NCK CASA & Hope's Place CAC Receives 2024 Children's Advocacy Centers Grant

Governor Laura Kelly has announced that $18,489,169 in state grants have been awarded to provide services for adult and child crime survivors.  Governor Kelly and the bipartisan Legislature increased the state grant funds to sustain Kansas programs that experienced a 40 percent decrease in funding from the federal Victims of Crime Act Victim Assistance Grant Program.    

The funding comes from state general funds and will go toward counseling, shelters, the statewide language-accessible crisis line, safety planning, advocacy for sexual and domestic violence survivors, and training for community-based direct service providers.  

North Central Kansas CASA, Inc. and Hope's Place Child Advocacy Center in Concordia received a 2024 Children's Advocacy Centers Grant award in the amount of $46,523.  

Hope's Place Child Advocacy Center is a comprehensive, child-centered program based in a facility that provides a coordinated, trauma-sensitive, multidisciplinary response to a child's outcry of abuse.  Hope's Place uses a team approach to coordinate the investigation and treatment services for children involved in allegations of sexual abuse or serious physical abuse.  

Children's Advocacy Centers are child-focused programs that operate within Kansas communities to coordinate a multidisciplinary response to child abuse cases.  Funds are used to hire and train staff to conduct child-sensitive forensic interviews of sexual and physical abuse victims, and to provide advocacy services for victims and non-offending caregivers. 

Court Appointed Special Advocates Programs provide training and support to court-appointed citizen volunteers.  The volunteers work with the courts and legal and child welfare professionals to obtain permanent and safe placements for children who have been abused and neglected.

Chelsey Wilson, Executive Director of NCK CASA, says CASA serves as a powerful voice for abused and neglected children, whose case is in the court system.

Established in 1994, NCK CASA is part of a national program that recruits, trains and supports community volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children and speak up for their best interest.  Once CASA volunteers are trained, they are appointed by a judge to a child's case.  With staff support, CASA's are able to make a difference in the lives of children in the communities they serve.