Court Appointed Special Advocates El Dorado received a $27,500 grant through National CASA.

“This $27,500 grant has a significant impact on our program and the services we provide to our community children,” Executive Director Susan Dorsey said in a press release.

The grant dollars will support a unique and much-needed new position that will provide training for new advocates on the West Slope and South Lake Tahoe as well as case management for advocates on the West Slope.

The program served more than 400 youth in 2009.

CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to ensure that they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home.