Illinois Court Appointed Special Advocates (Illinois CASA) receives State Funding for the First Time

Illinois Court Appointed Special Advocates (Illinois CASA) receives State Funding for the First Time

Illinois CASA has been awarded a $2,885,000.00 in State funding. This is the first time in Illinois CASA’s 26 years of operation that they have received any state funding. CASA stands for court appointed special advocate. A CASA is a trained, community volunteer who advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children who are involved with the child welfare system. This funding will be split between thirty-one local programs across Illinois to expand their programing so more kids who have experienced child abuse or neglect can have a specially trained Court Appointed Special Advocate assigned to their case. In addition, there will be money to go into some counties to open new CASA programs to help serve the over 2,000 survivors who do not currently have access to a CASA program.

Executive Director Mari Christopherson stated, “This funding means that more children across Illinois do not have to go through the court process alone. We applaud the Governor in supporting a program that works.”

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