Judge Joyce Williams Warren, Pulaski County CASA, Little Rock, Arkansas
Length of service: First appointed as a juvenile court judge in 1983
“It is a pleasure to work with someone with the knowledge, wisdom and servant’s heart Judge Warren displays. She is a hero in my eyes.” ~ Julian Holloway, director, Arkansas State CASA Association
Judge Joyce Williams Warren is an avid and passionate supporter of CASA in her courtroom and in the community. She holds each and every CASA volunteer in highest regard and visibly places great value on their testimony and the court reports they submit. Beyond the courthouse, Judge Warren helps to recognize the contributions of CASA volunteers and encourages them in their efforts at the annual CASA Volunteer Recognition Banquet.
Passionate about furthering the quality of advocacy for children, Judge Warren always makes court improvement a priority. She participates in the training of not only CASA volunteers, but of attorneys ad litem, parent counsel, new judges and other court personnel. Most recently, the judge spearheaded the Zero to Three pilot court team project, a systems-change initiative to improve how the courts, child welfare agencies and related child-serving organizations work together. Arkansas is now one of 10 Safe Babies Court Teams across the country.
Beyond the courthouse, Judge Warren never misses an opportunity to promote the CASA program and is quick to encourage other judges who have not taken full advantage of their local CASA programs to do so. Judge Warren participates in local CASA activities and recruiting, appears in local videos used for recruiting new volunteers, attends all conferences, and encourages all stakeholders to take advantage of any training opportunity promoting children’s best interest. She has worked diligently to build bridges between CASA and other agencies and has helped ensure all agencies are collaborating to represent best interest for all foster children.
