In the mid-1990’s, Madison County struggled under the weight of a child abuse rate that was consistently one of the highest in the state. Many children were in need of advocacy, but services were severely lacking.

In 1996, Joe and Carrie McCarthy relocated to Tennessee. They had been involved with CASA in another state, and were very sad to learn that there was no such program in Madison County.  With the help of attorney Christy R. Little, who was one of only two attorneys in the county who took guardian ad litem cases, they decided to start a program.

Attorney Little and the founding group put together the right team of people from the community, and Madison County CASA was chartered in Tennessee in 1996.  A Madison County CASA volunteer provided advocacy for the first time in 1997. Christy Little went on to be elected to the Madison County Juvenile Court bench and still serves in that capacity today.

Since its inception in 1996, Madison County CASA has advocated for the best interests of well over 1,000 abused and neglected children in Madison County. 2021 marks Madison County CASA’s 25th anniversary of its charter.