'You Are Hurting Kids In Crisis': Funding Slashed For Program Advocating For Children In NY Court System

LONG ISLAND, NY — A volunteer-based program — dedicated to giving the youngest and most vulnerable children a voice in the New York State court system — has seen its funding slashed in half in recent weeks.

And for children living in the shadows of domestic violence and substance abuse, kids who depend on the program not only for help navigating a complex legal system but sometimes, for the steadfast comfort of a familiar face who consistently provides help with essentials such as school and transportation, and also, the fun of a day spent playing in the sunshine — those cuts could be life-altering.

According to Robert Stricoff MSA, chief external affairs officer of the EAC-Network — the umbrella organization for the Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, program in New York — he learned recently that a grant from the New York State Office of Victim Services, which brought in $160,232 to the program every year, would be cut by approximately 50 percent in 2026.

For CASA, a not-for-profit child advocacy program in which trained volunteers, 21 and older, "assist family court to secure safe, nurturing, and permanent homes for children in need," the news meant certain cuts sure to hurt the kids most in need, he maintained.

Stricoff said those funds were allocated toward training volunteers to advocate for foster children — vulnerable and without a voice. "Who advocates for foster kids?" he said. To those signing off on the cuts, he said, "You are hurting kids in crisis."

The need for the program continues to grow, he said: Looking at a snapshot of the EAC Network CASA program as of May, 2025, Stricoff said: "Our CASA program plays a critical role in advocating for children in the family court system, ensuring they are seen, heard, and supported throughout often traumatic experiences."

From 2024 to 2025, the number of children served has increased from 172 to 267. Cases assigned have jumped from 77 to 131, he said. And, to meet the urgent need, volunteers have opened hearts and joined hands, with numbers growing from 54 to 69 in the year's time. Volunteer advocacy hours also spiked, fom 1,334 to 2,321, Stricoff said.

"These increases reflect growing demand and our team's dedication — but meeting that demand depends on staff capacity to train and supervise volunteers," Stricoff said. "Any future funding cuts risk reversing this progress, leaving vulnerable children without the advocacy they desperately need."

He added: "The recent funding cuts mean we may not be able to maintain the staff needed to support our volunteer advocates, the heart of our program. Without enough staff, we can't train and supervise as many volunteers, which ultimately limits the number of children we can serve. It's heartbreaking to turn away cases when we know how critical CASA advocacy is for a child navigating the foster care system."

Regina Calcaterra works tirelessly for change

There is perhaps no other advocate more beloved on the East End and beyond Long Island for her fight to empower foster children and create effective change than Regina Calcaterra. An attorney and the New York Times best-selling author of "Etched in Sand," which details a childhood colored by abuse, hunger, and homelessness, Calcaterra, who lives in Southold, has dedicated her adult life to helping children and teens navigate the foster care system. She is a voice, a light in the darkness for young people — a veritable lifeline of hope.

And Calcaterra, too, is a CASA volunteer.

Calcaterra said she was working for the Office of the New York City Comptroller, when a woman first told her about CASA-NYC and what the organization does.

"I thought about how different my life, and the lives of my siblings — with all that we went through — would have been if we'd had a CASA. We certainly didn't. We didn't have someone focusing on what was in our best interests," she said.

An idea began to take root, the dream of one day becoming a CASA and shaping young lives, but Calcaterra was still in her early 20s. Then, when "Etched in Sand" was published, as she toured the country, she was often asked, "How can I help?"

Calcaterra, who also wrote "Girl Unbroken: A Sister's Harrowing Story of Survival from the Streets of Long Island to the Farms of Idaho" with her sister Rosie Maloney, said she always began by telling those who asked: "Please, consider opening your heart or home to an older foster youth. For me, that was the biggest problem — I didn't have a place to lay my head down at night."

Next, she said, she urged those asking to consider volunteering to work with CASA.

Six years ago, she was in a courtroom and attorney Art Siegel, a litigation partner for 30 years at Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC, sat down next to her. "He told me, 'I'm president of the New York State CASA," she said. "He said, 'I need your help. We need to have CASA on Long Island.'"

Siegel served on the board of Court Appointed Special Advocates of New York State (CASANYS), from 2007 to 2019.

