Grants for CASA Programs 2026: CASA and GAL Funders

CASA source review, Grantsights, October 31, 2026: Grantsights checked the CASA subchapter of the Victims of Child Abuse Act at 34 U.S.C. 20321 to 20324 on govinfo.gov (opens in a new tab), OJJDP's FY 2026 CASA notice on Grants.gov (opens in a new tab), the VOCA rules at 28 CFR 94.119 (opens in a new tab) and the IRS page about Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab) against foundation filings that name CASA and GAL programs. Where official sources stop: no federal page says what it costs to recruit, train and supervise one volunteer for one child's case in your county, so your request has to carry that number.

Grants for CASA Programs: What 990-PF Filings Show

Private foundations are a main source of grants for CASA programs, though county contracts, court funding, state appropriations and individual donors and galas often cover as much or more of a local budget. According to IRS guidance, private foundations file Form 990-PF to figure tax on investment income and report their charitable distributions and activities, so each gift below traces back to a public filing. Grantsights analysis of 990-PF youth grants pulled October 31, 2026 found 383 foundations, 722 grants and $18,661,717 going to CASA and GAL programs, an average near $25,800 that one Indiana funder pulls well above the typical gift.

That funder is Lilly Endowment. Its filings show $4,475,721 to 7 Indiana CASA and GAL recipients, about 24% of the national total, much of it under a purpose it filed as strengthening youth programs in Indiana. Take Indiana out and the other 49 states and Washington, D.C. split about $13.9 million.

Most CASA gifts in the wider search carried no cause tag at all. Of those that did, youth led by a wide margin, followed far behind by education and health, which is why this guide uses the youth list.

These larger gifts, drawn from the full search across causes, show what the top of the range looks like:

For example, CASA of Tarrant County received $150,000 from The Rees-Jones Foundation in 2023 for general operations and $200,000 from The Morris Foundation in 2024 for advocacy for Tarrant County children in care. One organization in Kentucky, the CASA program in Maysville, drew $16,500 from the Hayswood Foundation in 2023 for protection of youth, which is what a rural county program can expect from a hometown funder.

CASA grants by state

Rows count programs by the state where the CASA or GAL program is based, using the youth-tagged gifts from the October 31, 2026 pull. 30 states had 3 or more foundations giving to CASA programs. Montana stands out for its size: 11 funders and $519,500, with the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation giving CASA for Kids in Kalispell $20,000 in 2023.

California's CASA funders

California's 68 foundations made 117 youth grants worth $2,511,881, about $21,500 each. The free California preview on the Grantsights youth funder list opens with the George H. Sandy Foundation, managed through U.S. Bank, which says it takes requests and lists what to send, limits and a contact in its filings. It gave CASA of San Mateo County $50,000 in 2024 for court appointed special advocates for abused and neglected children, and gave CASA of Sonoma County $50,000 the same year to recruit and train volunteer advocates. Its filings show $185,000 to those 2 programs in all. Next in that preview are the BCM Foundation, which gave CASA of Los Angeles $100,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for a transition age youth program, and the Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation.

Los Angeles draws the deepest pool. Besides the Brooks gift, the S. Mark Taper Foundation gave CASA of Los Angeles $100,000 in 2023 for general operating support, and The Eisner Foundation gave it $125,000 the same year. Statewide groups get money too: the Lily Lai Foundation gave the California CASA Association $150,000 in 2024 for program and general support.

Why the Youth List Fits CASA Programs

Youth is the list to start with, because tagged CASA gifts land there far more than anywhere else, and youth funders judge requests on outcomes for children, which is what a CASA program reports. The statewide numbers below cover all youth giving, not only CASA gifts, so they show how many funders could plausibly hear a CASA pitch.

According to Grantsights analysis of 990-PF youth filings pulled October 29, 2026, the median youth gift ran from $5,000 in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to $10,000 in California. A single state's youth funder list from Grantsights costs $29, and $99 covers every cause in every state for a year; you can get your money back on either within 30 days. Many youth funders that back CASA also back mentoring, so grants for mentoring programs is a good next read for a program that runs a youth-mentor track.

What the CASA Statute Doesn't Tell You About Federal Money

The CASA subchapter of the Victims of Child Abuse Act has been law since 1990, and it's specific about who gets the money. Read it beside the FY 2026 notice and 5 points stand out.

