Two local court advocacy programs for children are revived with legislative funding

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6 days ago

An equal justice statue stands outside the doors of the Minnehaha County Courthouse in Sioux Falls. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
Three years after lawmakers put $1 million toward advocacy efforts for children in the court system statewide, two revived nonprofits are starting to support children again.
Volunteers with local Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) programs advocate for children who've been removed from their families and placed in state care due to suspected abuse and neglect. The volunteers meet with the children and other contacts, such as teachers, therapists and caseworkers. They also write reports to judges about the children's needs, strengths and interests.
'This process is crucial as it gives the child a voice in the legal proceedings concerning their welfare,' said CASA state director Sara Kelly in an emailed statement.
Over 330 CASA volunteers worked with 658 children in 37 counties last year, according to the state Unified Judicial System. Most of the state's 1,049 active cases involving CASA last year — with or without a volunteer — were in the Sioux Falls and Rapid City areas.
This is the first time in 16 years that the state has operated CASA organizations in all of its circuit courts. The Sixth Circuit, in central South Dakota, and the Fifth Circuit, representing northeastern South Dakota, closed in 2009.
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Gloria Hutson, in Aberdeen, was hired to lead the reestablished Fifth Circuit CASA in November last year. She told the state CASA Commission at its Wednesday meeting that three counties within her 10-county jurisdiction have a high case volume: Brown, Walworth and Spink counties.
'The focus these last six months has been on building a solid, sustainable structure while building deep community roots,' Hutson said.
Walworth County has a 'disproportionate' number of cases for its population, and many involve the Indian Child Welfare Act, Hutson said. The federal Indian Child Welfare Act sets minimum standards for efforts to reunite tribal children in the state's custody with their families. Walworth county is adjacent to the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River reservations.
As of the end of April, Walworth County had 25 pending cases involving 52 children. Brown County had 32 cases involving 58 children and Spink County had three cases involving three children.
Fifty-seven cases were active in the Fifth Circuit last year, and none of the children had CASA representation, according to UJS. Through April this year, the circuit had 61 pending cases involving 117 children, Hutson said.
Most of those children still do not have CASA volunteers advocating for them. Fifth Circuit CASA has eight volunteers so far, two of whom are advocating for three children. All the children are younger than 2 years old.
Laurie Gill, a former state Department of Social Services secretary who now works with Maxwell Strategy Group, leads CASA for the Sixth Circuit. Gill's firm was hired to lead the nonprofit, and Gill said the contract was renewed recently by the nonprofit's board of directors.
Sixth Circuit CASA, which represents 14 counties in central South Dakota, including Hughes County and the state capital city of Pierre, intends to train 10 volunteers this year. The first will be sworn in and assigned cases by June, Gill said.
Thirty-nine cases were active in the Sixth Circuit last year. There were 45 pending cases involving 94 children at the end of April, Gill said. Most are in the Pierre/Fort Pierre area.
The 2022 funding from the Legislature was a result of lawmakers learning about the holes in South Dakota's CASA coverage, after loosening a requirement to appoint advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system. Lawmakers on the state budget committee approved funding to help restart the two shuttered programs and help existing CASA programs expand.
The Fifth and Sixth Circuit organizations have each received $120,000 so far.
Another $143,715was awarded to most other CASA programs.
The need for volunteers remains one of the biggest challenges for CASA nonprofits across the state, leaders told the commission. Since last year's report, the number of volunteers has dropped from 330 statewide to 318.
National CASA guidelines require one staff member to supervise a maximum of 30 volunteers. Each volunteer is assigned one case at a time, typically staying with a case until it's resolved.
The Sioux Falls CASA reports 333 children currently on the waiting list to be represented by a volunteer. The Seventh Circuit CASA in Rapid City reports 455 children on its waiting list.
The 2022 Legislature appropriated $1 million to the Unified Judicial System to award South Dakota CASA nonprofits with grants to rebuild or expand. About $384,000 – less than 40% of the funds – have been spent so far:
$120,000 to the Fifth Circuit CASA in Aberdeen
$120,000 to the Sixth Circuit CASA in Pierre
$58,400 to the Southeast CASA in Yankton
$40,835 to the First Circuit CASA in Mitchell
$25,000 to the East Central CASA in Brookings
$15,000 to the Sioux Falls Area CASA
$2,000 to the Seventh Circuit CASA in Rapid City
$2,480.47 in miscellaneous expenses