The Indiana courts system recently named South Bend retiree Tom Brown as its top CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocate, for 2026. WVPE’s Jeff Parrott talked with Brown about volunteering to give abused and neglected children a voice in the legal process.
Jeff: So Tom, congratulations on the award. Tell me how it made you feel to be recognized as, out of all the counties is in the state of Indiana, 92 counties, you were chosen as the top one.
Tom: Thank you. First of all, I have to admit I didn't even know there was such an award. So it was a surprise when I got it and it made me feel good but I just feel that I didn't do anything any more special than anybody else in the state, any other CASA volunteers. They're all great volunteers and we need every volunteer we can get.
Jeff: So what made you get into this? What did you do for your career?
Tom: I was an accountant, a CPA most of the time. My background has nothing to do with social work. I retired. I had some grandiose ideas of what I was going to do in retirement. But after about a year, year and a half, I was bored to death. And my daughter, who worked at the time for the Department of Child Services, said that I should look into being a CASA, a Court-Appointed Special Advocate for children. And I had no knowledge of the organization whatsoever, but it took her probably six months, nine months to get me to look into it and when I did I decided to give it a try.
Jeff: So what have you thought of it? What's the experience been like?
Tom: Well, it's been very meaningful. Even though I got into it, sort of like on accident, I found that it was very meaningful. I would be working with children who all they wanted to do was have a friend, somebody they can trust. And I figured there was something I could do. Didn't take any special education and any special training. Just being a human being to another child. And over the 12 years, 13 years, all I can say is that I'm sure I made a difference to a lot of kids, but by the same token I have been changed by working with those children.
Jeff: How have you been changed?
Tom: Oh, well, first of all, it’s something that I would never expected to do, never experienced. But just watching how the kids develop, how they grow while they're in this usually rather tough time for them. And it's just amazing watching them, being a friend to them. As an example, I had a case where it was two of those children, a boy and a girl, and the little girl would not warm up to me at all. She screamed the first time I walked in their house, but it took a few months visiting with them to get the little girl to even play a little bit with me. And then finally, I was getting ready to leave one visit and she ran in the other room, came out with her coat, grabbed my hand and was ready to leave with me. And it just turns your heart when something like that happens.
Jeff: You ever keep in touch with any of these kids you've helped?
Tom: Well, we're not allowed to visit the families after the case is closed. That's probably one of the harder things that you have to deal with because you always wonder how they turned out. It's just something that you do and you hope you've made a connection that they needed to get through the tough times that they have that they're going through.
Jeff: Is there anything you would say to people who might be considering volunteering?
Tom: Well, the first comment that people will make when I talk to them about becoming a CASA is, ‘I can't do that,’ and I recognize that that's a legitimate answer because that's the answer I used when my daughter first approached me with it, but what I would tell them is it’s just something that is needed, it makes a difference in your life, and it makes the world a little bit better.
