Our why
Our why lives in the moments that often go unseen. It lives in steady presence, in listening, in showing up when it matters most. Advocacy is always in motion, carried forward by social workers, strengthened by CASA volunteers, and made possible by a community that chooses to care.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Why books matter
Books matter. For these CASA youth, they can offer comfort, distraction, and a sense of normalcy during a time that often feels uncertain. At Voices for CASA Children, we see firsthand how meaningful it is when a child receives a book of their own. A favorite story can help a new place feel safer. A chapter book can provide a break from stress. Sometimes, that book is what they can keep when so much else changes.
The VOICES Annual Book Drive helps place books directly into the hands of children and teens living in foster care through their CASA volunteers. These books often stay with them long after their case ends, becoming a familiar and comforting item in the future.
You can help make that happen. From now until March 27th, donate a new book to help give a child something they can call their own. By shopping on our Amazon list, you’ll have the ability to send brand new books straight to the VOICES main office.
Join our Book Drive today and help a child explore their imagination through literature!
MY CASA JOURNEY
The gift of a moment
With so many moving parts in foster care, one of the best things a CASA Volunteer can do is to simply be present. Someone who listens, really listens and hears what is being said and perhaps not said. It is giving a gift of the moment by taking them out of the current situation into something new.
This Spring, CASA volunteers will be running across a field laughing as they attempt to fly a kite or talking basketball as they join our March Madness bracket for prizes. They’ll bring a board game to play at the park or sit quietly and bead bracelets. It’s the gift of your time and this moment. It’s a gift knowing you’ll come back next week and next month with each visit providing stability and hope. It’s Spring in Arizona – when was the last time you flew a kite?
Want to make a difference in your community?
If this story speaks to you come join us at our next information session, and learn what it really means to become a CASA Volunteer.
Positive Outcomes
Why not you?
You’re reading this newsletter because you care about children. You believe in a better life for the next generation. You want to see the ripple effects of generational trauma that is healing and filled with hope.
You want to make a difference.
There are meaningful ways you, or someone you know, can support children and families who may be struggling today but can thrive when they are truly seen and heard.
Of course, you can become a CASA volunteer. This advocacy model works!
Serve as a Foster Care Review Board volunteer. Established in 1978, FCRB reviews the cases of children living in foster care to help ensure they are appropriately progressing toward permanency in homes that are safe and in the child’s best interest. It plays a critical oversight and advisory role in Arizona’s child welfare and juvenile court systems.
Become a licensed foster parent. A foster placement is a private home where a child lives temporarily when they cannot safely remain with their parents or other guardians. Opening your home provides safety, structure, and compassion during a very uncertain time in a child’s life. Foster families and CASA volunteers are pivotal to the well-being and long-term resilience of these children.
Explore a career in social work. The National Association of Social Workers includes information, guidance and job listings within this important field. Our workforce needs more people committed to this profession.
You are an important part of the community-level child welfare conversation. Talk and share so babies, youth and teens can have a skilled support structure today and into the future.
In Focus
Why your tax credit matters
Your gift becomes advocacy.
Your contribution becomes a connection.
Your support becomes stability.
Tax season offers something powerful: the opportunity to directly support children living in foster care through the Qualifying Foster Care Organization tax credit.
When you give to Voices for CASA Children as a QFCO, your contribution may be eligible for a dollar-for-dollar Arizona state tax credit. This means your gift is not simply a donation. It is a way to redirect tax dollars toward advocacy, stability, and support for children who need it most.
Your tax credit helps recruit, support, and equip CASA volunteers who stand beside children navigating foster care and the court system. It helps ensure that a child’s needs are seen, their voice is heard, and their story continues moving forward with consistency and care.
For many children, change is constant. Placements shift. Schools change. Uncertainty lingers. A CASA volunteer becomes a steady presence through it all. Your tax credit helps make that advocacy possible.
The QFCO filing threshold is $618* (single) or $1,234* (married filing jointly). This isn’t an extra expense. It’s an opportunity to intentionally choose how your tax dollars are invested in your community. The deadline for tax year 2025 is April 15, 2026.
Because every child deserves someone who shows up and stays.
TAX CREDIT BENEFITS
VOICES is a Qualified Foster Care Organization. You can receive tax credit benefits for your donations in the 2025 & 2026 tax filing year! QFCO #10010
#BeTheirVoice
Education
Why it works
At VOICES, our “why” is not rooted in sentiment alone. It is supported by research, reinforced by data, and reflected in outcomes for children navigating the foster care system.
Here is what that impact looks like in practice.
Permanency. Children with a CASA volunteer are more likely to find a safe, permanent home and less likely to re-enter the child welfare system. They also spend less time in foster care overall.
Educational success. Studies show that children with a CASA volunteer perform better in school and experience fewer school placement changes, giving them the stability they need to focus on learning.
Access to critical services. CASA volunteers help ensure children receive the support they need, from counseling to medical care, services that can easily fall through the cracks in an overburdened system.
A steady presence. In Maricopa County, thousands of children are navigating foster care, and not all of them have an advocate yet. A single, consistent adult can change the trajectory of a child’s life.
Understanding this impact is more than knowing the statistics. It is the reason volunteers step forward, the reason training matters, and the reason this work continues to grow.
As foster care advocate David Ambroz reminds us through the Donate Your Small Talk campaign, simply talking about foster care helps foster care. When you share why advocacy matters, you invite others into the work.
Source: National CASA/GAL Association, Research and Effectiveness