14 Jan American Century Foundation Gives a Grant to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) recently received a grant for $5,000 from the American Century Foundation to support their Child Advocacy Program.

CASA will use funds for its Child Advocacy program that will provide 450 children with 185 volunteers who advocate directly for children involved in the court system due to abuse, neglect, or divorce-related custody and visitation disputes.

Research concludes children with a CASA Volunteer are more likely to receive timely and appropriate medical and behavioral services, spend less time in foster care, are 50% less likely to re-enter the court system, and are more likely to live in safe and permanent homes.

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) serves children ages 0 to 18 years in Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. These children are involved in the court system to due abuse or neglect and are now in foster care, or due to divorce-related issues such as custody or visitation disputes.  In 2013, CASA served a total of 413 children through its Child Advocacy program.