PORT ANGELES — County officials told state Reps. Steve Tharinger, Mike Chapman and Sen. Kevin Van De Wege that the state has not adequately funded the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program, despite such a program being required under state law.
Director of Juvenile and Family Services Jody Jacobsen told the District 24 lawmakers, whose district consists of Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County, that a grant that had funded positions that helped recruit and maintain volunteers had dried up.
“We have had some challenges and struggles over the past few years,” Jacobsen said at last Thursday’s county Board of Health meeting. “As our filings have increased, our volunteer base decreased.”
CASA volunteers advocate in court for the best interests of children involved in dependency cases.
The program’s total volunteers dwindled from 63 in 2004 to just 19 volunteers in 2017. There were 48 filings in 2004 and 79 filings in 2017. In 2013 there were 118 cases filed.
After securing the 20-month grant, the program was able to recruit 55 additional volunteers and now the CASA program has more volunteers than it has had in at least 15 years.
Clallam County commissioners have agreed to fund the support positions through the end of the year, but funding in the future isn’t clear.
The county had applied for a grant related to battling the opioid crisis, but was turned down. The hope was that the grant would replace the Victims of Crime Act grant that hadn’t been renewed.
The 20-month grant funded 2.5 positions that helped the program go from 19 CASAs in 2017, serving a third of the children in dependency court, up to about 70 volunteers now.
There are currently 149 assigned cases and 76 unassigned cases.
Valerie Brooks, CASA program coordinator told the state lawmakers that every child CASA helps is involved with court.
“Every child we serve has been abused or neglected in some way by the people who should love them the most,” Brooks said.
“Our focus is only what is in that child’s best interest.”
She told the lawmakers that the CASA program was able to inform the court of a 7-year-old boy who had been moved to five different homes over four weeks.
“We were able to make that stop,” she said.
She spoke of a teen who relied on her CASA after attempting suicide, about children who have witnessed abuse of a sibling and about a girl who turned to the CASA program when she was stranded on the streets of Port Angeles with no place to go.
“We have countless times heard from children young and old … that their lives would not be the same had they not had a volunteer sitting next to them and advocating for their best interests,” Brooks said.
“Our CASA volunteers are doing very, very, very hard work with kids who have suffered greatly and in order for them to be able to do their work they need the staff there to help support them,” she said.
“It’s very traumatizing work. It’s something that would cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars if it was paid staff and I’d say it’s probably the one thing in these kiddos lives that they know they can count on.”
For more information about CASA, or to volunteer, call 360-417-2282.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
