$1.7 million in first-time federal funding cut from local nonprofit Court Appointed Special Advocates
(Update: Adding video, comments from executive director)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Central Oregon says they're picking up the pieces after losing out on $1.7 million in first-time, previously approved federal funding cut in last week's appropriations bill.
"It's incredibly disappointing. And frankly, I don't know the full impact that it's going to have on all of the CASA programs across the state of Oregon," Executive Director Heather Dion said Monday. "But I'm very concerned about the impact that it's going to have on children in foster care and the children who we serve."
CASA of Central Oregon is a nonprofit that trains volunteers to advocate on behalf of children from birth to age 21 in the foster care system. The statewide Oregon CASA Network is also based in Bend.
In 2022, about 430 children in Central Oregon spent at least one day in foster care.
Back in 1977, a Seattle judge conceived the idea of using trained community volunteers to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children in court. The program was so successful that judges across the country began using citizen advocates.
Congress encouraged the expansion of CASA programs with its passage of the Victims of Child Abuse Act in 1990. Today, there are nearly 1,000 local programs nationally that support the volunteers serving children, including Oregon’s 20 local programs.
The recent funding bill that passed the Senate Fiday cut $1.7 million directed to the Oregon CASA network, affecting recruitment and support of volunteers, who assist over 1,400 children across the state.
Dion says it would've been the organization's first check from the federal government.
"If we were to only rely on state funding, we could only serve about 18% of children" in foster care, she said. "We have to make up the difference in a variety of ways. So it's fundraising events, it's individual donations, it's grants. It's everything that you can think of. "
Representative Janelle Bynum, who opposed the funding bill due its cuts, expressed concerns that it undermines commitments to the community by removing $30 million in project funding across the state, including $10.7 million for five Central Oregon projects and organizations.
Senator Jeff Merkley also opposed the funding bill, voting no on Friday. "The Republican plan is about families lose and millionaires win," He told CNN.
Governor Tina Kotek and Attorney General Dan Rayfield are also now suing the Trump administration over a freeze on federal payments, which has left state agencies unable to access reimbursements.
CASA says they're now looking for other funding sources at the state level.
"So by children not having CASA volunteers because of this cut in funding, that means that kids are going to struggle more, and they're going to have less of that opportunity for hope and optimism for the future. "
