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Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘Moving on’: No longer county’s CASA provider, Child Advocates adapts

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After seven months of disputed findings, back-and-forths, lawyer meetings and general uncertainty, Child Advocates CEO Cindy Booth is ready to say it: “We are moving on.”

She doesn’t say that with a sense of resignation, though. It’s more forward-looking.

Child Advocates lost its contract to provide court-appointed special advocates for children in Marion County courts after the Office of Public Health and Safety didn’t renew it, citing an external review that found examples of the organization not complying with the agreement.

Child Advocates disputed the findings and ordered its own audit from the firm Clifton Larsen Allen, which determined the organization complied with the agreement. Booth said she feels vindicated by the second audit, though the organization is no longer trying to get the contract back.

To add another layer of complication, Child Advocates could have subcontracted with the city’s new CASA provider, Kids’ Voice of Indiana, but chose not to.

In the end, Child Advocates lost its social workers who worked in the CASA program, kept its legal department intact, changed its funding model and even expanded some services despite a smaller budget.

The organization’s budget shrank from about $8 million with the CASA contract to $5.5 million for 2022, Booth said, transitioning from a fee-for-services model to grants and donors. Then again, there aren’t as many people to pay without the CASA program. There were also a few layoffs.

Child Advocates’ legal department has expanded its work to outside of Marion County by helping judges across the state resolve a backlog of child welfare cases. The organization has also expanded its mediation program, which helps families find resolutions to issues such as guardianship, custody and reunification. A new direct representation program provides attorneys to represent children in CHINS (Child in Need of Services) and TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) cases.

Booth said the organization will announce another program soon.

Outside of the child welfare system, Child Advocates is perhaps best known for its Interrupting Racism for Children training, which recently added a new staff member.

Jill English, chief of community, equity and inclusion, runs the training and said the aftermath of losing the CASA contract was “traumatizing” because of how closely staff worked together on the program.

An attorney for Child Advocates met with the city in July after the second audit was released, but the organization decided to not file a tort claim, essentially marking the end of a complicated saga.

The goal now, Booth said, is to “present as much service as we can throughout the state.”

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

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