Donald Trump Just Cut Funding for Victims of Child Abuse and Human Trafficking. He May Have Done It On Accident.
On the federal cuts made by the DOJ - particularly Court Appointed Special Advocates (aka CASA) - and how Donald Trump may have been targeting an immigration advocacy group instead.
Lemme tell you about something completely insidious that’s happening in the Trump administration. You think you’ve heard it all - but have you heard about how Trump is directly taking assistance away from victims of child abuse? And it MAY be due to a case of mistaken identity???
I’ll explain.
So, there are hundreds of thousands of nonprofits across the United States of America, and around 30% of them rely on federal funding to properly enact their missions. Right now, with the federal funding freeze demanded by the Trump administration, lawsuits are being drafted to fight back against senseless and reckless cuts being made by the day.
Depending on your source of local news, maybe you’ll find out reproductive healthcare is on the defense in Maine. Or that countless Rhode Island environmental groups were affected by the freeze. You might even be surprised to find out that, despite long claiming to be “the law & order” guy, Trump has cut grant funding for police groups AND crime prevention groups.
The truth is, so many grants were needlessly cut that there likely isn’t even a way to properly log how many groups were affected. Though Reuters tried - and they were able to find that nearly $811 million in grants were cut nationwide, with 360 or so programs being affected on April 22 alone. To highlight the scope of those cuts, they also point out that “roughly $3 billion in total competitive grants in the 2024 fiscal year” were awarded.
"We are confident that these cuts are consistent with the administration's priorities while at the same time protecting services that tangibly impact victims," a Justice Department official told Reuters.
Which leads me to the cuts made on CASA/GAL, who were hit the hardest, with nearly $49 million in grants cut by the DoJ.
ABOUT CASA/GAL:
If you weren’t aware, CASA/GAL is an acronym for Court Appointed Special Advocates Guardians Ad Litem, which is an association covering 49 of the states and the District of Columbia. Through annual appropriations laws, CASA/GAL’s funding has been approved by Congress for THREE DECADES.
How CASA (as the name is usually shortened) as an organization works is by finding trained volunteers in the community to, put simply, advocate on behalf of abused or neglected children to figure out the next steps for them legally. And this isn’t just some schmoe pulled off the streets; as CASA themselves put it,
“CASA/GAL volunteers are regular people, from all walks of life, who have been rigorously screened and trained extensively by their local program. Each volunteer receives more than 30 hours of training before they work with a child, with an additional 12 hours of continued education required annually. Volunteers receive ongoing support to help them advocate effectively on a child’s behalf.”
On what makes the volunteers different from a social worker, they write, “CASA/GAL volunteers are assigned to only one or two children or sibling groups at a time. Our volunteers stay involved on the case from the time of appointment until the child achieves permanency. Because of the small number of children a volunteer serves, they have more time to commit to each child. CASA/GAL volunteers are specially trained to consider issues relevant to the best interests of the child, which may be different than the interests of other parties or the child’s wishes.”
Though once the advocate is on-boarded, they can then be judge-appointed to a child in need. CASA’s services vary from state to state, but they generally help any child in an abusive or neglectful place. According to CASA’s 2023 annual report, nearly 201,000 kids were helped in 2023 alone. Included in this number are victims of the opioid crisis, children with incarcerated parents, and victims of child sex trafficking. We are talking about potentially hundreds of thousands of children being helped by VOLUNTEERS.
“The notices indicate that effective April 22, 2025, “the use of award funds will not be allowed for obligations incurred, or expenditures made, after receipt of this notice, other than pursuant to closeout responsibilities,”” CASA/GAL wrote in a statement on their website. “As a result, we must take immediate action. Tomorrow, April 24, 2025, National CASA/GAL, in accordance with the termination notices, has to suspend all services and support funded by OJJDP to the CASA/GAL network to include subaward disbursements to state and local CASA/GAL programs across the country.”
And the reasoning provided by the DoJ? As CASA themselves put it:
“The three grants to National CASA/GAL are being terminated because they “no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities,” which includes “protecting American children.” Since that is in fact the mission of the CASA/GAL program, we strongly disagree with the decision to terminate the grants.”
The effect has been immediately devastating. The “Heart of Missouri” chapter, known as HOM CASA, is reporting a nearly $50,000 annual budget loss, with additional cuts being made at the CASA chapters in Johnson and Wyandotte Counties. CASA Savannah out of Georgia immediately lost $110,000, with its sister city CASA Glynn looking to lose $100,000. Savannah, in particular, was hit so hard they immediately terminated a position, as well as their pilot program. But from what I’ve found, no local CASA branch were hit as hard as CASA Fresno/Madera Counties in California, who saw their annual grants drop from over $500,000 to around $75,000.