Calcaterra agreed; aside from New York City, Nassau and Suffolk Counties comprised two of the largest populations in New York State. But time was still an issue, so she put the dream on the back burner until about a year and a half ago when, with "retirement on the horizon," she went online to research how to train and volunteer for the program.

She was thrilled to learn that there was, now, a Long Island CASA, headed up by a team of "dynamo" women who'd worked tirelessly to create a safe haven for vulnerable youth. As she signed up to volunteer, tears filled Calcaterra's eyes when she saw, in the drop-down menu, the question asking what had brought people to the CASA site to volunteer. Her book, "Etched in Sand," was the first choice on the list.

Volunteering for CASA, Calcaterra said, "is incredibly rewarding."

The lives changed live forever in her heart, Calcaterra said. The former CASA boy, for example who now has an almost-perfect 100 GPA. The children whose eyes light at the CASA volunteer who shows up consistently, always in their corner.

The need is great across Long Island: According to Laurie Elliot, program aide at CASA Long Island: "We have seen significant growth as a result of the current team's efforts," she said. "We ended 2018 with 36 children, 19 cases, and only eight volunteers. In 2019 alone, our program expanded to include 3.5 times the number of children, to 124. By the end of 2020, we were up to 187 children, 81 cases, and 43 volunteers."

The program has life-altering impacts on families and children. One mother who has three children told Patch that one of her boys, then-10, greatly benefitted from his time with CASA volunteer Lesley Siegel, who worked with the family for about two years.

"Child Protective Services was involved so the judge ordered CASA as help for my family," the grateful mom said. "I was really sick at the time and was having issues with my son, who is 16 years old now and doing well. At the time, he had really bad behavior."

She added: "Our last CASA worker was amazing. She helped stay on top of my kids with school, helped with scheduling appointments — and the amazing part was that she brought my son history books from the library. He loves to read."

Siegel, she said, also helped by supplying sneakers and cleats for her son when she couldn't afford them. "She helped with getting my son glasses. She also rewarded the boys when they did well in school and won the honor awards."

Siegel, she said, changed their lives, infused hope where there had once been only heartbreak. "Our CASA worker was on top of everything for my kids. She was always helpful and alert with a lot of things. She really tried her best to help my family and me. We were truly blessed to have her in our family."

Seigel also absorbed much of her stress, the mom said, "by calling and meeting with the schools, doctors' offices, finding resources for us when needed. I was extremely sick and I wasn't able to do a lot until I started getting better, health-wise. The best part of CASA is if you get a good caseworker who truly loves to help people, and families, then that family is blessed. Leslie did so many wonderful things for my kids. I know that other familes are in need, too. CASA can use more great advocates to help families in need."

Her heart is forever grateful for Siegel, the mother said. "I want to thank everyone involved that helped my kids and me. Without Leslie's help, I wouldn't have been able to help my son with his sneakers, cleats, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts. She helped to keep up with the school stress and all of the other stress I dealt with during my darkest days of being hospitalized, during the whole year that I was sick."

"Having CASA meant having someone to help us"

Her son, now 16, also spoke fondly of the cleats and the books from the library from his caseworker. "Having CASA meant having someone to help us," he said. "Someone who got us stuff when my mom couldn't."

He added: "I am strongly against the funding cuts, as kids will not get to have the same experience I did. They provide a service that is good for children who need it."

How to volunteer

Speaking with Patch, CASA's Long Island team explained how the program works and how volunteers are trained. CASA Nassau was born in 1987, and Suffolk's CASA followed in 1988; the organization operates under the auspices of the EAC Network.

Each CASA volunteer who signs up undergoes an extensive background check, as well as training comprised of three hours, once a week, for six weeks; all candidates must also complete detailed homework, Calcaterra said.

After the training is complete, volunteers are sworn in by a family court judge, and then undergo even more training on a local level.

The best part, all agreed, is that with the extensive training provided, anyone with a caring heart and time can be a CASA — attorneys, teachers, moms, students.

Bonnie Bryant, Suffolk case coordinator, said once volunteers are prepared, they are assigned a case from a list in CASA's network; new cases are assigned by judges all the time but each volunteer can only take a limited number at once, to ensure the children get focused attention.