1. Only 1 group could apply in 2026. According to Grants.gov, OJJDP's FY 2026 CASA Training, Technical Assistance, and Subgrants Program notice, posted September 22, 2026, estimated $12,000,000 for a single award, listed the National CASA Association as the eligible applicant and set a September 30, 2026 response date. A county program waiting for a federal CASA notice of its own will wait a long time; watch for the national association's subgrant calls instead.
2. The law allows subgrants, with a cap on overhead. Under 34 U.S.C. 20323, a national grantee may make subgrants and contracts with public and nonprofit agencies to start, sustain and expand CASA programs, and OJJDP sets a share of no more than 5% for the national group's administration.
3. New and growing programs come first. The same section tells OJJDP to make sure grants reach localities with no existing CASA program and programs in need of expansion. If your county has a waiting list of children without an advocate, say so with numbers.
4. Standards travel with the money. OJJDP's grant criteria must require screening, training and supervision of volunteers under National CASA standards, and they may also require written records on each volunteer and case, access to legal counsel and a bar on volunteers with certain past charges. Programs can request FBI fingerprint checks, but the program pays the reasonable cost of each one.
5. The authorization is flat. According to 34 U.S.C. 20324, Congress authorized $12,000,000 a year for fiscal years 2023 through 2027 and barred lobbying with the money. The FY 2026 estimate matched that ceiling, so growth in federal CASA money isn't coming from this line.

What the statute skips is the name. The National CASA/GAL Association for Children, a nonprofit, notes on its site that the CASA logo, name and slogans are trademarks, and it reports a network of 890 state and local CASA/GAL organizations in 48 states and Washington, D.C. A new program should talk with its state association about membership before printing the name on a grant request. The foster care programs guide has a shorter pass on this same national pass-through, plus Title IV-E and Chafee money that CASA programs don't get directly.

VOCA Subgrants: The Bigger Federal Door

Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) victim assistance subgrants from your state are often worth more to a local CASA program than the national pass-through. According to the VOCA victim assistance program rules in 28 CFR Part 94, the state picks the subrecipients, and the rules are written broadly enough to cover court advocacy for children. Under 28 CFR 94.104 (opens in a new tab), state administering agencies must give at least 10% of each year's VOCA grant to each of 3 priority groups, and child abuse victims are 1 of them. The definitions in the same part say child abuse victims can include children who experienced neglect.

What a CASA program can pitch under the rules:

• Court advocacy. 28 CFR 94.119(e) lists advocacy on behalf of a victim and accompanying a victim to court as allowable direct services, and it names juvenile justice hearings as one kind of public proceeding.
• Volunteer training. 28 CFR 94.120 (opens in a new tab) allows activities that train volunteers to provide direct services when volunteers deliver most of those services, which describes a CASA model.
• Volunteers themselves. Section 94.113 says programs must use volunteers to the extent the state requires, which a CASA program meets by design.
• The match. 28 CFR 94.118 (opens in a new tab) sets a 20% cash or in-kind match for most subrecipients, and volunteer hours can count if you document them like paid staff time.

None of these sections names CASA programs, so eligibility rests on how your state writes its VOCA priorities. Ask the state administering agency whether it treats CASA advocacy as a direct service before you build a budget. The DOJ crime victim assistance guide covers state allocations and how to find your agency, and the cost sharing guide explains how to document volunteer time as match.

Where CASA Ends and Other Child Programs Begin

CASA programs share funders with 3 neighbors, and 1 of the 2 misses in the hand check shows why the line matters. This table is illustrative, not data: every county splits these roles a little differently.

A Flint, Michigan group called Voices for Children Advocacy Center got $209,500 from the Charles Stewart Harding Foundation in 2024, but it's a child advocacy center, not a CASA program, and it wasn't counted in the 722. The child advocacy center guide covers that side. If your board can't explain the difference to a funder in 1 sentence, fix that before you send anything.

Costing a CASA Case for a Grant Request

Most programs underestimate supervision. The volunteer is free, but the staff who recruit, screen, train and coach that volunteer through every hearing are not. This table is illustrative, not data: costs vary by county, caseload and court.

Divide your annual budget by children served and you have a cost per child, which most funders ask for. Your strongest request pairs that number with your waiting list. CASA of Travis County shows the software point: The Covalent Foundation gave it $150,000 in 2023 to improve its data management system.

6 CASA Projects Foundations Have Paid For

Every project below comes from a filing in the October 31, 2026 pull, and each one gives you a model for a specific ask instead of a general plea.

