Funds sought for child welfare advocate program

The Appropriations Committee heard testimony March 12 on a bill intended to support the expansion of Nebraska’s Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA).

LB126, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill, would transfer $500,000 annually to the Court Appointed Special Advocate Fund in fiscal years 2013-14 and 2014-15. The bill also would specify that the fund could accept grants, donations, gifts and bequests.

McGill said the CASA program has done an excellent job of utilizing funds from the Legislature during the last two fiscal years to recruit and train volunteers who serve as advocates for youth involved in the child welfare system.

Increased funding would allow the program to serve more children in need, she said.

“The issues that are facing families in this state are daunting,” McGill said, “and CASA volunteers do an extraordinary job throughout the state.”

CASA executive director Corrie Kielty testified in support of the bill. Services were added in four counties with funds received in the previous two fiscal years, she said, but CASA is able to provide services in only 37 of the state’s 93 counties.

Compared with children without an advocate, Kielty said, children paired with a CASA volunteer spend an average of four to five fewer months in the child welfare system, have fewer changes of placement and re-enter the child welfare system at lower rates.

“CASA is an incredibly cost effective program,” she said.

Dawn Rockey, executive director for CASA in Lancaster County, also supported the bill. Volunteers normally are assigned to one case at a time, she said, and often are able to dedicate more time to each child than a caseworker can.

However, the program currently is unable to provide services to all who need them, Rockey said.

“We are serving about 30 percent of the children eligible for a CASA volunteer in Lancaster County,” she said.

No one testified in opposition to the bill and the committee took no immediate action on it.