CASA of the Pikes Peak Region receives national grant to increase support to vulnerable youth

Colorado Springs, Colo. (October 9, 2019) – CASA of the Pikes Peak Region has been awarded a $40,000 Mentoring Grant from the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children. Funds will be used to recruit, train, and assign new volunteers to represent the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect. Work done under the mentoring grant will target key populations such as American Indian/Alaska Native, rural and opioid-impacted youth.

There are nearly 950 CASA/GAL programs nationwide, including 48 state offices, supporting volunteers who work on behalf of children in the child welfare system. Their advocacy enables judges to make the most well-informed decisions for each child.

The mentoring grant will enable CASA of the Pikes Peak Region to focus on advocating for the needs of at-risk and underserved youth. Volunteers will also mentor youth, helping them increase their level of connectivity with community and family, improve outcomes, and reach stable placements.

The federal grant funds distributed through National CASA/GAL are provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, US Department of Justice, as authorized under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. In 2018, National CASA/GAL was awarded nearly $10 million in federal grants.

About CASA of the Pikes Peak Region

CASA of the Pikes Peak Region is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1989 as a local program of the National CASA Association. Serving El Paso and Teller Counties, the organization’s core mission is to recruit, train, and support citizen volunteers in its Dependency & Neglect program to provide a voice and advocate for victims of child abuse and neglect. The nonprofit also operates a Supervised Exchange & Parenting Time (SEPT) program, Milton Foster Children’s Fund (MFCF) & the Hanger, Life Long Links, and Children & Families in Transition. With more than 400 volunteers who put in roughly 19,000 hours in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, CASA of the Pikes Peak Region provided advocates for 710 children and served more than 900 children through additional programming. For more information, visit www.casappr.org.