In 2025, there is heightened controversy about the flow of federal dollars to states, with state attorneys general seeking to unfreeze funds appropriated by Congress under the Constitution’s Article 1.
Surely wasteful expenditures exist and efficiencies can be identified, but wholesale seizures of funds are dubious and fuel troubling uncertainty. States, localities, universities and numerous programs have been affected, with potentially serous impacts.
Connecticut is a net taxpayer to the U.S. government, getting back less than it pays, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Still, in some circles there is a perception that states like ours don’t merit federal funds that they do receive, or that such funds are of minimal consequence.
Let’s underscore how federal funds benefit people in our state. From Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance (SNAP, or food stamps) to roads and bridges, child care, National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), Title I and IDEA school funds, and Veterans Affairs (VA), Connecticut residents of all ages derive value from a share of the federal resources we provide to Washington.
Recently U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro —ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee— listed examples of relevant federal dollars, as a New Haven Independent article recounted: “Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Title IX; special education funds; Head Start, home energy rebates; housing for the elderly and disabled; most programs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; veteran programs; the Crime Victims Fund… And more.”
Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice Department, examples
For Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)’s work with children who have experienced abuse or neglect, potential sources of concern include the Crime Victims Fund under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA); Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA); and the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) funding for the CASA movement nationwide.
Organizations that receive federal Crime Victims Fund (CVF) dollars through VOCA, administered through the State Judicial Branch on a competitive basis, are making this vital mechanism more visible. As a fall 2024 article highlighted, there is an emerging VOCA coalition among numerous groups that aid survivors of crime, including sexual violence, child abuse, and neglect. Amid steady and in some cases surging demand for services, federal CVF dollars have been declining since 2018, putting acute pressure on providers of key services, with women and children affected disproportionately.
The HHS/CAPTA funds are the source of a new $25,000 Prevention Innovation Grant that Connecticut CASA has earned —one of four such recipients statewide— through Prevent Child Abuse CT and the CT Children’s Alliance. This grant will help us increase the prevention focus of our pre-service and in-service trainings, so CASA volunteers can play a more significant role in helping to prevent children’s entry into foster care, and to break the cycle of trauma, abuse, and neglect across generations.
We also aim to prevent/reduce the “crossover” of youth from the dependency to the delinquency side of the juvenile court, as the “delinquency prevention” in OJJDP suggests. Evidence indicates that a strong relationship with a trusted adult is a key factor in healthy youth development and the promotion of resilience in the face of adversity. This can keep young people who are “at risk” from becoming “disconnected” from school or work, as the 119K Commission reminds us.
For a volunteer-based organization like Connecticut CASA, a modest investment can have multiplier effects. We recruit, prepare, and support volunteer advocates who—teaming with professional social workers, attorneys, educators, health providers and others—advance the best interests of children by informing judges, rallying resources for children and families, and developing relationships that can cultivate resilience.
As with many other community nonprofits, public dollars are just one component of this organization’s funding; foundation grants, event sponsorships, and individual donations are crucial, too. Yet the public —including federal— aspect of funding should not be overlooked; it is essential, and reflects the kind of public-private partnership that makes nonprofit services a valuable complement to public agencies, in Connecticut as elsewhere.
Josiah H. Brown is executive director of Connecticut CASA.