for volunteer management and Neon CRM for donor management and newsletter distribution. CASA Nashville operates from a single office at 340 21st Avenue North, Nashville, and is part of the National CASA/GAL Association network. It maintains a small core staff of approximately seven members, supplemented by 220 active volunteer advocates.

The revenue model is donation-based, with individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and event fundraising (notably the annual Red Shoe Party gala, which accounts for approximately 25% of the annual budget). The organization states it costs approximately $2,000 to provide one child with a volunteer advocate for one year. Governance is provided by a Board of Directors including representatives from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, HCA Healthcare, CoreCivic, FirstBank, K&L Gates, and other Nashville-area institutions. There are no private equity, venture capital, or parent-company ownership structures; 100% of staff and board members financially support the organization annually.

Name

Court Appointed Special Advocates

Legal name

CASA, Inc. Davidson County

Website

https://casanashville.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CASA Nashville is a nonprofit founded in 1984 that trains and supports volunteer advocates appointed by Davidson County Juvenile Court to represent abused and neglected children in foster care, serving 438 children annually through 220 active volunteers at a unit cost of approximately $2,000 per child.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Child Welfare Advocacy Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM), Juvenile Justice System (Courts & Detention) (BPAIAFAF)

Keywords

• Child advocacy services
• Foster care support
• Volunteer court advocacy
• Nonprofit child welfare
• Juvenile court representation

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Direct donations from individuals to support volunteer advocate recruitment, training, and support. The organization states it costs approximately $2,000 to provide a volunteer advocate for one child for one year.
2. Annual Gala (Red Shoe Party): Annual fundraising event accounting for nearly one-quarter of the organization's annual budget. Features dinner, dancing, auctions, and corporate sponsorships.
3. Volunteer Recruitment: CASA Nashville recruits volunteers who commit 12-18 months to advocate for children in foster care. While not revenue-generating, volunteers form the service delivery mechanism at no cost to the organization beyond training.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CASA Nashville recruits, trains, and supports volunteer advocates who are appointed by Davidson County Juvenile Court judges to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in foster care cases. Volunteers gather information from families, teachers, doctors, and social workers, submit reports to the court, and advocate for safe permanent homes until a child is placed. The organization operates a specialized program (Project STARFISH) for youth in the juvenile justice system with prior DCS involvement, and provides a 36-hour volunteer training program plus a curated community resources directory.

Product overview

CASA Nashville is a nonprofit organization offering advocacy services for abused and neglected children in Davidson County. The core service is the Court Appointed Volunteer Advocate Program, where trained volunteers are appointed by Juvenile Court judges to advocate for children's best interests. Supporting programs include Project STARFISH (a specialized program for teens involved in both the Juvenile Justice system and Department of Children's Services), a Volunteer Advocate Training Program (36-hour initial training plus ongoing monthly training and annual continuing education), and a Community Resources Directory. This is a service-based nonprofit organization, not a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Court Appointed Volunteer Advocate Program Trained volunteer advocates appointed by Davidson County Juvenile Court judges to represent and advocate for abused and neglected children's best interests throughout their foster care cases. Each volunteer is assigned one case at a time and commits 12-18 months to gather information, report to the court, and ensure the child has a consistent voice in proceedings.
• Project STARFISH

Quantifiable outcome

• 438 children served; 100% of CASA recommendations accepted by courts
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCASA Nashville is part of the National CASA/GAL Association network. National CASA provides vision, standards, training frameworks, and support for local programs. The national organization connects local programs to best practices and a broader network serving abused and neglected children across the United States.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Youth Villages: Tennessee-headquartered nonprofit providing intensive services for at-risk youth and families, including former employer of CASA's Volunteer & Training Manager. Operates residential and community-based programs targeting overlapping populations of at-risk youth in the same region.
• Communities In Schools of Tennessee: Nashville-area nonprofit embedding social workers and support staff inside schools to help at-risk students stay on track; former employer of CASA's Director of Advocacy. Targets an overlapping at-risk youth population with wraparound support services in the same community.
• Tennessee Voices: Tennessee statewide child advocacy and policy organization working to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families through legislative advocacy and system reform. Shares CASA's court-adjacent child welfare focus at a statewide policy level.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee: Nashville-based volunteer mentoring nonprofit pairing adults with youth facing adversity. Operates a comparable community-volunteer service delivery model for vulnerable children in the same geography, with similar fundraising and recruitment infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Darkness to Light: National nonprofit focused on prevention of child sexual abuse through adult education and training. Operates in an adjacent prevention-and-advocacy niche relative to CASA's child welfare mission and shares a nonprofit fundraising and training infrastructure.

Regional players

• Conexion Americas: Nashville-based nonprofit supporting immigrant families through education, economic opportunity, and integration services. Former employer of CASA's Volunteer Advocate Team Leaders and a regional ecosystem partner serving overlapping Hispanic family populations.
• Catholic Charities of Tennessee: Regional faith-based social services organization operating across Tennessee, including refugee resettlement (a former employer of CASA's Hispanic/Immigrant Liaison). Provides wraparound family services overlapping CASA's adjacent service areas.

Broad incumbents

• Casey Family Programs: National operating foundation focused on safely reducing the number of children in foster care. Works with child welfare systems across the U.S., making it a broader-scale incumbent addressing the same foster care outcomes CASA targets at the county level.
• Prevent Child Abuse America: National nonprofit leading prevention of child abuse and neglect through advocacy, research, and a state chapter network. Operates at a much larger scale and broader geographic footprint in the same mission space as CASA Nashville.
• National CASA/GAL Association: National parent network for the CASA model, providing training frameworks, standards, and affiliate support to local CASA programs including CASA Nashville. Operates broadly across all U.S. states and is the umbrella for court-appointed volunteer advocacy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/casanashville
• Facebookfacebook.com/CASANashville
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/casa-nashville
• Instagraminstagram.com/casanashville

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Court Appointed Special Advocates