Federal budget slashing means dozens of Salem’s foster care children who suffer from neglect or abuse won’t have access to court appointed advocates.   Congress eliminated millions in funding earmarked for programs across Oregon, including $85,000 for CASA of Marion County which would have allowed the organization to expand to serve dozens of children in foster care by pairing them with volunteers who advocate for them in the courtroom, and ensure they receive the services they need.   The most recent data from the Oregon Department of Human Services showed Marion County had about 318 children in the foster care system in 2023.    Vanessa Nordyke, the executive director of CASA of Marion County, said in 2023 her organization served a little over half, or 166, of those children. “That should tell you just how urgent it is for us to find people who want to volunteer,” Nordyke said.  The federal grant would have given Nordyke the budget to hire a new full-time staff member who would be in charge of hiring, training and supervising up to 30 CASA advocates.   The blow came when Congress on March 14 avoided a government shutdown by passing a budget resolution slashing community project funding from this year’s budget. The millions earmarked for CASA programs across Oregon would have funded 19 Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs, said Kat Hendrix, the executive director of the Oregon CASA Network, in a release Tuesday. Nordyke said Marion County’s program does not have the resources to advocate for the hundreds of kids locally in the foster care system and is doing what it can with limited resources. Nordyke said the organization was counting on getting its roughly $85,000 portion of the federal funding to expand, but will continue looking elsewhere for grants. “I can tell you. We are looking under every rock and stone to find support for our program,” Nordyke said. “While it is impossible to say exactly how many more kids, I can conservatively estimate that the federal funding would have helped CASA of Marion County advocate for an additional 30 children in foster care per year. It is possible that we could have served up to 60 additional children in foster care.” Nordyke said the loss will not result in reductions in staffing or programming at CASA of Marion County.  “Despite the loss in federal funding, CASA of Marion County will keep showing up for as many kids as we can. We don’t quit. We are the voice for the voiceless. The challenges we face are nothing compared to the challenges facing our foster kids,” Nordyke said.  Nordyke encouraged people to visit the organization’s office at 454 17th Street N.E. and to visit the CASA of Marion County website here to support and learn more about their work.  She said the organization’s next training cycle for new volunteer advocates will be on April 7. She said community members who are interested in applying to serve as an advocate should consider doing so but said volunteering is a big responsibility that requires a commitment of at least 8 to 12 hours per week.  Contact reporter Joe Siess: joe@salemreporter.com or 503-335-7790.A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE – If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Federal budget cuts to prevent CASA of Marion County from serving dozens of foster kids appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less