Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing $20 million for the Court Appointed Special Advocate foster care program. Leaders of the volunteer group say they already planned for his earlier commitment of $60 million.
Jaheim Smith “aged out” of foster care just last week, a transition that can be distressing for young people who have spent most of their lives in the child welfare system and for the first time are living on their own.
The program recruits and trains volunteers assigned by judges to advocate for individual foster youth in a complex child welfare system struggling to provide enough much-needed social service workers.CASA is facing a significant reduction in new funding that was meant to expand the program’s reach. Gov. Gavin Newsom in his latest budget plan has proposed trimming a $60-million commitment down to $20 million.
Sharon Holgerson, 65, of Woodland was Smith’s assigned advocate, and said she plans to remain in his life now that he’s older, calling them “good friends.” CASA, a national program created in the 1970s, operates 44 programs across California, with more than 11,000 volunteers dedicated to helping children in the foster system with an array of needs, acting as a liaison between them and the courts and other government agencies.
But Newsom’s budget proposal in January reduced the funding increase to the program by two-thirds. The decision was “not a proposal that would be put forward, like many others, were it not for the necessity of closing the shortfall,” said H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for the Department of Finance.
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