As we step into 2025, I find myself reflecting on how quickly time has passed and how transformative the last year has been. This marks my seventh year with CASA, and I continue to be deeply inspired by the generosity and commitment of supporters like you. Your unwavering dedication enables us to serve the most vulnerable children in our community, and for that, we are profoundly grateful.
This quarterly update is an exciting milestone as we celebrate the completion of our 5-year strategic plan. Looking back, it’s incredible to see how far we’ve come. Through clear communication, a focus on meaningful education, strong partnerships, and your unwavering support, we’ve accomplished everything we envisioned and more.
When we began our 5-year strategic plan, one of our key goals was to increase the number of children and youth in the dependency care system served by 5% each year. I’m excited to share that not only did we meet this target, but we far surpassed it. Today, we serve every child or youth in the dependency care system who wants a CASA Advocate. Additionally, they are now being matched with advocates in less than 30 days on average—another key goal from our strategic plan that we’re proud to have achieved.
A key goal of our strategic plan was to significantly increase our revenue, and I’m thrilled to share how achieving that goal has driven our success. Since I began at CASA, we’ve more than doubled the resources available, making it possible to expand our programs and services in exciting new ways. Your support has truly made all the difference, enabling us to better meet the needs of even more families in our community.
Equally important to our strategic plan was the goal to expand our services to juvenile justice-involved youth. What began as a small pilot program has now flourished into a fully funded, impactful initiative that’s a testament to how our goals continue to evolve and expand. Today, 25% of the children and youth we serve are justice-involved—a key milestone in our plan. Watching this program grow has been inspiring, and it’s been amazing to see how we’ve gone beyond our original target, strengthening our ability to make a difference for youth in both the dependency and juvenile justice systems.
At the heart of this growth is the life-changing difference we’re able to make for youth and their families. Last month, a justice-involved preteen faced the urgent need to enter a residential treatment facility due to medical necessity. Due to complications with the family’s insurance, the child’s mother was unable to secure a bed. But thanks to your support of our expanded services, we were able to step in and coordinate resources to ensure that he received the critical medical services necessary for his well-being. Your support facilitated this young person receiving essential and life changing treatment in an all-important timely manner.
He is just one example of the many we serve. Now, let’s take a look at some of the numbers that reflect the real impact of your support.
This quarter, we served 106 children, 16 children of whom were newly assigned, waiting only a median of 24.5 days from referral to match.
- 25 were aged 0-5
- 16 were aged 6-11
- 55 were aged 12-18
- 8 were over 18 years old
- 47% of children and youth served this quarter were Hispanic or Latino.
- 76% were in Dependency Care, 23% were in Juvenile Justice, and 1% were in both (dual status)
Your support makes all of this possible. On behalf of everyone at CASA and the children and families we serve, thank you for believing in our mission and for being a champion for every child. Together, we are making a profound difference.
We hope you will join us on February 12 at 11:30am for our annual Luncheon, For the Love of Children, hosted by the Friends of CASA.
