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CASA urges county support as program serves roughly 250–300 children annually
Summary
The First Judicial District CASA described three core services—CASA volunteers, a supervised visitation/exchange center, and a child advocacy center that conducts forensic interviews—and asked the commission to support ongoing funding to cover training, staff and facility needs.
Kelly Williams introduced the First Judicial District CASA’s work and asked the county to continue support for programs that serve children and families across the judicial district. Williams described three principal services: recruiting and training volunteer CASA advocates for court-involved children, operating a supervised visitation and exchange center, and running a child advocacy center (CAC) that conducts forensic interviews with multidisciplinary follow-up.
Williams said the organization served about 250–300 children in the period covered by the packet and that last year CASA advocates worked directly with 55 children; the child advocacy center recorded triple-digit forensic interviews and provided therapy via an on‑site clinician from the Guidance Center. Williams characterized CASA as largely dependent on fundraising and grants and said the program feels like an unfunded mandate to protect children.
Commissioners asked about CDBG funding from the City of Leavenworth and whether other municipalities or Atchison County contributed; Williams said some city CDBG allocations support the agency but Atchison County does not provide county funding. CASA offered to provide counts of clients by city and county for commissioner review.
