Federal cut to children's advocacy funding ‘abandons American children,' says SD nonprofit leader
The Pennington County Courthouse and jail complex in Rapid City, in June 2023. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
A Rapid City-based nonprofit that advocates for children in the state court system lost $15,000 last week after the federal government terminated grant awards to the National Court Appointed Special Advocates Association.
The decision 'abandons American children' and will cause ripple effects throughout the state, said Seventh Circuit CASA Program Executive Director Kehala Two Bulls. The organization serves children in Pennington, Fall River and Custer counties. Seven other organizations serve South Dakota's other circuit courts.
Volunteers with CASA 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 to create 'customized services and decision making,' Two Bulls said.
Read more South Dakota Searchlight coverage of Trump administration firings, funding freezes, spending cuts, grant cancellations, tariffs and immigration enforcement on our Federal Fallout page.
Over 330 CASA volunteers worked with 658 children in 37 counties last year, according to the state Unified Judicial System.
The national organization suspended all services and support to state and local programs, it announced last week, after the Trump administration's Department of Justice terminated funding.
In a statement to Reuters, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said grants were rescinded that 'do not align with the administration's priorities,' but she said the Department of Justice will 'continue to ensure that services for victims are not impacted and any recipient will have the ability to appeal and restore any grant if direct impact on victims can be thoroughly established.' The national CASA office said it is appealing.
Though the Seventh Circuit was the only South Dakota CASA office receiving grant funds from the national office, other local organizations rely on services provided by the national organization. That includes training and coordination, Two Bulls said.
Shifting that administrative burden and coordination to states will result in redundancy and reduced efficiencies, she added.
'Children will be destabilized by these changes,' Two Bulls said. 'It's important for people to make these decisions responsibly. Whether people agree with this or not, there's a need for people at a local level to partner with us and step up and come up with the funding, the infrastructure, the support needed, because these are real kids that deserve good futures.'
Seventh Circuit CASA was awarded $25,000 in grant funding this year — $5,000 to conduct background checks of volunteers and $20,000 to develop support and specialized services for older youth in the system. The organization already received and spent about $10,000, but won't receive the remaining $15,000.
In 2014, 207 kids in the Seventh Circuit were in state care over the course of the year, Two Bulls said. In 2024, that grew to 795 children because cases are taking longer to resolve.
Older children are staying in the system longer and aging out once they turn 18 years old, she added. Last year, 35 kids aged out of foster care in the area. Nearly a decade ago, that number was closer to five children a year. About 80% of the Seventh Circuit CASA's cases are Indian Child Welfare Act cases.
Children will be destabilized by these changes.
– Kehala Two Bulls, executive director, Seventh Circuit CASA Program
Youth who age out of the system are more likely to become homeless, incarcerated or die than their peers, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Two Bulls said the grant was intended to build supplemental training for advocates focused on building life skills for older children.
The grants amounted to about 5% of the organization's operating budget, Two Bulls said. While the terminated funding won't shutter the program, she'll have to reallocate funds or find new revenue for the increasing need the grant was intended to address.
'This action was completely disconnected from the need and the vulnerability in our community,' Two Bulls said. 'What we have is less funding and less infrastructure to properly address it. We're painfully aware of how many kids it leaves at risk.'
Greg Sattizahn, state court administrator for the South Dakota Unified Judicial System, said in a news release that the state is committed to 'providing leadership, support and encouragement' to the eight CASA nonprofits across the state.
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