1. Volunteer recruitment and training. The Hastings Mutual Insurance Company Charitable Foundation gave CASA for Kids in Lansing, Michigan $18,125 in 2023 to recruit, screen and train 9 volunteers for 18 children's cases.
2. Older youth. The BCM Foundation's $100,000 gifts to CASA of Los Angeles in 2023 and 2024 went to a transition age youth program.
3. Education advocacy. The Autzen Foundation gave CASA of Jackson County in Medford, Oregon $4,000 in 2023 for its Youth Education Strategies program.
4. A more diverse volunteer pool. The same foundation gave CASA of Marion County in Keizer, Oregon $4,000 in 2023 to increase access to culturally diverse advocates.
5. Emergency needs. The Jacob G. Schmidlapp trust gave CASA for Clermont Kids in Batavia, Ohio $35,000 in 2024 for a rapid response fund.
6. Parents in recovery. The Brindle Foundation gave the New Mexico CASA Association $42,000 in 2023 for classes for parents with substance use disorders whose children are in care.

Notice that general operating support still dominates the filings. Colorado's Anschutz Family Foundation, for example, gave 6 CASA programs $90,500 between them, and every gift its sample shows was general operating support, including $15,000 to CASA of Pueblo in 2024. A specific project gets you in the door, and operating money keeps you there.

Common Mistakes in CASA Grant Requests

These 5 mistakes show up again and again in requests from volunteer advocacy programs.

• Leading with the volunteers. A common mistake is describing how rewarding the work is for advocates. Funders pay for children, so lead with how many children in your court have an advocate and how many are waiting.
• Searching only for "CASA." A red flag in funder research is trusting a keyword. "Voices for Children" backs court volunteer advocacy in San Diego and Tampa Bay but names children's policy groups in Nebraska, Idaho and New Mexico. Read how to read a 990-PF and check the recipient before you count a funder as yours.
• Ignoring the gala sponsors. Several New Jersey gifts in the pull were gala and golf sponsorships, such as the Columbia Bank Foundation's $10,000 sponsorship for Passaic County CASA's 2023 gala. Corporate foundations that sponsor events can become grant funders if you ask.
• Missing the match. VOCA money usually needs 20% match. Count it before you apply, not after the award letter.
• No standing with the court. A program without a written agreement with its judges is a red flag. Funders want proof that the court appoints your volunteers.

A CASA Program's Funding Calendar

This 12-month plan works for most county programs that run 2 or 3 training classes a year.

The Grantsights grant database tracks open federal and state notices, including state crime victim and child welfare programs that a CASA program can apply to.

Related Guides for Child Advocacy Programs

The 383 foundations behind the $18,661,717 in CASA grants also give to the programs that sit beside CASA in a child's case.

Programs that also serve families before a case reaches court can borrow from grants for family resource centers, and a program serving children from homes with partner violence will find overlapping funders in grants for domestic violence shelters. Programs still setting up their tax status should read what a fiscal sponsor is before applying, since many new county programs start under a host nonprofit. Grandparents and other relatives who take in a child from your caseload have their own funders, covered in grants for kinship care programs. If an advocate learns a child is being sold for sex or labor, the agencies in grants for human trafficking survivor programs are the partners to know, and their funders overlap with yours.

FAQ: Common Questions

Is there a federal grant just for CASA programs? Yes, but in 2026 only the national CASA association could apply, and local programs get subgrants from it.

How many foundations fund CASA programs? 383 in Grantsights' search of 990-PF youth grants pulled October 31, 2026.

What's a typical CASA grant from a foundation? The median was $8,500, and most grants were under $10,000.

Can a CASA program use VOCA money? Often, if your state treats court advocacy for children as a direct service, with a 20% match.

Who gives the largest CASA grants? Large regional funders, such as Lilly Endowment in Indiana and the Whitehead Foundation in Georgia.

Is a CASA program the same as a child advocacy center? No. One trains court volunteers, the other runs forensic interviews.

Sources

• U.S. Code via govinfo.gov: 34 U.S.C. 20321 to 20324, Court-Appointed Special Advocate Program (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: OJJDP FY 2026 Invited to Apply, CASA Training, Technical Assistance, and Subgrants Program (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 28 CFR 94.104, Allocation of sub-awards (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 28 CFR 94.118, Project match requirements (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 28 CFR 94.119, Allowable direct service costs (opens in a new tab)
• eCFR: 28 CFR 94.120, Allowable costs for activities supporting direct services (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)
• National CASA/GAL Association for Children (nonprofit) (opens in a new tab)