Volunteers are given cases at locations preferably close to where they are located.

Becoming a volunteer for CASA is a commitment and meaningful responsibility, all agreed. "You are the only one in that courtroom that's just there for that child," Bryant said. "A judge may be looking around that courtroom and there's a 5-or-6 year old child of abuse. Everyone else has their person, their attorney, there for them, except the child. Yes, they have an attorney for their legal rights, but in terms of understanding what the child's voice is, determining what this child's best interests are — that's why we are there."

While CPS workers might juggle 20 to 30 cases, and there may be numerous CPS workers throughout the child's time in the family court system, the CASA worker remains the same. "You are the constant in that child's life from beginning to end," Elliot said.

A CASA volunteer will meet with each child personally once a month and speak with parents, social workers, teachers, foster parents, guidance counselors and therapists to get a full assessment of the child's situation that is then carefully documented in a report for the judge, Calcaterra said.

CASA volunteers can also help find community service organization, resources and assets to tap into, to help the child.

One CASA volunteer has a boy, 14, who wanted to play flag football. He found a camp, and transportation, to make that teen's dream come true.

The experience, Bryant said, "is really rewarding — and very challenging. You want to make a difference but you don't always see the effects right away. It could be a year before you see something positive come from your efforts. You have to hang in there and look for the long-term goal."

She added: "I tell all the new CASAs to focus on the small wins." In cases where the trauma has brought years of pain at home, through domestic violence or substance abuse, it's critical to focus on the strengths, the positives — a child who has a wonderful relationship with the parents. Or on the severely autistic teen who brought a CASA worker to their room, to show them that a "mess of toys" had been organized.

"That's amazing, for an autistic teen, with a new person in the house they've never met before, but they feel comfortable and excited enough to show their toys. We try to focus on those small wins — and incremental change," Bryant said.

It's rewarding and life-changing to be the person that shows up once a month, to do something fun with the kids, bringing coloring books, video games, and continuity, Bryant noted. "You're the nice, kind adult that will always show up for them," she said.

Calcaterra said it's important to distinguish between CASA and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

"A lot of what we do sounds like Big Brothers Big Sisters but this is different. Because you're dealing with a child in the welfare system, with a potential petition against the parent, with potential neglect. We have to work within the confines of the legal system and school structure and gather all of this information, by speaking with everyone we possibly can, and then we have a court hearing — and we have to draft a report that goes to the other attorneys and the judge. The judge is going to rely upon something that's so objective, based on the work we are doing."

CASA, Elliot said, is like a "three-legged stool," with a focus on physical and mental health, education, and placement, with consistency being key. Consistency in family relationships is also important, so if a child is placed in foster care, CASA volunteers advocate to question how many visits the kids are getting with their parents, with siblings.

"We are providing all the facts to the judge to ensure the child succesfully navigates the allegation and court portion of their lives but, also, with the ending concluding successfully and that they are reunified with the parents — and that the family is successful in mitigating any allegations they came into court for," she said.

Calcaterra said the federal government tracks why kids go into foster care in the first place, with 65 percent of those entering foster care due to neglect — largely due to poverty, she said. "The car's not working, they can't get to the hospital, they can't get food or supplies. Most of the time it's a single mom, so that 65 percent is neglect, not abuse," she said. The other 35 percent is attributed to sexual and physical abuse, she said.

Bryant said CASA works to "bridge gaps", finding transportation for a child whose mother has no car, helping to lessen the time for a psych evaluation required before a parent can see a judge.

Calcaterra recalled one instance of a child for whom she'd found a camp in Southampton, but transportation was needed — and found.

CASA on Long Island covers Nassau and Suffolk Counties, where volunteers work together as a team, and where "borders are malleable" when it comes to services, all agreed.

The need is growing rapidly, they said. "We need to clone ourselves and each other," Bryant said. The pandemic exacerbated the situation. "They just keep coming," she said. "As a society, as things get harder, financially and with the economy, we see it reflected so much in the lives of the children, as families are struggling."

Volunteers learn about the program on social media, through word of mouth, through information sessions, and through flyers. "We operate on a grass roots level," Elliot said.

