The Trump Administration’s latest cost-cutting blitz has eliminated millions of dollars in funding for the nonprofit overseeing popular volunteer programs that match Court-Appointed Special Advocates and guardians ad litem with abused and neglected kids.
In a statement posted on its website Wednesday, the Seattle-based National CASA/GAL Association for Children announced it was among hundreds of U.S. Department of Justice grantees that had received funding termination notices this week.
The association plans to appeal the federal agency’s decision and has asked the public to contact their elected officials to express concern “about the impact of this far-reaching decision to CASA/GAL programs across the country and the children and youth served.”
According to a list of affected grantees obtained from the Justice Department by Reuters, the targeted national CASA awards were among the largest, totaling roughly $48.9 million. Across 365 organizations receiving the cut-off notices, few had been awarded more than $5 million in grants.
As of press time, it wasn’t clear how much the federal government had already distributed to the national CASA organization, before the termination notice was sent. The group did not respond to requests for comment today, but records show it was awarded more than $25 million by the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention last October, and another $23.6 million in 2021.
The National CASA Association sets standards for more than 900 independent programs nationwide, and passes on millions of dollars in federal funds to dozens of those local groups. But it is immediately suspending its own grantmaking, due to the Trump Administration’s budget slashing.
“According to the notices, the three grants to National CASA/GAL are being terminated because they ‘no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities,’ which includes ‘protecting American children,’” the association states on its website. “Since that is in fact the mission of the CASA/GAL program, we strongly disagree with the decision to terminate the grants.”
Special advocates can be found in family and dependency courts across the country. Appointed by judges after receiving 30 hours of training developed by the national association, they attend hearings and file court reports, weighing in on issues involving foster children’s placements, education and relationship to relatives.
CASA is one of the most visible and popular charitable ventures in the child welfare field, with high-profile supporters that have included presidents, senators, former FBI director James Comey and the television host Dr. Phil. In 2021, 86% of the membership association’s roughly $16 million in total revenue came from Justice Department grants, tax records show. Over the past two decades, the group has received more than $300 million from the department.
National CASA is not alone in receiving grant termination notices this week. Other groups also learned of funding cuts, paralyzing their efforts to curb human trafficking and protect crime victims, according to reporting by The Imprint and other news outlets.
Grant funds cancelled this week are being re-routed to “current Department priorities,” Maureen Henneberg, deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs stated in an email obtained by this outlet’s Youth Services Insider and published Wednesday.
“Top-line Department priorities with respect to discretionary grant funding, focus on, among other things, more directly supporting certain law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, and promoting coordination of law enforcement efforts at all levels of government,” Henneberg stated.
In response to a request for a list of juvenile justice grantees that received the notice, a department spokesperson issued an additional statement: “This Department of Justice is focused on prosecuting criminals, getting illegal drugs off of the streets, and protecting American institutions from toxic DEI and sanctuary city policies.”
“IF THIS FUNDING LOSS IS PERMANENT, IT WILL RADICALLY CHANGE THE OPERATIONS OF NATIONAL CASA.”
— OKLAHOMA CASA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SHERYL MARSEILLES
The elimination of grants to the national CASA marks yet another unusual turn of events for the nonprofit, which had just emerged from an unrelated financial crisis with the federal government.
After scrutiny from Justice Department financial monitors beginning in late 2022, the group was labeled a “high-risk grantee” and had its funding frozen, leading to widespread staff furloughs and angst throughout the national network serving nearly 100,000 foster youth and other vulnerable children each year.
Ultimately, last year, the group returned more than $270,000 in what the Justice Department called “unsupported, unallowable” expenses of taxpayer funds.
The association’s leaders have maintained there was no wrongdoing or “misspending.” Last October, they announced extensive changes to internal accounting systems had been made and a new chief financial officer had been hired. With its funding freeze lifted, national CASA received $25.3 million in new federal grants, which came with “special conditions,” a spokesperson for the justice department’s Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) said at the time.
“This grant funding reflects OJJDP’s confidence in not only our organizational progress, but also in our ability and expertise to execute on the important work of ensuring every child who has experienced abuse or neglect is safe, has a permanent home, and has the opportunity to thrive,” chief executive officer Tara Perry said in an emailed October statement.
But now her group’s federal funding has been cut off again, more abruptly this time, and for unclear reasons. There is no indication the association’s financial missteps in years past had any connection to this latest grant termination, given the haphazard cuts under the second Trump Administration’s whirlwind first few months.
The federal government’s temporary funding freeze of national CASA that began two years ago and the “high-risk” designation did not apply to local CASA groups, which independently raise hundreds of millions of dollars in annual funding from other sources. Those efforts could offset some of the consequences of national CASA’s new funding loss, one affiliate said.
“I suspect the more immediate impacts on the greater CASA network will vary from state to state. In Oklahoma, as is the case with many other states, we are fortunate that our infrastructure and service provision is not reliant on National CASA,” said Sheryl Marseilles, chief executive officer of Oklahoma CASA. “That said, if this funding loss is permanent, it will radically change the operations of National CASA.”
