Roanoke, Va, November 6, 2020 – Children’s Trust announced today the Roanoke Women’s Foundation has awarded $50,000 to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) in Roanoke. The grant will enable Children’s Trust to add a part time CASA staff person to manage the caseload and volunteers to work with children in Botetourt and Craig counties that have been underserved. The CASA program meets the mission of Children’s Trust by preventing and reducing the likelihood and trauma of child abuse and neglect. All of CASA program objectives seek to meet the goal of ensuring children have a safe and healthy environment in a permanent home. Children’s Trust is a non-profit organization encompassing 4 programs that provide prevention, intervention and advocacy for children who are victims of child abuse and neglect.
CASA Director Katie Van Patten is excited about expanding service in these counties. “There has been a dramatic increase in the number of cases in Botetourt and Craig assigned to CASA by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts. Since June 2018, foster care cases in Botetourt County and Craig County have more than doubled. We need more manpower to meet this challenge and this grant will be a big help to us and the children we support.”
While this grant will support the work of the CASA program and Children’s Trust by offering additional staff hours to address community need, the nature of CASA’s work is collaborative with many area service providers to address identified needs of cases. CASA serves as a bridge for abused children, linking families to services and resources, to support navigating systems to receive needed services. CASA works with the Department of Social Services, private practice therapists, Guardians ad litem, and schools sharing information obtained for the courts. While our service partners have many clients which they serve, the use of trained CASA Volunteers allows a one on one connection with the child’s case they are assigned.
The Roanoke Women’s Foundation is a woman-only philanthropic organization begun in 2005 that awards grants to regional organizations in the fields of Arts and Culture, Health and Human Services, Education and the Environment.