Not all of CASA’s local, independently run chapters rely on federal funding, but enough of them do that the cuts are an existential nightmare of sorts for children and advocates everywhere. It feels deeply hypocritical for the man who once claimed to “fight for the voiceless” in the war on human trafficking to cut funding to this degree. You might be able to claim that the cuts came as a result of National CASA’s 2022 issues back in 2022, when they had their funding frozen over their status as a “high-risk grantee,” which led to a DoJ investigation that questioned more than $2.7 million in spending. CASA accounted for most of it, but not all, and returned over $270,000 to the government, according to Michael Fitzgerald at The Imprint.
This would certainly fall in line with what Trump and DOGE are claiming to work toward, in regards to “reckless government spending.” But I don’t think CASA were hit this hard because of that.
Call me crazy, it kinda looks like CASA’s funding was cut because Donald Trump, and the people making the cuts in his administration, are fucking stupid.
INTRODUCING: THE OTHER CASA:
On January 21, 2025, on the website wearecasa.org, a press release stated that “five pregnant mothers, CASA, and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), filed a lawsuit in response to the issuance of the Executive Order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” (Birthright Citizenship Executive Order), which purports to end the constitutional right of birthright citizenship explicitly provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The case, known as Trump v. CASA Inc., is ongoing, and set to be heard by the Supreme Court on May 15. It’s part of an ongoing effort by CASA to fight back against Trump’s war on immigrants, with it being reported that they have also sued Kristi Noem, claiming her decision to vacate the Temporary Protected Status of Venezuelans had broken the law and was motivated by racism.
These are all incredible feats - so why didn’t I mention them when I introduced CASA earlier?
Because they’re not the same organization.
CASA, formerly known as the Central American Solidarity Association of Maryland, is an immigration advocacy and assistance group based out of Maryland with offices in three other states. Whereas CASA/GAL focuses on child welfare, the Maryland-based CASA focus on everything from legal services to employment for low-income families, usually for Latino and other immigrants. Notably, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a member of CASA - and if their name has sounded familiar to you this whole article, it’s likely because they’ve been actively working to get Kilmar home.
When referring to both organizations in tandem, it can get a little confusing - something that National CASA/GAL directly addressed on March 26 with an article titled, “National CASA/GAL and member programs mistakenly linked to immigrant advocacy group in media reports.”
“Recently several media reports have wrongly identified an immigrant services organization, as “CASA” or “Court Appointed Special Advocates.”” the statement reads. “We want to clarify that “Casa de Maryland, Inc.” or Central American Solidarity and Assistance and its offices in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Georgia have no affiliation with the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children or its state or local CASA/GAL organizations across the country.”
In a statement to The Imprint, the DoJ wrote that, “This Department of Justice is focused on prosecuting criminals, getting illegal drugs off of the streets, and protecting American institutions from toxic DEI and sanctuary city policies.” In the Reuters article, Pam Bondi told Reuters would "continue to ensure that services for victims are not impacted."
The math ain’t mathin’, folks. I’m not alleging that CASA/GAL were targeted because CASA, Inc. are suing Donald Trump, and the Department of Justice hit the Court Appointed Special Advocates with THE biggest cuts, thinking they were the same CASA.
I don’t have evidence of that.
I just find it a little interesting.
CALL TO ACTION:
In the meantime, National CASA/GAL are in serious need of your help. Their website recommends contacting your state’s Senators, and your district’s representative, asking them to contact the DOJ about the award terminations. You can find your reps here, and below is a sample letter they’ve drafted if you reach out:
Dear (Senator or Representative Name):
The Department of Justice’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy for children and youth who have experienced abuse and neglect. The National CASA/GAL Association, together with its state and local member programs, supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy so every child who has experienced abuse or neglect can be safe, have a permanent home, and the opportunity to thrive. There are over 900 CASA/Guardian ad Litem (GAL) state organizations and local programs in 49 states and the District of Columbia. CASA/GAL volunteers are appointed by judges in judicial proceedings related to abuse and neglect to advocate for children’s best interests. This best interest advocacy makes a life-changing difference for children who have experienced abuse or neglect, many of whom are in foster care.
On April 22, the National CASA/GAL Association unexpectedly received Termination of Award notices for their active grants for the Department of Justice’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program.
I am requesting that you immediately contact the Department of Justice to inquire about the award terminations and express your concern about the impact of this far-reaching decision to CASA/GAL programs across the country and the children and youth served. Thank you in advance for your assistance and your support.
He is a monster. There are no accidents.
Plain and simple- casa is Spanish for house or home. We know how he feels about anything related to that, so he cut it because the name. They didn't even bother to read what it's for. Trump - Casa? That sounds like illegal immigrants- cut it.