Concerned over making decisions about abused and neglected children's lives, Seattle, WA Superior Court Judge David Soukup conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interest of these children in court. So, in 1977, a successful pilot program began and soon judges across the country began utilizing citizen advocates. In 1990, the U. S. Congress authorized the expansion of CASA with the passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-647) stating that a "Court appointed special advocate shall be available to every victim of child abuse or neglect in the United States". In 1986, the first CASA program started in Rapid City, by Judge Marshall Young, paving the way throughout South Dakota for seven other CASA programs and the state association.
Today, there are 8 local programs in South Dakota serving 48 counties as well as the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe.