Designing Online Information Systems for Volunteer-Based Court Appointed Special Advocate Organizations

For public organizations, the ability to harness web-based Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to make information and services directly available to the public has become an important goal. Simultaneously, the use of volunteers by public organizations has become a crucial component of service delivery within the US. Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs rely heavily upon volunteers to advocate for neglected children. While there is no doubt variation exists across specific CASA programs, their generally ubiquitous reliance on volunteers indicates a need for recruitment, training, and coordination to successfully achieve program goals. While the discussion of User-Centered Design (UCD) factors illustrates issues for consideration, the case study of Florida’s Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program more concretely illustrates how a state-level CASA can begin to harness online ICT to achieve programmatic goals. This chapter discusses key information design characteristics needed for online systems to effectively deliver required information to both volunteers and staff.