NEWS RELEASE: Texas CASA Awards Lawmakers John Lujan and John Cornyn for Commitment to Children and Families
GALVESTON, Texas – Texas Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) honored State Representative John Lujan and U.S. Senator John Cornyn with the 2024 Big Voices for Little Texans award during the annual Texas CASA Conference in recognition of the impact they have made in the lives of children and families involved in the child welfare system.
“These two lawmakers are leaders in their field when it comes to prioritizing policies that help children and youth in the foster care system,” said Vicki Spriggs, CEO of Texas CASA. “We value our relationships with Representative Lujan and Senator Cornyn, and we want to thank them for understanding the importance of having a well-trained and effective CASA volunteer for each child.”
After every Texas legislative session, Texas CASA determines which legislators played the most significant role in advancing the interests of children in foster care. The Big Voices for Little Texans award honors these legislators, and this year, our award expanded to the U.S. Congress to celebrate Senator Cornyn’s policy efforts at the national level.
Senator Cornyn has served as one of Texas’ U.S. Senators since 2002 and has always avidly supported children and youth experiencing foster care. During his tenure, he has authored many bills to strengthen anti-trafficking efforts, improve substance use services and to bolster child welfare systems. In 2023, he authored the Find and Protect Foster Youth Act to improve communication between state and federal agencies. This helps agencies find missing foster children, strengthen reporting standards and conduct investigations if missing youth in foster care were victims of abuse, sex trafficking and other forms of harm. Senator Cornyn also co-sponsored the VOCA Fix Act, which helped to stabilize one of the most important funding sources for local CASA programs in Texas.
Representative Lujan was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2016 to represent House District 118, which includes South and East Bexar County in San Antonio. Since being re-elected in 2021, Representative Lujan has proven himself as a passionate child advocate, especially in his role as the Vice Chair of the House Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee. During the 88th Legislative session, Representative Lujan authored several bills aimed at improving outcomes for children and youth experiencing foster care. Among those, he authored HB 1496, which would have increased the information and support students with foster care experience receive when they are considering utilizing the tuition and fee waiver for post-secondary education. He also sponsored SB 1379, which created a pilot program to increase the financial independence and success of older youth experiencing foster care. As an adoptive parent and former CASA volunteer, Representative Lujan is a true friend and advocate on behalf of CASA programs in Texas.
Texas CASA is a leader in working to assure sound public policies in Texas on issues affecting the child welfare system, the well-being of children and youth in state custody and other policy areas related to our mission. Texas CASA engages in a variety of efforts to study, develop and change public policies. Our staff members conduct research, collaborate with other advocacy and stakeholder groups, lead special task forces and engage in other processes to develop and impact policy.
“Children and families in Texas are fortunate to have such incredible champions working to improve services and supports for them. We are so grateful to Representative Lujan and Senator Cornyn for their ongoing support in this important public policy arena,” Director of Public Policy Sarah Crockett said.
In 2023, more than 20,000 children were served by local CASA programs across 254 Texas counties. Nearly 65% of the 31,475 children in foster care benefited from a CASA volunteer — a percentage we look forward to growing.
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About Texas CASA
Texas CASA’s mission is to support local CASA volunteer advocacy programs and to advocate for effective public policy for children and families in the child protection system. Established in 1989, Texas CASA is the statewide association for local CASA programs. In this role, we support the CASA network by serving as the conduit of state and federal funds, setting and monitoring standards, providing training, leading a statewide volunteer recruitment campaign, advocating for public policy and more. Texas CASA is committed to connecting child welfare stakeholders and the CASA network to support initiatives for children and families in the child welfare system.
Contact: Madi Donham, External Communications Manager
Phone: 281-750-9117
Email: mdonham@texascasa.org
