About 70 children in foster care in Coos and Curry counties are temporarily without services from their court-appointed volunteers after the nonprofit running the local program stopped services — a gap its board chair says could have been prevented.
Oregon Coast Community Action, a Coos Bay anti-poverty agency, ended its CASA program Oct. 9, days after the Oregon CASA Network, which distributes state funding to local programs, ended its agreement with the agency.
Court Appointed Special Advocates programs train volunteers whom judges appoint to advocate for children in foster care. The volunteers get to know each child and make recommendations to the court about the child’s needs.
Oregon CASA Network Director Stephanie Brown said the statewide network is taking over the program temporarily while it looks for a new partner.
“We plan to get volunteers back on cases in the next one to two weeks,” Brown said. “We’re just managing the logistics of onboarding the program.”
Brown said the network’s board has already voted to take on the program. Staff members are arranging insurance, staffing and a budget to get it running again. The network is talking with several organizations to find a permanent local partner, most likely another CASA program, she said.
“We would love to see that because there’s a synergy there and an opportunity for shared learning and growth that we like to see within our CASA programs when feasible,” she said.
Drew Farmer chairs the board of Oregon Coast Community Action. He said the nonprofit had been losing money on the program and was working with its partners to move it to another organization, most likely CASA of Douglas County.
Farmer said the board had planned to keep the program running until that transfer was complete. Instead, the network ended the funding and the agreement that allowed the nonprofit to run the program, he said. Without that agreement, the board voted unanimously Oct. 8 to close the program the next day, according to board minutes.
Farmer said he wished the transition had been handled differently. He believes the network could have taken over before the funding ended, avoiding a gap in services for kids.
Board minutes show the network warned the nonprofit in late September that it might not release further funding, citing concerns about the agency’s delayed financial audits. State law requires the statewide coordinating organization to oversee local CASA programs and ensure each conducts an annual financial audit or review.
Farmer said the nonprofit has had financial problems for years but has been catching up on its records, and each audit has turned up fewer issues.
Brown declined to discuss the network’s decision in detail, saying she wanted to focus on the program’s future.
“Without our CASA advocates, we absolutely could not do what we’re doing,” she said. “We’re excited to continue this journey in a new way, but with the folks who have been there to support it all along.”
