Newsom’s proposed cuts to foster program angers advocates. ‘You’re hurting our youth’

Foster care youth advocates are hoping Gov. Gavin Newsom does not reduce a $60 million dollar commitment as the state deals with its projected billion dollar budget deficit.

The proposed move comes as the administration tries to pull back on spending on a range of measures that were previously enacted. But some advocates and lawmakers are urging the governor to reconsider, citing the benefits and need for funding of the Court Appointed Special Advocates program, better known as CASA.

The program, which began in 1977, enlists volunteers across the nation to help and advocate for foster youth navigating the judicial and child welfare system. In California, CASA operates 44 centers and consists of more than 11,000 volunteers.

Volunteer Sharon Holgerson was “shocked and disappointed” when she saw Newsom’s January budget proposal to scale back CASA funding by two-thirds.

“What are you thinking?” asked Holgerson.“You’re hurting our youth. Why would you take it back after you’ve already allocated and made a budget?”

Holgerson is referring to last year when CASA was granted $60 million over the next three years to assist with recruiting, training and fundraising. The program received the first $20 million in December.

The remaining funding is crucial to completing CASA’s 10-year “Serve Every Child” vision, said Sharon Lawrence, chief executive for the California CASA Association. Currently, the program helps roughly 13,000 youth, which is about 16% of the state’s foster population.

California has approximately 78,000 foster youth, the most in the country. By 2023, CASA hoped the funding would go toward servingl 50,000 of those youth.

As of now, CASA receives $2.7 million in state grants, while also fundraising another $58 million that mostly stems from private donations.

“$40 million is such a small part of our billions and billions of dollars budget…It’s so small and there’s other places that I think that we can cut the budget other than child welfare,” said Lawrence.

Bipartisan opposition to cuts

A request for comment from the governor’s office resulted in a referral to H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for the Department of Finance.

“Pulling back future funding for the CASA program is a proposal, like many others, that would not have been put forward were it not for the necessity of closing the shortfall,” said Palmer.

Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have stated their opposition to the cuts, citing the vital role of advocates to the foster care system.

“These advocates can play a pivotal role in the outcomes of foster children and can change the trajectory of whether these young people enter our justice system or become homeless — or whether they go on to living healthy, thriving lives,” said Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco.

Assemblymember Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin concurred, saying that the funding should remain despite the budget situation.

“Everybody knew that this budget year was going to be different, but you can’t pull the rug out from underneath them after just making the commitment a few months ago,” he said.

Patterson pointed out that research highlights how advocates help mitigate or eliminate negative outcomes for foster youth, who are disproportionately represented in prisons and homelessness.

More than 24% of 21-year-olds who had recently left the foster care system went on to experience homelessness, according to a 2019 study from the USC Homelessness Policy Research Institute.

Patterson also expressed optimism that the funding would be restored given the bi-partisan blowback. Adjustments to Newsom’s budget will be released in May.

If the funding is not put back, Patterson plans to advocate for it through the budget committee.

“There is plenty of money to have this $40 million put back in there,” Patterson said. “It really comes down to priorities. And this funding should be a priority.”