Earlier today our Executive Director, Ann Marie Binsner, announced the launch of the new CASA Fostering Opportunities Fund.

This fund will address the unmet needs of our youth in foster care. Speaking on Facebook Live, Ann Marie shares that “things that make another child’s life normal and exciting and fun, those things are not available to our youth. This results in missed opportunities that other youth their age are able to experience. Things like summer camps, sports teams, robotics competitions, an extra pair of glasses, braces, apartment accessories, among many other things, for our youth the cost of those things become a barrier.” The CASA Fostering Opportunities Fund gives CASA/Prince George’s County the ability to distribute funds in order to provide youth in foster care with opportunities that can normalize their childhood and early adult years.

To receive funds, individuals connected to youth in foster care can submit a quick 10 minute request form. CASA will then review the request and transfer approved funding immediately. We expect to be able to approve most requests within 72 hours. In some cases, additional information will be requested and CASA will work with you to acquire the needed information to move the process forward.  

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We want to distribute these funds and help give our youth a part of their childhood back.  

If you are interested in submitting a referral, please email our Executive Director at ambinsner@pgcasa.org.

To watch the full announcement, check out this video on on Facebook page & be sure to like our page!

Between July 2019 and June 2020 Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George’s County served over 200 youth in foster care despite the global pandemic. Our volunteers & staff are proud of the shifts we made to advocate for the best interest youth in care throughout the pandemic. Read more about our accomplishments in Fiscal Year 2020 in our Annual Report.

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George’s County is proud to announce the election of Bruce D. Edwards, Esq., as the newest President of its Board of Directors. A family attorney and exemplary community member of Prince George’s County, Edwards brings a legacy of service in child welfare and advocacy to the presidency.

In addition to his leadership as a CASA Board member, Edwards is an adjunct professor with Anne Arundel Community College and teaches courses on career readiness to inmate students at the Dorsey Run Correctional Institute in Jessup, MD. When he’s not teaching or working as an attorney, Edwards serves as a Commissioner with the Prince George’s County Commission on Fathers, Men, and Boys and leads a youth male mentorship program with Kappa Alpha Psi’s Kappa League.

Driven by his passion to build positive male influences for young men in Prince George’s County, Edwards came to CASA in 2013 with a personal mission to increase male presence in the child welfare system. “Having positive male representation is something many youths in this system are deprived of. That’s something that pushed me to say, ‘I have to be the change that I want to see’, and I knew I had to get involved,” he says.

Edwards accepts leadership of the Board of Directors at a critical moment for CASA. As a rapidly expanding nonprofit with the goal to advocate for all children in the county’s foster care system, CASA welcomes Edwards to the role as he works with the Board to advance the organization’s strategic plans.

Edwards’ election is a clear reflection of CASA’s current stage of growth: eager to take on the newest challenges presented by the pandemic where CASA’s mission and service is needed the most. Despite the uncertainty that many in the nonprofit sector currently face in their transitions to remote operations, Edwards’ vision for CASA entails clear advances in development, fundraising campaigns, and community engagement.

“One thing I really look forward to doing collectively with the Board is making this virtual format work for us and using this opportunity to collectively increase our visibility [and] funding. There’s so much room for us to be creative with our growth,” he says.

“Bruce’s extensive experience as a family attorney, community mentor, and CASA Board Member allows him to see firsthand the importance of CASA’s mission and the children we serve,” says CASA Executive Director, Ann Marie Binsner. “We are excited to move forward with his leadership as CASA continues to work towards our goal of serving all children in the foster care system.”