The passing of Judge Soukup.

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of the founder of the Court Appointed Special Advocate movement.

In 1977, Judge Soukup, began what would become known as the Court Appointed Special Advocate movement. Concerned over making decisions about abused and neglected children’s lives without sufficient information, Judge Soukup conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interest of the children in court.

He asked his bailiff to call four to five people in the community who might be resources to recruit volunteers. The had his bailiff set up a brown bag lunch. When Judge Soukup walked into the room there were fifty people in the room. He said to himself “This is going to work”. It did.

The incredible change that swept the nation started by one judge believing that we could do better. After Judge Soukup retired, he continued to expand the vision of improving the lives of children under a protection order. He became a volunteer, he sat on various Boards, and he continued his public speaking engagement.

There are now over 900 CASA programs over the United States. Two states, Georgia and Texas, have a CASA program in every county and there are a total of 49 State CASA/GAL programs. What a legacy!

Judge Soukup passed away December 16, 2023.