By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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This story was updated at 11 a.m. on February 25 to correct the number of children served by Rappahannock CASA in fiscal year 2025, and the Department of Social Services’ vacancy rate.
Virginia’s Court Appointed Special Advocate program could receive an additional $2.4 million in annual state funding, based on budget amendments that were reported out of committees in the House of Delegates and State Senate on Sunday.
Those who work for the program, which matches volunteers with children in the foster care system so they have a consistent source of support and an advocate in court, are “over the moon,” because if approved, this will be the first time since 2008 that the program, known as CASA, will have received a funding increase.
“We’re all super fiscally responsible, but [due to inflation] the dollars we get are worth about half what they were, so the math doesn’t math quite as well as it should,” said Edie Evans, executive director of Rappahannock CASA. “So despite our best efforts to be really frugal and good stewards, when the math doesn’t math, it’s the kiddos who get harmed.”
There are 27 regional CASA programs throughout the state. They are operated locally, with regulatory and oversight monitoring provided by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
And in the decades since 2008, the demand for their services has increased. In fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025), 1,419 CASA volunteers provided advocacy for 3,430 children—but according to reporting from Cardinal News, some 3,400 other children who were referred to the programs did not receive services due to a lack of trained volunteers.
Wait lists for services from some of the larger CASA programs are very long, Evans said.
“We have a small wait list because our case load is smaller, but even so, we hate, hate, hate having a wait list,” she said. “No child who has been abused or neglected should ever have to wait for advocacy, period full stop.”
“But unfortunately,” Evans continued, “I can only serve kids if I have a well-trained volunteer ready to serve them, and I can only have enough well-trained volunteers if I have enough well-paid staff to train them.”
Rappahannock CASA, which provides services to children in Fredericksburg City and the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, and King George, currently has two full-time staff members—Evans, and case manager Melissa Mazzarino.
Evans said “it would be amazing” to be able to hire one more full-time case manager, and that’s what she hopes a funding increase would support.
In fiscal year 2025, volunteers for Rappahannock CASA donated 4,100 hours to serve 117 children, providing $144,000 in value to the community, Evans said.
“So we feel like we’re a pretty good deal for the services that we provide,” she said.
Those services include relieving the burden on overworked social workers and ensuring that the court system has all the information it needs to make decisions in the best interest of every child.
“What we bring is time and consistency,” Evans said. “The state published a report that indicated that the Department of Social Services has 20% vacancy rate and a 40% turnover rate. So you know, they’re being asked to do more and more and they may have dozens of kids on their case load.”
But each CASA volunteer only has one child or one sibling group that they are responsible for.
“So we have a lot more time available to us to not only visit the kids, but talk to all their service providers … and get a sense of what’s happening and what they might need to move forward and get beyond their trauma,” Evans said. “Every child will have a responsible, caring adult who will show up for them until the case is done.”
A bipartisan group of legislators carried the budget amendments for CASA in their respective chambers and Evans said it’s heartening to see such cooperation “in both houses on behalf of Virginia’s most vulnerable citizens.”
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Amazing article! Thank you so much for reporting on this and helping spread awareness for our amazing CASA programs.