In recent years, the number of available places for children to stay when they are removed from their homes has dramatically shrunk. This is particularly true for children and youth with serious trauma or behavioral issues. When CPS cannot find an appropriate placement, sometimes children and youth have to sleep in CPS offices, overseen by overworked CPS caseworkers.

In 2021, the number of children we served who had to spend at least one night sleeping in CPS offices more than doubled from 2020. On top of that, the situations children faced while they were sleeping in CPS offices became more and more intense. And during the past year, CASA volunteers and staff saw a 47% increase in incidents of abuse/neglect of children while in the State’s care.

Within this continuing crisis, one bright spot is CASA’s advocacy, as our volunteers and staff have worked tirelessly to keep children safe and in permanent, stable placements. When an 11-year-old girl we serve was placed in CPS offices after no appropriate placement could be found, she was drawn into a physical altercation with an older girl and was sent to a juvenile detention center. CASA had been working with this girl’s aunt and knew that the aunt was willing and eager to be a placement for her niece, but CPS opposed this placement.

At the next court hearing, CASA advocated for this child to be placed with her aunt, and the judge agreed with our recommendation, ordering that placement to occur the same day. A few months later, that case closed, with the girl safely and permanently placed with her aunt. If CASA had not been there to advocate for this outcome, the chances are good that this 11-year-old child might have bounced back and forth between sleeping in CPS offices and sleeping in juvenile detention for months.