Loading…
The order governing the Orange County CASA program, superseding all prior CASA orders: CASA personnel and appointed advocates may inspect juvenile case files (section 827(a)(1)(Q)) with copies kept in the clerk's office; CASA family connections work for dependents in foster care; Probation must give CASA access to information on and visitation with youth for whom CASA is appointed; limits on disclosing a child's dependent, ward or foster care status; and notice to CASA.
California > Fourth Appellate District > Orange County > Superior Court of California, County of Orange
[File stamp: FILED, Superior Court of California, County of Orange, May 20, 2026, David H. Yamasaki, Clerk of the Court, By: R. Bracken, Deputy Clerk] SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF ORANGE SITTING AS THE JUVENILE COURT MISCELLANEOUS ORDER M-2026-4 TITLE: COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA) TO: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE (CASA) OF ORANGE COUNTY A. Applicability of Order: 1. The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program was established to serve the needs of abused and neglected children in the juvenile court. CASA recruits, trains, supervises and supports community volunteers who investigate the circumstances of the child, facilitate the provision of services, monitor compliance with orders of the court, and advocate the court and in the community in the best interests of the child. CASAs serve at the pleasure of, and report directly to, the Juvenile Court. Their duties, responsibilities, and the limits of the authority of CASAs are contained in and described by Welfare and Institutions Code, sections 100 – 109, and Rule 5.655, California Rules of Court. 2. This order shall apply only to the Orange County CASA program, its administrative personnel, advocates and volunteers. The authorizations granted by this order shall not apply to CASAs from any other county in California. 3. This order supersedes all prior orders regarding the Orange County CASA program. B. Juvenile Court Files: 1. Pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code, section 827(a)(1)(Q), CASA administrative personnel and CASA volunteers who have been appointed as advocates for juvenile court wards, dependents, and nonminor dependent are authorized to have access to, inspect, review and make notes of the “juvenile case file” (§827(e).), as to any child for whom a CASA has been appointed. 2. The juvenile case files are to remain in the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, Juvenile Division; and copies of any documents contained in the files are to be provided to CASA personnel without an order of the juvenile court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code, sections 827 and 362.5 and Orange County Superior Court Local Rule 903. C. CASA Family Connections: 1. CASA provides services to dependents placed in foster care to search for, identify and engage family or significant others to establish communication and explore possible permanent placement options. CASA Family Connections Volunteers are allowed on-site access to the minor’s “juvenile case file”, including files maintained by the Social Services Agency, as an aid in identifying family members, relatives, and significant others. D. Juvenile Justice Youth: 1. In order to facilitate the purposes and goals of the CASA program, Orange County Probation Department is ordered to provide to CASA administrative personnel and volunteer advocates, access to, inspect, review and make notes of the “juvenile case file” maintained by Probation, as to those youth for whom CASA advocate has been appointed by the Juvenile Court either in a dependency or juvenile justice case as a special advocate for the minor. 2. The Orange County Probation Department is ordered to provide access and visitation by CASA personnel and volunteer advocates with any youth for whom CASA has been appointed, while the youth is detained at Juvenile Hall or other custodial institution operated by Probation, in accordance with Juvenile Hall procedures. E. Disclosure of dependent, wardship, foster care status: 1. By virtue of their status as dependent children of the Juvenile Court and/or their living status in foster case, such children may require additional assistance in education, medical and behavioral health care, and may receive services and benefits, charitable and otherwise. 2. CASA advocates may disclose the status of a child as a dependent, ward and/or in foster care, as necessary, in order to obtain assistance, benefits and services for the child. The CASA advocate shall not disclose any specific factual information about the child’s case, including the factual circumstances that brought the child under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, without further order of the Court. F. Notice to CASA: 1. In order to facilitate the purposes and goals of the CASA program, as to any dependency or juvenile justice matter involving those minors for whom CASA has been appointed, the Juvenile Court, Probation Department, Social Services Agency and all other parties to the matter, if designated to give notice to the parties to the matter, shall provide notice to CASA in the same manner as notice is given to any other party. Notwithstanding Local Rule 900.1.3, this Order will not expire absent further order of the Court. Dated this 20th day of May, 2026. Craig E. Arthur Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court
[File stamp: FILED, Superior Court of California, County of Orange, May 20, 2026, David H. Yamasaki, Clerk of the Court, By: R. Bracken, Deputy Clerk] SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF ORANGE SITTING AS THE JUVENILE COURT MISCELLANEOUS ORDER M-2026-4 TITLE: COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA) TO: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE (CASA) OF ORANGE COUNTY A. Applica
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-29 (California T3 Orange build 2026-09-29) from BenchPath custody ca/t3/ca-orange/docs/m-2026-4.pdf (282164 bytes, sha256 96ba4919bb55786fa08f91893e0b06cf6686ecd0c6caf7935f1f2f553c287106; 4 pages) - the court's own posted PDF, a scan: transcribed by eye from the rendered page images, every page read against the image; a local machine reading (RapidOCR) served only as a second reader for a word-level diff, every difference classified and checked on the page; every quotation mark, apostrophe and dash checked in full-resolution crops; file stamps, handwritten dates and pages not transcribed are recorded in bracketed notes; printed irregularities are kept as printed. Signed May 20, 2026 by Judge Craig E. Arthur as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court; the court's Juvenile Courtroom Information page (read 2026-09-29) lists Judge Katherine E. Lewis as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court.
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.