Volunteers are needed

But despite the method of method of communication, the message is clear: Volunteers are needed, badly. With an ever-growing waitlist, some kids aren't able to utilize the critical program.

Despite the challenges, the joys are ever-present, helping not just the children but, for example, a mom who didn't meet the criteria for rehab and, discharged in the cold on a Saturday morning, couldn't reach out for help. "Those are the situations where you can make calls," Elliot said. "It's emotional. You walk away and feel very good."

Bryant, her voice filled with pride, remembered one girl who'd she'd helped to get to the finish line, graduating high school during COVID. "It was so great, that one little win," she said.

"A life's purpose"

Asked why they'd chosen to volunteer fo CASA, Bryant said she'd missed utilizing her social work degree. "Now, I can't imagine not having CASA in my life," she said. "I feel like it's a life's purpose, so impactful. It's as fulfilling as you can imagine it being, despite the challenges. The people who stick with it are CASA lifers." And always, she said, it's the children that ignite the ferocity of their shared mission.

Elliot, whose kids were college bound, said as a former village trustee, teacher, and attorney, CASA was the right fit. "This felt like slipping back into a slipper. I've never felt so happy in a job. I wake up every day, excited to do it."

Another CASA mainstay, Andrea Shinsato, Nassau Case coordinator and family treatment court representative, was a foster mother who approaches CASA "through that lens," Elliot said.

What's needed

For those who want to help, Calcaterra said, two things are needed: Financial support and male volunteers are both in demand, she said.

Individuals who wish to donate to CASA's mission can contribute to the EAC Network and earmark the funds for CASA. Those funds go directly to families in need, for essentials including transportation, food, and prescriptions. "We don't have the pipeline of a bank account," she said. "Sometimes, resources aren't available."

And that's why the budget cuts hit hard, all agreed.

Budget cut reflections

"A program like this is an investment for our government," Stricoff said. "Statistics indicate that children in foster care, if they don't receive the correct services, support and advocacy, go to jail, fall into drug use and experience teen pregnancy at a higher rate than other kids. The EAC Network tries to provide services so these kids come out of crisis and become stable individuals as adults."

The $80,000 budget cut is going to tremendously affect the government's fiscal standing down the road, he said. "It's foolish, because it's going to cost the government more money in the end, not only in funds in but in our children who will become teens, not surviving the crises they will deal with as young adults. This is a crisis."

To that end, Stricoff said the goal is to find other ways to bridge the financial gap, specifically for CASA.

"The best thing about the CASA program is the way it's run, with volunteers. If we didn't have volunteers, if those were paid people, that $160,000 could easily be $3 million. The beauty of this EAC CASA progam is that we are getting volunteers to step up to be advocates for childen; they're lending their hearts, souls, and minds to kids for free. So not only are you cutting funding to the program but you're really cutting the hearts out of these volunteers."

Andrea Ramos-Topper, EAC division director, added: "National CASA plays a critical role in supporting our Long Island CASA operations by providing technical assistance, training, research, best practices, and volunteer recruitment resources. These supports are central to the success of the Long Island CASA model. Without the infrastructure and guidance that National CASA offers, local programs will face growing challenges in sustaining and expanding the volunteer base needed to advocate for vulnerable children involved in foster care and child welfare proceedings.

"EAC Network is deeply concerned about the long-term impact this loss of federal funding may have on the CASA network nationwide. We are closely monitoring developments and actively advocating for the restoration of this essential support to protect the future of our CASA services and the children who depend on them," she said.

And, said CASA's New York State Executive Director Jackie Boissonnault: "We have a job to do. We are here to serve people; we must advocate for our vulnerable children, many of whom have experienced abuse and neglect; we must work with parents who are deserving of the opportunity to be fortified and make a better life for themselves and for their families."

Statewide, 760 CASA advocates do their work selflessly, she said. "They contribute over 27,000 hours each year, the equivalent of over 900,000 service dollars to support the family courts and a deeply underfunded child welfare system. . . As we ride the current waves of uncertainty, let us stand together in solidarity. Non-profits will continue to find creative ways to serve people, and now more than ever we must support one another. Attend each other’s events, donate, volunteer your time and expertise, and ask how you can get involved. Continue to lift up one another," she said.

For the CASA Long Island program information and application link, click here.