ALAMOSA — CASA del Valle (Court Appointed Special Advocate), a new non-profit, now has a presence in the San Luis Valley.  

“Right now,” says Brett Phillips, executive director of CASA del Valle, “there are about 50 kids in the valley who are involved in court because of neglect or abuse or dependency issues. These children need an advocate.” 

When asked what ages some of the children are, his answer shows how diverse the situations – and how young the children – can be. 

“CASA advocates will serve children ranging in age from 0-17.” 

When Phillips talks about an advocate, he’s talking about an adult who meets the child,  gets to know the child, goes to court with the child, is the child’s voice and stands up for what is in the child’s best interest.   

In other words, when Phillips talks about an advocate, he also talks about an adult willing to commit 3-5 hours per week to be the adult consistently at that child’s side while they go through court proceedings for things that happened through no fault of their own. He also asks that advocates agree to a 24-month commitment. 

And should anyone doubt the need for this person in a child’s life, Phillips describes it perfectly.  Over and over, kids involved with CASA and who are going through such a tough experience say that their advocate was “the one adult who was consistently there.” 

CASA del Valle may be new to the valley but it certainly is not new to the state of Colorado or other states across the nation. Their goal is very simple: to cultivate volunteers willing to invest their time to support children and youth, helping to break the cycle of abuse and neglect through prevention, advocacy and intervention so that, ultimately, kids and families can thrive. 

And, as Phillips explained to Alamosa City Council last week, the need for CASA and the volunteers they’ll train is significant in the San Luis Valley.  

He later provided specifics to the Valley Courier. 

“Between all of the counties in the 12th Judicial District, there were 36 new cases opened in FY 2024 and an average of about 50 new cases per year over the last 3 years,” he said. “The 12th Judicial District has historically seen some of the highest rates of dependency and neglect (DN) cases in the state of Colorado. We had the 2nd highest rate of DN cases in 2018, which [helped to lead] to the formation of CASA del Valle.  

“We are also obviously a very impoverished region with a challenging geographic makeup which leads to its own set of issues when serving children in these cases. For example, often children that are removed from a home are placed in foster families outside of the SLV due to a lack of resources in the area.” 

CASA del Valle is now in 18 of the 22 Judicial Districts in the state. The San Luis Valley makes number 19. 

The advocates also fill a “crack” in the system where no one else does. As Phillips explains it, children under the age of 12 are appointed a guardian ad litem by the court, a person appointed to represent the best interests of the child in court proceedings. Often, people who are appointed to be a child’s guardian ad litem have large caseloads without much time to spend with each child. After the age of 12, the child is appointed a councilor for youth – an attorney who advocates in court for what the child says he or she wants. Unfortunately, at that age, not all kids make great decisions about their lives.  

That’s where CASA comes in. The volunteers only have one child to whom they are assigned. And, as someone who’s been with the child through court proceedings and other situations, the CASA also has a more informed perspective and will sometimes disagree with the child about what is best for them – something that only a person who knows a child and their situation could really do. 

Phillips admits that the training to be an advocate is longer than other volunteer positions. There’s a total of 40 hours of training required – 30 in person and 10 outside the classroom. The next training is scheduled for April 26, 27 and May 3. But, as he made very clear in speaking with council members, he will be as flexible as he needs to be to train anyone who wants to be a volunteer. People also need to pass a background check and be sworn in by the court. 

CASA’s goal, he says, is to have 25 volunteers trained and assigned to children by the beginning of 2026. He recognizes it’s clearly an ambitious goal.  

But equally clear?  There are, right now, about 50 children in significant need of someone to be with them through a really difficult process and, for those with the time and heart to commit to being an advocate, this is a chance to make a real – and quite possibly lasting - difference in a child’s life. 

As Alamosa City Councilor Jackie Vigil said to Phillips after his presentation, “I work for DHS and we’ve wanted CASA to be here for a long time. Welcome to Alamosa.” 

Anyone interested in volunteering or with questions can contact Brett Phillips, executive director, at 719-992-7242 or via email director@casadelvalle.org.