"Feels like a rug has been pulled": Proposed budget cuts could affect California foster care programs
SACRAMENTO — For kids navigating the foster care system, court-appointed special advocates, or CASA volunteers, can be a lifeline. But with the state's looming budget shortfall, money that was supposed to fund the program may be at risk.
The bond between children in foster care and CASA volunteers can't be understated.
"They volunteer in their schools. They talk to their family and friends and relatives. They review financial records and really get to know the child so they can go into court and present a whole picture of the child and the whole family," said Sharon Lawrence, the CEO of the California CASA Association.
Lawrence said last year, the state made a commitment of $60 million. That's money that would go toward training, recruitment, and efforts to pair a CASA with every child who needs one. But the governor's revised budget has reduced that to only $20 million in the face of a budget deficit.
"We'd already made decisions and allocated the money in a certain way that was a stair-step process that could help serve more children," Lawrence said. "And so if we knew it was only $20 million, we would have gone in a totally different direction."
Pushback on the cuts has bipartisan support, and Lawrence said cuts could be felt throughout the state. The California CASA Association has 44 programs in 51 counties.
"It feels like the rug has been pulled out of the CASA programs because we had this money in June," Lawrence said. "This money had been promised to us by the governor and legislature, and we did not anticipate that it would not be here."
CASA program directors hope to have an answer about any possible budget cuts this month when the governor will propose a revised budget.