In 2019, Monroe County Court Appointed Special Advocate, Inc. moved from the upstairs of the historic Hays Market building in downtown Bloomington to the downstairs. The organization relocated again in 2022 to the Showers West building.
Now, after moving to the top floor in Fountain Square almost two weeks ago and signing a 10-year lease, CASA is home.
CASA executive director Tia Arthur said the previous director liked the changes; Arthur, however, prefers to experience change only in her caseload.
“I don't see us moving,” she said.
The space is roughly 1.5 times bigger than the previous, Amber Shride, the organization’s resource development coordinator, said. CASA held an open house Tuesday to celebrate the new space, welcoming over 50 community members, staff and volunteers.
CASA is a nonprofit that trains and facilitates court-appointed volunteers who work on behalf of children in the legal system subject to abuse or neglect. Arthur and other advocates try to make children’s voices heard.
“A lot of times their voice is lost in all of these court proceedings,” she said. “You've got parents who are interested in what they want. You have the state who's got their policies and what they want. And then, there’s CASA. And so, our priority is to make sure that we let the judge know what is most important, and that’s what's best for the child.”
Arthur has worked at CASA since 2012, originally starting as a case coordinator. She’s been executive director since November 2024. Despite working full-time in the position, she still takes cases as a CASA volunteer.
Around 70 volunteers, like Arthur, are CASAs who work cases in their entirety, meeting with children and families throughout a case. Another 20 are child visit monitors, who temporarily take cases until an advocate is assigned to the case.
CASA also has an eight-person staff and accepts two year-long academic internships every August.
CASA is currently working with 239 kids who make up 138 cases, Arthur said in a “State of CASA” speech during the open house. Around 45 kids remain on CASA’s waitlist, waiting for a visit monitor or CASA to take their case.
Seniors Abigail Wick and Megan Wendt have been the organization’s interns since August as part of the IU School of Social Work’s required practicum.
Wick wants to go into macro-level social work, which involves more legislative advocacy than working on individual cases. Her practicum coordinator recommended a CASA internship because of its mix of micro-level social work practice and macro-level court advocacy.
“This has really helped me realize that I still want to go into the court system,” she said.
Sorority Kappa Alpha Theta partners with CASA on a national level for its philanthropy.
IU Theta members are involved with the Monroe County branch by fundraising and volunteering. Senior in Theta Sierra Sweeney has worked closely with CASA since her sophomore year as a member of its board of directors.
“I definitely really liked the idea of having a philanthropy that was in my own community,” she said. “Then also just hearing about their mission, it really inspired me from my own personal involvement with the court system.”
The organization has already felt welcomed into the new space, CASA office manager Emily Monson said. CASA’s annual volunteer appreciation week will be the last full week of April, and one of the events offered to volunteers is in partnership with the organization’s downstairs neighbor, Brightside Cafe.
“We have a great relationship already starting to form with our neighbors,” Monson said. “We're really excited about it. They're all so welcoming. They’ll come by and ask how we're doing, and actually kind of peek through the windows and see. It's been a much friendlier experience because we were one of the only tenants in Showers.”
Beyond the move, spring is always busy for CASA.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and CASA plans to host a kick-off rally at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the south courthouse lawn. The organization will also hold weekly blue ribbon walks around the courthouse from noon until 6 p.m. Fridays in April.
The move won’t change the mission of the organization, Arthur said.
“I care about kids,” Arthur said. “You know, I don't want kids to be hurt in this community.”
