FY24 Impact Report

We are excited to present Texas CASA’s FY24 Impact Report. This report highlights how Texas CASA works to connect the CASA network and statewide partners to proactively work toward our shared vision of a safe and positive future for all Texas children and families. Click the button below for a downloadable version of the FY24 Impact Report.

Vision

Mission

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Our Core Values

Texas CASA Believes:

  1. Children, parents and families of all abilities, backgrounds, experiences and identities deserve the highest quality advocacy and support.

  2. Every child deserves to feel and be safe and to have their needs met.

  3. It is in a child’s best interest to remain with and be connected to their parents and family of origin whenever possible.

  4. Every child deserves lifelong caring connections with others and a stable home.

  5. All parents and family members should be provided the chance to be heard and to show themselves as safe and caring.
  1. Every child deserves to thrive; children thrive and heal in healthy, positive relationships.

  2. Family is defined by the individual and is not limited to blood or adoptive relations.

  3. Every family is unique, complex and has their own challenges; challenges can be overcome and resilience can be built.
     
  4. Collaboration is important for families and the professionals supporting them, and helps to build shared commitment, participation and understanding.

  5. Legislative and social advocacy are powerful tools to systematically protect the health and well-being of children and families.

Letter from Leadership

Established in 1989, Texas CASA serves as the membership association for all local Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs in the state. We support the local CASA programs with training, community awareness, resources and public policy to make a positive difference in the lives of children and families in Texas. Over the past 35 years, we have grown and advanced our initiatives – and this past year was no different.

In 2024, Texas CASA welcomed two new local programs to the statewide network: CASA of Milam County and CASA of Val Verde County. We are thrilled to have these two new programs join the CASA network and are looking forward to supporting the good work they will do in their communities for many years to come.

Also in 2024, Texas CASA worked to advance our own initiatives, as well as those of the local programs. Texas CASA successfully expanded the resources of our CASA Anti-Child Trafficking framework, known as CASA ACT, and created six new critical resources focusing on children in foster care who have been trafficked or are at risk of being trafficked. We also supported the expansion of a Court-Ordered Services pilot program and developed resources for the program like a Family Visit Guide and customizable Parent Brochure. Along with many other successful developments outlined in this report, we also assisted Child Advocates of Montgomery County in developing another new pilot program for justice-involved youth to explore what CASA volunteer’s role on juvenile cases could look like.

We look forward to continuing to advance these initiatives next year and we will strive to strengthen our partnership with the local programs as we work together for the greater good of the CASA mission. Thank you for your steadfast support and commitment to a safe, positive future for all Texas children and families

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Vicki Spriggs
Texas CASA CEO

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Danny O’Connell
FY25 Texas CASA Board President

The Texas CASA Story

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Texas CASA Staff at the 2024 Texas CASA Conference

Established in 1989, Texas CASA is the statewide membership association for all local CASA programs. In this role, we support the CASA network by serving as the administrator 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 partnering with statewide stakeholders and the CASA network to elevate best practices when working with children and families.

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New CASA Volunteers with CASA of the Pines
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New CASA Volunteers with Gulf Coast CASA

Collectively, the local CASA programs serve the majority of Texas’ 254 counties. As integral members of their respective communities, they recruit, train, supervise and support court-appointed volunteers to advocate for the best interest of children experiencing foster care. Local programs also coordinate and collaborate with other service providers who share the mission of supporting Texas families

The CASA Difference

A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer gathers information from everyone involved in a child’s daily life, including members of the child’s family, foster parents, teachers, lawyers, social workers and other relevant persons. Then, they report to a judge to advocate for the child’s best interests.


CASA volunteers are ordinary people who come from all walks of life, just like the children in foster care they help. They provide a consistent presence for the child and family, and are assigned to only one or two cases at a time. CASA volunteers take a trauma-informed approach and help find, engage and strengthen a support network for the child and family.

CASA for Kids of South Central Texas
CASA for Kids of South Central Texas Staff
“I have only been with one CASA volunteer, Mrs. Juli, and I love her. I hope there are more volunteers like her in CASA because she has made my life wonderful!”
— Former Youth Served by CASA
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Parent of CASA Child

“Our CASA volunteer, Dawn, made us feel that she truly believed in us and our ability to get our baby back in our home. I mean it when I say that CASA volunteers can make a huge difference in how parents navigate through their case and be victorious in reuniting their family. Dawn made us feel that she truly believed in us and our ability to get our baby back in our home. We believe she is one of the main reasons we accomplished our goal of family reunification. ”
— Parent of a Child Served by CASA

Texas CASA Services in Action

Awareness

Texas CASA creates a statewide awareness campaign to support the local CASA programs in their effort to motivate and inspire people to become Court Appointed Special Advocates for children and youth in the foster care system. 

The CASA Effect

Our new awareness campaign, developed in coordination with our marketing agency, Proof, will launch in fiscal year 2025. The new campaign, The CASA Effect, is a play on The Butterfly Effect, and emphasizes how small moments today can have a big impact on the future of the children and families served by local CASA programs.

