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Kentucky CASA Network Receives National Grant to Raise Awareness of Kentucky’s Most Vulnerable Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Brittany Garrett, Director of Communications & Program Support
Kentucky CASA Network
(502) 238-2154
bgarrett@kentuckycasanetwork.org

 

July 19, 2019 – The Kentucky CASA Network has been awarded a $72,534 Branding Campaign grant from the National Court Appointed Special Advocate/Guardian ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children. Funds will be used to tailor a national public awareness campaign about child abuse and neglect for local markets, and to distribute the campaign.

There are nearly 950 CASA/GAL programs nationwide, including 48 state offices, that recruit, train and support volunteers who advocate in court for the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect. Their advocacy enables judges to make the most well-informed decisions for each child.

National CASA/GAL has developed a broad-based national campaign, “Change a Child’s StoryTM.” It is distinguished from other campaigns in that its messaging is told from the point of view of children who have experienced abuse or neglect. The campaign shows the importance to these children of having a volunteer by their side to advocate for their best interests.

Across Kentucky, the campaign will run on social media, billboards, radio stations, and in newspapers, starting in late summer and running through the fall.

“In 2018 Kentucky had over 26,000 new petitions of child abuse and neglect. For Kentuckians wondering what they can do to support these children, becoming a CASA volunteer and speaking up for their best interests will provide these vulnerable children with much-needed support. We are grateful for this funding opportunity which will allow us to run this statewide campaign to increase awareness and recruitment of CASA volunteers statewide,” said Andrea Bruns, State Director of the Kentucky CASA Network.

The “Change a Child’s StoryTM” campaign was developed with R&R Partners, a cause-driven marketing and advocacy agency that has worked on prominent social issues campaigns. R&R Partners conducted focus groups across the country to ensure the campaign would resonate with target audiences while being sensitive to the perceptions of those with experience growing up in foster care.

The federal grant funds distributed through National CASA/GAL are provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, US Department of Justice, as authorized under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. In 2018, National CASA was awarded nearly $10 million in federal grants.

 

About the Kentucky CASA Network

The Kentucky CASA Network, Inc. is the state Court Appointed Special Advocate association as recognized in Kentucky Revised Statutes with a mission to support and strengthen local CASA programs that support trained community volunteers appointed by judges to represent the best interests of dependent, abused and neglected children in Kentucky. For more information about the association, visit www.kentuckycasanetwork.org. To submit a volunteer inquiry, visit www.kentuckycasanetwork.org/get-involved/volunteer-form.

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