Thank god.
SEATTLE, Wash.–On April 22, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued over 360 notices of termination of federal grant awards. National CASA/GAL was one of the organizations that received notices. 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.” Since that is in fact the mission of the CASA/GAL program, we strongly disagree with the decision to terminate the grants.
The U.S. Congress, through the annual appropriations laws, has funded the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program for more than 30 years. This loss of funding impacts the training, technical assistance and subawards to member programs across the country. Without these funds, the work of CASA/GAL programs across the country will be impacted along with more than 200,000 children involved in child abuse and neglect proceedings.