The CASA Effect Butterfly Sticker
Volunteer Power Unleashed Summit

The Volunteer Power Unleashed Summit occurs every two years, and was created to be a collaborative and community-centered opportunity for the CASA network to learn from one another. This year’s event took place in San Antonio and more than 100 CASA volunteers and staff became detectives and set out on the ultimate two-day challenge: improve volunteer recruitment. Not only did attendees create plans to achieve this, but they also shared ideas for creative recruitment, how to effectively make first contact with potential volunteers, how to use volunteers as sources for recruiting and much more.

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Clergy, CASA & Community

Texas CASA’s Clergy, CASA & Community (CCC) initiative seeks to build a network of faith communities and leaders who will commit to speaking up for children in foster care and their families. The initiative began in 2021 with three pilot programs. In 2024 the CCC initiative added ten new local programs, expanding to 33 CASA programs across the state! These 33 Clergy, CASA & Community programs continue to work together diligently and as of July 2024 have successfully engaged close to 300 religious groups.

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Policy

Texas CASA collaborates with various state agencies as well as legislators, judges and child welfare stakeholders and advocates to support public policies that focus on improving outcomes for children and families in Texas.  

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LAT Pre Session Training Midland

The Texas CASA Public Policy Team conducted eight post-session and nine pre-session legislative advocacy trainings across Texas for CASA staff, board members and volunteers in FY24. During each in-person training session, the Public Policy Team provided three hours of in-depth details about new legislative changes, what to expect in the 89th legislative session and up-to-date information regarding Community-Based Care expansion and the ongoing DFPS federal lawsuit. These training sessions provided the Public Policy Team with the opportunity to hear candid feedback directly from the staff and volunteers of our local CASA programs.

In FY24, the Public Policy Team partnered with and/or participated in:
  • Steering Committee of the Child Protection Roundtable
  • Children’s Commission Legal Standards of Representation workgroup
  • Children’s Mental Health workgroup
  • Supervised Independent Living workgroup
  • Core Committee and six subcommittees of the Partners for Children and Families Committee at the Department of Family and Protective Services
  • Single Source Continuum Contractors (SSCC) – facilitated communications between local programs and providers and DFPS staff when needed
  • Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) – Frequent meetings with HHSC & Texas Department of Public Safety to gather information needed regarding the fingerprint background check changes
  • Monthly meetings with the DFPS leadership to address issues and discuss child welfare/CASA-related concerns
  • Member of the Data, Collaboration, Education, Training and System Improvement committees of the Children’s Commission

Education

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Texas CASA shares critical knowledge and information with the CASA network and the community to strengthen advocacy for children and families. Some of our major programming includes Anti-Child Trafficking (CASA ACT), Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE), CASA on the Go advocacy podcasts, Supervisor Training, Assistance and Resources (STAR), volunteer recruitment, advocacy for children and youth, trauma informed care and local CASA program governance.

In FY24, Texas CASA hosted 236 in-person and online trainings with a live facilitator for local CASA program staff, board members and volunteers.
  • 23,642 total hours of training provided
  • 502 hours of facilitated training provided by Texas CASA employees
  • 20,552 attendees
CASA College Numbers:
  • 8,768 courses completed
  • 3,021 new users enrolled
CASA on the Go podcast

CASA on the Go podcast published eleven episodes of continuing education content in FY24 for CASA volunteers and staff with over 10,500 downloads this fiscal year alone. The podcast is available for streaming on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.

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New Guidebook:
CASA Advocacy for Dual-Status Youth, Understanding the Juvenile Justice System

Dual-status youth are children who are involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. This resource guide provides an overview of the juvenile justice system and supports a deeper understanding of the challenges dual-status youth face and how CASA volunteers can provide trauma-informed CASA advocacy.

What is CASA ACT? Video

Bearing the acronym ACT for Anti-Child Trafficking, this initiative is designed to resonate with CASA volunteers and instill a call to action to “see something, say something,” and crucially, do something to ACT. This video was created for viewers to dive deeper into our call to action and learn more about the CASA ACT framework and its transformative potential.

CASA ACT Stages of Change Video

The CASA ACT Anti-Child Trafficking’s video The Stages of Change Model: How CASA Volunteers Can Understand Youth Affected by Sex Trafficking explores how CASA volunteers can effectively support youth affected by sex trafficking. This video guides the viewer through the Stages of Change model and teaches practical ways to assist youth as they navigate their path to recovery.

Experiences of Youth Affected by Sex Trafficking: Survivor’s Perspectives Video

This video is a discussion about the harrowing journeys of Crystal Sepulveda and Sara Nellis and it explores the impact of trauma on their lives, the crucial support systems that aided their recovery and their paths to reclaiming empowerment.

Support

Texas CASA provides local programs with access to information and technical assistance to enhance their advocacy efforts for the safety and well-being of children, youth and families. We also provide crisis communication assistance, data management, fundraising support and needed resources and tools for all areas of operation.  

