![]() The decision was “not a proposal that would be put forward, like many others, were it not for the necessity of closing the shortfall,” said H.D. CASA estimates that volunteers reach only 16% of those children.īut Newsom’s budget proposal in January reduced the funding increase to the program by two-thirds. Last year, the CASA program was granted an additional $60 million in state funding to be spent over the next three years under a plan that advocates hoped would amplify fund raising, training and recruiting for volunteers for all foster youth in need.Ĭalifornia is home to more than 78,000 foster youth, more than anywhere in the nation. “He needed someone to get him through.”ĬASA, a national program created in the 1970s, operates 44 programs across California, with more than 11,000 volunteers dedicated to helping children in the foster system with an array of needs, acting as a liaison between them and the courts and other government agencies. ![]() ![]() He just needed to get in the right direction,” Holgerson said. “He really has not had anyone to navigate life with. She taught him what a post office was and showed him how to get important documents such as a birth certificate and Social Security card - “things you need as an adult,” as Smith put it. Holgerson remembers being stunned by how little he knew about the real world as a child. Sharon Holgerson, 65, of Woodland was Smith’s assigned advocate, and said she plans to remain in his life now that he’s older, calling them “good friends.” ![]()
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