Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASAs, are individuals who give a voice to foster children. But, cuts in grant funding at the Department of Justice have made the future of these programs in the D.C. region and nationwide uncertain.
The National CASA/GAL, which helps to operate the programs around the nation, saw more than $48 million in grant dollars cut, according to a Reuters report. The program has no connection to other programs with similar acronyms in their name.
CASA for Children of the District of Columbia also said a $66,500 grant was ended, and it’s concerned about future grant cuts.
Sounding the alarm over the cuts is Rob Scheer, founder of Comfort Cases in Rockville, Maryland, an organization which delivers backpacks of needed items to foster children. He was once a foster child himself.
“I know for a fact that these … social workers overturn, but guess what (these children) get? A person that doesn’t leave them — a CASA,” Scheer said. “Their CASA is there, showing them support, that they matter, showing them that they can have a future, and for us to defund that, to cancel that all out, that is, once again, a moral issue to me.”
The special advocates are more than a social worker, they get to know the foster children on a personal level and provide judges with information that reports what is in the best interest of the foster child.
Scheer said it is a moral issue because it shows a lack of concern for foster children: “You don’t give a damn about kids in foster care.”
Laura Edwards, the state director for Maryland CASA association, said while their office is funded by the state, many local offices stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding which would impact the necessary training and operation of these programs.
Edwards said as a foster parent herself, she has experienced the important role CASAs play in a foster child’s life.
“I was a working foster care parent, so oftentimes, I would be at work and the foster care daughter needed to go to a doctor’s appointment. The CASA could step in and assist in things like that, in addition to providing her with an additional voice in the system whenever there were hearings,” Edwards said.
The Department of Justice in cancellation letters reportedly told organizations that their grants are being cut because their service “no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities,” which includes “protecting American children.”
“That is the exact mission of National CASA, Maryland State CASA, CASA local programs. That’s what we do,” Edwards said.
WTOP has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Scheer said the advocates are “everything” to these children, some of which are placed in multiple homes during their time in foster care.
“I know one particular kid — 11 homes in five years,” Scheer said.
He said the main constant throughout that time for the child was their CASA.
“They are the only lifeline a kid in foster care truly has,” he added.
Scheer said without the special advocates for these children, the nation will see a rise in gang activity and homelessness among young people, as well as decreases in high school graduation rates and college applications.
“Why? Because that CASA wasn’t there to give them hope. That CASA wasn’t there to give them that one little push,” Scheer said.
He is urging people to contact their members of Congress as he hopes funding for the programs will be restored.
“Why isn’t anybody screaming at the mountaintops that this should not be happening? That kids in foster care should not be the pawn of what you want to make so special by cutbacks?” he said.
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