Collaborative Family Engagement

CFE is a team-based approach between local CASA programs and Child Protective Services, as well as Single Source Continuum Contractors, to engage, find and work with family members and fictive kin in the creation and development of a lifetime network for young people in the foster care system

FY24 CFE Data:
  • Programs utilizing CFE = 74*
  • Counties utilizing CFE = 194
  • Children served = 10,427
  • Families served = 6,117

*CASA of Travis County utilizes a different family engagement approach which includes some CFE tools, therefore their numbers are included in the overall data.

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Supervisor, Training, Assistance and Resources (STAR)
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The STAR (Supervisor Training, Assistance, and Resources) Team provides coaching, consultation and training to help volunteer supervisors assist the CASA advocates be the best advocate for a child in the foster care system. Each month in FY24 the STAR Team hosted a webinar with special guests discussing topics such as Understanding the DFPS Daycare Program and Advocating for Dual Status Youth. They also hosted an in-person STAR Strengths-Based Supervision training in San Antonio and Dallas.

Data Team Developments

The Texas CASA Data Team partners with the local CASA programs to jointly solve data challenges. By focusing on user-friendly dashboards, the Data Team aims to provide more usable analytics to help tell the CASA story. Beginning in FY24, the Data Team started working on ways to integrate other stakeholders’ data into CASA’s data to better tell the story and contextualize the service local CASA programs and volunteers provide.

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Fund Development Support for Local Programs
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In June 2024, Texas CASA was awarded with 50 round-trip flight passes from Southwest Airlines. These passes allow us to assist CASA programs across the state in facilitating travel for volunteers who play a crucial role in the lives of children in need, especially when they are placed far from their community, across or out of state. As a Legacy Partner, Southwest Airlines was a crucial partner in the formation of Texas CASA 35 years ago. We are deeply grateful for their continued support and commitment to our mission.

In FY24 CASA Volunteers Traveled To:

  • California
  • Florida
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Massachusetts
  • Nevada
  • New York
  • Oregon
  • South Carolina
  • Texas
  • Washington
Total of 31,879 Miles Traveled
in FY24

Accountability

Texas CASA identifies, disperses, administers and manages federal and state funds. We help local CASA programs effectively utilize state and federal funding to achieve their missions. Texas CASA also ensures compliance with CASA Standards, court mandates and state and federal laws.

Grants Administration for Local Programs

The Texas CASA Grants Team manages applications, budgeting, compliance and reporting for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) grant, Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant, Title IV-E for pre-service volunteer training (PSVT) grant and more. Along with their day-to-day technical assistance for local CASA programs, the Grants Team publishes an annual Guide to Grants which provides all the need-to-know information on grants that are administered through Texas CASA, and hosts an annual grants webinar for the local CASA programs. The 2024 webinar discussed the HHSC and VOCA grant applications, as well as formula updates, timesheet requirements, indirect expense allocation policies, budgeting and standardize language, budget revision highlights, documentation review highlights and annual audit highlights.

Grants Team
Quality Assurance for Local Programs

Quality Assurance, QA for short, is a crucial and necessary part of what Texas CASA does for the local CASA programs. Using a three-year cycle, the QA Team provides training and conducts reviews of all local CASA programs to ensure compliance with requirements. The QA Team, all former local program Executive Directors, tailor the QA preparation training to each program’s unique challenges and requests. This specialized review process provides a mechanism for the CASA programs to measure and demonstrate their impact. In fiscal year 2024, Texas CASA completed 24 Quality Assurance reviews of the local programs and hosted a statewide group training in May with 103 attendees from 24 local programs.

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Leadership

Texas CASA provides innovative trainings, programming and resources for local CASA program leadership including board members, executive directors and staff to develop new avenues for advocacy and excellence on behalf of children and families.  

Program Leadership Connect at Together We Can! Growth Strategy Meeting
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In January, Texas CASA brought together local program executive directors and board presidents for an important discussion on the state of the Texas child protection system and the challenges CASA programs are facing. Together We Can! was the first meeting of its kind where executive directors and board chairs brainstormed strategies to break through barriers to achieve our goal – providing a CASA volunteer for every child who needs one. With 53 programs represented from across the state, the meeting was a true success!

New Executive Director University
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In the beginning of the fiscal year, Texas CASA was honored to host the first in-person New Executive Director University (New ED U). Celeste Prather, Texas CASA’s Program Operations Director, brought together thirteen Executive Directors from CASA programs all over the state for a full day of learning, networking and fun.

Go Local

FY24 Impact Numbers

September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024

FY24 Financials

revenue

STATE FUNDING

$28,703,417

FEDERAL FUNDING

$9,783,455

PRIVATE FUNDING

$398,840

ENDOWMENT INCOME (LOSS)

$1,405,559

CONTRIBUTED SERVICES

$27,075

TOTAL

expenses

LOCAL PROGRAM SUPPORT SERVICES & tRAINING

$35,938,297

VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT & AWARENESS

$1,351,207

GRANTS MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

$353,840

ADMINISTRATION

PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY

$380,207

TOTAL

$39,447,116

total pASS THROUGH FUNDING TO LOCAL CASA PROGRAMS:
$33,183,362

Thankful For

Our Leadership & Giving Partners

FY24 Board of Directors
Legacy Leadership Circle
Giving Partners