Judys for Justice: CASA’s Beginning in St. Louis

Pictured: Judy Putzel (left) and Judy Milton, CASA founders

Back in 1980, when two dedicated leaders of National Council of Jewish Women-St. Louis (NCJW-STL) spent nights and weekends on a pilot program that trained advocates for children in foster care court proceedings, they couldn’t have known they were launching an enduring institution and impacting the lives of thousands of children and families. Volunteers Judy Milton and Judy Putzel were charged with creating an NCJW-STL program to serve children—in line with their organization’s mission to improve and advance social justice for women, children, and families. Their pilot program grew to become one of the nation’s first Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs and thrives today as CASA of St. Louis—now celebrating forty-five years of advocacy.  

The first CASA program was established in Seattle in 1977 by a judge who realized that children who experienced abuse and neglect, then the trauma of being removed from their home, were often inadvertently re-victimized by overburdened, understaffed and under-resourced courts and public social service agencies. NCJW’s national organization was awarded a $300,000 grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to establish CASA programs in three NCJW sections: St. Louis, Jacksonville, and Dallas. Juvenile Court judges in St. Louis County agreed that CASAs could make a profound difference in their courts and supported the efforts. NCJW-STL was allocated $28,000 of the NCJW grant, Judy and Judy became co-chairs of the NCJW Volunteer Advocates for Foster Care, and in the spring of 1980 Judge William M. Corrigan signed a contract between NCJW St. Louis and the St. Louis County Juvenile Court, establishing the St. Louis CASA program.  

As they got involved with St. Louis County Juvenile Courts, the co-chairs found a champion in Chief Juvenile Officer Ken Hensick.  St. Louis County provided an office for the CASA program, which then hired social worker Susan Newman. “Susan helped us develop training for the initial volunteers,” Judy Putzel shared.  “Ken Hensick was very helpful in lining things up with the county juvenile court system.  But we ended up doing most of the work in developing the training, recruiting volunteers, and discussing the training with court officials and attorneys.”   

With the program model and training procedures established, after careful research and establishing the organization’s structure, Judy Milton and Judy Putzel began recruiting volunteers who would independently investigate the living situation of the children the court assigned to them and make recommendations to the court for proper placements. Each volunteer would work with a guardian ad litem—an attorney representing the child—and with a Division of Family Services case worker. CASA volunteers would also monitor each child to ensure that services mandated by the court were provided and that children were in foster care no longer than absolutely necessary. In June 1980, fifteen CASAs were sworn in by Judge Corrigan; each was a NCJW-STL member.  

The program’s impact was readily evident. At the request of Chief Missouri Supreme Court Justice Andrew Jackson Higgins, Judy and Judy established a state task force which planned Missouri’s first statewide juvenile justice conference. Judy Milton recalls speaking at the event in downtown St. Louis, late in 1980 in the midst of a vicious snowstorm. Soon after, Judy Putzel went to Washington DC to speak before judges assembled by the federal government about the grave need for advocates for children in foster care. 

The St. Louis County CASA program hired Kathy Dollefeld Clancy as project manager. She had recently completed her Masters at University of Missouri-Columbia and worked at a residential treatment center for runaways there. There she saw young teens who had endured trauma along their journey through the juvenile justice system and multiple foster home placements. “I wanted to return to St. Louis and saw an ad in the paper for the CASA position,” Kathy recalled. “I wanted that job so much! CASA still holds a special place in my heart.  Being part of the growth of the organization was so wonderful.”   

Kathy worked part time and supervised an administrative assistant and a coordinator for volunteers.  “We worked together with our NCJW leaders--the two Judys--to develop a robust training manual for volunteers. It became a fifteen-hour training program that won the National CASA Association Outstanding Training Program Award.” She shared, “I had a lot of help from supportive people—especially from two very smart women: the Judys. I would ask, ‘do you think I can do this?’ and they would tell me that I could accomplish the task and that I should do it! They really just encouraged me to move forward. People in the court system were also very helpful. It was so exciting to be really creating something new.”   

During her tenure, Kathy Dollefeld Clancy saw CASA grow to over 100 volunteers in St. Louis County. The Missouri legislature incorporated the role of CASA in state juvenile statutes, and the American Bar Association officially endorsed the use of CASA volunteers to work with attorneys to represent the best interest of abused and neglected children in juvenile court proceedings.  

The St. Louis County team benefitted from guidance from the first CASA in Seattle, and they advised and consulted with other budding CASA programs. The Clark Foundation brought the directors of the first six CASA organizations to New York City to share best practices and lay the groundwork for what became the National CASA/GAL Association for Children (NCASA), officially formed in 1988. NCASA now supports a network of 939 state and local CASA/GAL programs operating in 49 states and the District of Columbia. 

The county program paved the way for St. Louis City, where in 1984 a Volunteer Guardian ad Litem program was established by the St. Louis City Family Court. This organization was incorporated as St. Louis City CASA in 1998, and the name was changed to Voices for Children. In 2012, city and county programs merged as Voices for Children, and in April 2019 became CASA of St. Louis to reflect affiliation with other CASA programs across the country that recruit, train, and support volunteers who speak up for children in foster care. 

“The pilot program that began 45 years ago with a handful of dedicated volunteers has been a great success,” says Jennifer Howard, CASA St. Louis Chief Executive Officer.  “We have been a force for good in this region and in the nation. Overwhelmingly, area judges have been more likely to assign CASA  volunteers to their most complex, serious cases—cases in which children are at higher risk of poor outcomes. That is the legacy of forty-five years of hard work by a community of caring people.”