Reflecting on Laura Wolf's 18 Years at CASA

By Laura Carter

After her 18-year tenure as CEO of CASA of Travis County, Laura Wolf would tell you that she is most proud of the contributions of the volunteers and staff. She says that, as the demands of our work have increased in terms of higher expectations of CASA and the greater needs of children and their families, she is constantly impressed and grateful that CASA of Travis County volunteers, staff, and Board always rise to the occasion.   

Yet others may say that the initiatives and programs that Laura championed along the way and that have become ingrained in CASA’s culture are perhaps her greatest accomplishments. After spending her first year shoring up CASA’s infrastructure and financial stability, Laura turned her attention to quality improvements and became a master at marrying opportunities with enhancements to our advocacy.  As she led efforts to grow revenue for CASA, Laura always had a plan to steward those resources toward growth in children served and, simultaneously, toward deepening the advocacy offered for those children. The initiatives CASA of Travis County has developed over time, and the smart, informed risks that Laura was willing to take have borne fruit not only for CASA of Travis County but also for the entire CASA network. 

CASA of Travis County’s Family Finding and Engagement program grew from an idea and a local pilot project encouraged by the court into a program rich with data on how family finding and engagement activities work to ensure children can grow up with people they know, having relationships with, support from, and even permanent homes with family, extended relatives, or fictive kin. Texas CASA took that data to the legislature and was rewarded with funds to expand family finding and engagement activities across the state. 

When Laura learned of Praesidium, Inc., an organization focused on child safety and preventing child sexual abuse, she not only steered CASA of Travis County to embrace their teachings and become the first (and so far only) CASA program in the country to be accredited by Praesidium, but also partnered with Praesidium to develop a CASA-specific child safety curriculum. She then helped find funding for other CASA programs to go through Praesidium’s Certified Praesidium Guardian training so that those programs could also integrate improved child safety policies and procedures into their work.

More recently, Laura led the process for the Board’s adoption and CASA’s execution of a groundbreaking new strategic plan, driven by data and by a constant desire for continuous improvement. Having achieved the north star of all previous strategic plans - accepting automatic appointment from the courts to every new case of child abuse or neglect - CASA of Travis County now charts a path that contemplates new ways of supporting children, youth, and families that offer promising futures and opportunities to thrive. 

As she looks to the future, Laura says that the ambition of this strategic plan, the talent and vision of CASA’s staff and Board, and the ongoing courageous commitment of CASA volunteers inspire her with the certain knowledge that the organization she helped to build will continue to grow to far greater heights.

Longtime Board member and two-time Board Chair, David Rubin, said recently that Laura made excellence look inevitable, and for that quality, and for all the ways she has helped make CASA of Travis County what it is today, we say thank you.