CASA Wins 2024 Aging Out Institute Award

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George’s County has been named one of eight winners of the 2024 Aging Out Institute (AOI) Awards Program.

The AOI Awards Program celebrates the positive impact and influence of organizations that work with youth who age out of foster care. The awards program supports AOI’s mission to identify and share award winners’ best practices with foster care professionals throughout the world.

“We are thrilled to be recognizing such wonderful organizations this year,” said Lynn Tonini, Founder and Executive Director of Aging Out Institute. “This is a peer-judged awards program as the winners from the 2023 AOI Awards Program served as judges this year. This judging model lends significant credibility to the selection of the winning organizations from all the applications we received. We are pleased to be able to support the winners’ programs and look forward to hearing how the funds were utilized to help youth aging out of care transition to adulthood successfully.”

This year’s panel of judges included experienced practitioners in the field of foster care throughout the country (Arizona, California, Maryland, Nevada, New York, and Ohio). After careful consideration, these judges selected the following organizations as the winners of the 2024 National Awards Program (by category and prize amount):

Small Organization or Program – Flame Award ($40K each)
Cleveland Angels (Cleveland, OH)
Finally Family Homes (Culver City, CA)
Olive Crest (Las Vegas, NV)
The Felix Organization (Locust Valley, NY)

Mid-Size or Large Organization or Program – Fire Award ($50K each)
City Living (New York, NY)
CASA/Prince George County (Riverdale, MD)
Good Samaritan Boys Ranch (Brighton, MO)

Youth Impact – Phoenix Award ($90K)
DFW Angels (Dallas, TX)

Yolanda Johnson, Executive Director of CASA said “Being selected for the Aging Out Institute Fire Award is an honor and a powerful testament to the relentless dedication of our staff, board members, and volunteers. This award strengthens our ability to elevate our brand to raise awareness about the needs of our young people and attract more volunteer advocates to help us disrupt the challenges faced by youth aging out of care.”