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Standing Order #2026-01 (effective March 16, 2026), the Court Appointed Special Advocates Program in juvenile justice: CASA volunteers appointed on behalf of children only in juvenile proceedings and, under Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 600 et seq., for a youth declared as a ward; a CASA an officer of the Court, sworn in before beginning their duties; the specific duties - an independent review, case conferences and team meetings, records reviewed at the Probation Office, contact with the youth at least twice a month, coordination with the Probation Placement Officer, transport of out of custody youth as approved by Probation, a written report to the CASA Advocate Coordinator at least fifteen (15) days before a hearing (filed with the Court at least ten (10) days before), copies to Probation, and immediate mandated reports of suspected abuse; no appeal from the Court's decision to appoint or remove a CASA; the Order of Appointment and its distribution; the priorities for case referral; notice, the right to appear and calendar priority; confidential records (petitions under section 827 on Form JV-570); and CASA reports filed and served at least ten (10) calendar days before hearings and five (5) calendar days before special hearings, copies only to parties and their counsel.
California > Fifth Appellate District > Merced County > Superior Court of California, County of Merced
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF MERCED www.merced.courts.ca.gov 627 West 21st Street Merced CA 95340 STANDING ORDER #2026-01 EFFECTIVE March 16, 2026 COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES PROGRAM JUVENILE JUSTICE Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Merced County volunteers are appointed on behalf of children and only in juvenile proceedings. CASA serve at the pleasure of the Court having jurisdiction over the proceeding in which the CASA has been appointed. In general, a CASA’s functions are as follows: 1. Support the child throughout the Court proceedings. 2. Establish a relationship with the child to better understand the child’s needs. 3. Review available records. 4. Explain the CASA volunteer’s role, duties and responsibilities. 5. Communicate the child’s needs to the Court through written reports to the Court. 6. Attend Court hearings. In any action pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 600 et seq. involving a youth declared as a ward, the Court may, in an appropriate case and in addition to any counsel appointed for a child, appoint a CASA to represent the best interests of the child who is the subject of the proceedings. A CASA is an officer of the Court and is bound by all Court rules. Each CASA shall be sworn in by a Superior Court Judge before beginning their duties. Specific Duties 1. Conduct an independent review, examine documents, interview persons with direct knowledge of the youth's and/or family's situation, and visit potential caregivers to formulate an objective understanding of what may be in the youth's best interests. 2. Request case conferences when necessary and participate in Child and Family or Multidisciplinary Team Meetings involving the youth in order to keep informed of the youth's status and to seek cooperative solutions whenever possible. 3. Contact the Probation Placement Officer in advance to arrange a time to review the youth welfare records at the Probation Office, take notes, and make copies, if appropriate. 4. Monitor the case, visit and/or contact the youth (at least) twice a month, and determine whether the youth's needs are being met. 5. Help the youth understand the Court process as trained by Probation. 6. Communicate and coordinate efforts with the Probation Placement Officer to support the case plan and other Court-ordered services, including initiating and maintaining regular communications regarding: a. The youth's best interests, current status, and significant developments. b. Developing issues or concerns regarding the youth's placement. c. Compliance or non-compliance by parents, agencies, or others with the case plan and Court orders. d. Potential resources or suggested services to ensure youth safety, well-being, and permanency. 7. Advocate for the youth and needed services promptly. Once the Advocate receives the Order to Appoint, they have authorization to transport their assigned out of custody youth, as approved by Probation. If transporting across county lines, the Advocate must receive prior authorization from Probation. 8. Assist the Court in assuring that the best interests of the youth are being served at all times. 9. Attend Court hearings and submit a written report to the CASA Advocate Coordinator outlining the Advocate's findings and recommendations at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing. The CASA Advocate Coordinator will file the report with the Court at least ten (10) days before the hearing. 10. Provide Probation with timely copies of reports generated by CASA by placing the reports in the designated Probation box in the Court Clerk's Office with the Probation Placement Officer's name noted on the top of the report. 11. Remain actively involved in the case until formally discharged by the Court. 12. Refrain from providing case management or direct services to the youth or family. 13. Make an immediate mandated report directly to Child Protective Services (CPS) Intake of unreported incidents of suspected youth abuse and follow up by providing a written Suspected Child Abuse form. 14. A CASA volunteer shall serve under the guidance and supervision of the Merced County CASA program staff and is expected to comply with operational policies and procedures approved by the program’s Board of Directors, Sections 100 through 109 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, rule 5.655 of the California Rules of Court, and any and all Judicial Council guidelines, Local Rules of Court , and the provisions of any agreement entered into by the Merced County CASA program with the Juvenile Court. Appeal and Grievance Procedures 1. A CASA volunteer serves at the pleasure of the Court, the appointment is a privilege and not a right. The Judicial Officer presiding over the Juvenile Justice Court or their designee has the sole authority and power to appoint and/or remove a CASA to or from a case. There is no appeal process from the Court’s decision. 