COEUR d'ALENE - North Idaho Court Appointed Special Advocates are tasked with being a voice in the courtroom for children who are abused or neglected.

And most of them do so as volunteers.

"It's a challenge," said Nick Arambarri, CASA advocate coordinator, about volunteering. "But when you finish with a case you know you were there for that child and you played an important role in the system."

Five volunteers made up the most recent graduating class, and were confirmed by Judge Clark Peterson as court appointed special advocates. These graduates will work primarily with children younger than 12 who are involved in child protective cases.

"The CASA model is to use, almost exclusively, trained volunteers who are approved by the state Supreme Court and sworn in by a judge," Arambarri said. "I think there are people with a really strong interest in being an advocate for children. We are looking for those people."

Volunteers receive 30 hours of blended training where they take an online course as well as participate in weekly classroom training with an instructor.

"It's a pretty intense 30 hours," Arambarri said. "It includes everything from how to write a report for the court to how to properly monitor a case."

The training also involves spending five hours in the courtroom with a CASA supervisor in order to learn how the organization plays a role in child protective cases.

"Being in court at the table with all the attorneys and stuff can be a little intimidating," Arambarri said. "So we want our volunteers to get a feel for that experience."

Once the training is completed, volunteers will take one or two cases and be with the child involved through the entire court process.

"Their role is to focus specifically on the child and advocate for what's in that child's best interest," Arambarri said. "Ideally, the volunteer will stay with that child until they are reunified with their family or adopted into another family."

North Idaho CASA advocates work on cases in Kootenai, Benewah, Bonner, Boundary and Shoshone counties and, according to Arambarri, there is a greater need for volunteers in the smaller of those counties.

The next open training course begins in April. For more information becoming a volunteer, contact Arambarri at (208) 667-9165.