2. The Merced County CASA Program has established an internal process for the submission and investigation of grievances which process shall be followed. Appointment of a CASA Advocate When a CASA Advocate is appointed on behalf of the youth, the Court will make specific orders regarding CASA's ability to view and copy records from relevant agencies, including the Court's records and those of Probation. Once the Judicial Officer signs the Order of Appointment, a copy of the order will be provided by the COURT to all parties of record and their counsel. A copy of the order will be provided to CASA and the youth's caregiver such as but not limited to: Resource Family Approval (RFA) home, Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP), Non-Relative Extended Family Member (NREFM), Foster Family Agency (FFA), or Transitional Housing Program (THP). Priorities for Case Referral 1. All youth declared as wards who have been removed from the home or are at imminent risk of being removed from the home. 2. Youth with unique medical, mental health, educational, developmental, or other special needs who have been declared as wards who have been removed from or are at imminent risk of being removed from the home. Right to Timely Notice and Right to Appear, Calendar Priority for Advocates 1. The CASA shall be properly and timely noticed for all proceedings held in cases to which the CASA has been appointed. 2. The CASA has the right to be personally present at all hearings and to be heard at all Court hearings. 3. Subject to the Court’s discretion, the CASA shall have the right to participate in any chambers conferences which are held in the proceedings to which the CASA has been appointed. 4. In light of the fact that CASAs are rendering a voluntary service to the children and the Court, matters on which they appear should be granted priority on the Court’s calendar, whenever possible. Access to Records 1. All information concerning children and families in the Juvenile Court process is confidential. A CASA shall not give case information to anyone other than the Court, parties, their attorneys, and CASA staff. Any request for access to these records must be made to the Judicial Officer presiding over the Juvenile Justice Court through a Petition for Disclosure of Juvenile Court Records pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 827 (Form JV-570). 2. The child’s case file shall be maintained in the Merced County CASA office by a custodian of records. No one shall have access to that file except upon approval of the Executive Director of Merced County CASA. 3. A CASA volunteer’s personnel file is confidential. No one shall have access to the file or any of its contents except the volunteer, the Merced County CASA’s executive director (or their designee), and the Judicial Officer presiding over the Juvenile Justice Court. Parties to a proceeding may access the personnel records of a CASA volunteer appointed in that proceeding through use of the Court’s subpoena power. All subpoenas are to be served on the CASA program’s executive director at the Merced County CASA program’s office. Filing And Distribution of Casa Court Reports A. In any case in which a CASA has been appointed by the Court and is now serving on that case, the CASA must file and serve written reports to the Court and on the parties and/or their counsel at least ten (10) calendar days before the hearings. The CASA may also submit reports for any special hearings noticed to CASA of Merced County and if submitted, those written CASA reports must be filed and served on the parties and/or their counsel at least five (5) calendar days before the hearing. B. Only parties and their counsel are entitled to receive copies of CASA reports prepared in connection with pending hearings. De facto parents are entitled to receive copies of CASA reports only if there is a Court order directing distribution of the report to the de facto parents. Relatives, foster parents, and service providers are not entitled to receive copies of CASA reports in the absence of a specific Court order. C. CASA Court reports shall be copied and distributed by CASA of Merced County staff. PAUL LO PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF MERCED www.merced.courts.ca.gov 627 West 21st Street Merced CA 95340 STANDING ORDER #2026-01 EFFECTIVE March 16, 2026 COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES PROGRAM JUVENILE JUSTICE Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Merced County volunteers are appointed on behalf of children and only in juvenile proceedings. CASA serve at the pleasure of the Court havin
Reviewer note: Transcribed 2026-10-15 (California T4 Merced build 2026-10-15) by eye from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-merced/docs/general/standing-order-07072026.pdf (11638206 bytes, sha256 3a64db27e5391b6e9054feb5caef786433c02e5204366a95c135937e05e1630f; the compilation “ACTIVE STANDING ORDERS 2006 to Present”, linked as “All Current Standing Orders”; 70 pages - 36 covered by scanned page images (each with a machine reading laid with it - not a card's source), 34 born-digital (one font of the juvenile competency protocol's pages draws its characters shifted)); this order the compilation's pages 66 to 69, scanned page images: read on the page images rendered at 200 dpi (vision/img/so-p66.png to so-p69.png), transcribed with the compilation's pages 61 to 70 and checked against a RapidOCR reading of the images (at 200 dpi) and the file's own text layer for the same pages, never published: of the transcription's 2678 words, 140 6-word windows were not found in a reading, in 26 spans - 19 spans split into consecutive pieces each found (a page break, a letterhead or signature block the readings interleave, or the readings' line order) and 7 spans read again on the page images and found as transcribed (vision/check-log.txt; evidence/vision-check-2026-10-15.log, evidence/vision-explain-2026-10-15.log). Not part of the text: the compilation's page stamps (“N of 70”) and, where printed, the court's seal, the letterhead's upper-right block, the signature, the running footers and the order's distribution list (cc:), never content (taken out by build/normalize_transcripts.py; the transcriber's file is kept in custody). The transcription's closing note, which describes the pages, is not published.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.