Yolanda Johnson Celebrates First Anniversary as CASA Executive Director

As we celebrate Yolanda Johnson’s one-year anniversary as the Executive Director of Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Prince George’s County, take a moment to learn more about her experiences in her first year and her strategic priorities. With her wealth of experience and dedication to improving the lives of children and young people, Ms. Johnson is poised to lead CASA into a new era of impact and growth.

One-Year Reflections from CASA’s Executive Director:

At CASA/Prince George’s County, we center our work around providing advocacy for the very best interest of the child. Over the past year, I’ve thought quite a bit about what this means. What does it look like to provide “best interest advocacy” for children?

Here is what I have concluded:

Best interest advocacy is peeling back the layers that often hinder children in foster care from thriving-unaddressed trauma; limited resources; unstable living conditions; or a lack of self-efficacy. Through our supportive partnerships with both the Prince George’s County Juvenile Court and Department of Social Services, I’ve watched our staff peel back those layers to expose our young people to endless possibilities such as therapeutic resources; educational supports; workforce readiness programs; crisis interventions; financial supports; and emancipation. I am grateful for CASA’s team members for their tireless commitment.

Best interest advocacy is volunteering your time as a community citizen to be an advocate for children experiencing foster care. At any given time each year, we have over 100 volunteer advocates who strengthen the voice of children at a time when they may feel like they have no voice. They know that our volunteers believe in them, which helps them to believe in themselves. This energizes me. I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude whenever I think of our volunteer contribution.

I have met with many donors, partners, and potential partners. They are dynamic individuals and organizations that are committed to finding solutions and resources to ensure that youth experiencing foster care can succeed. This is collective impact; this is crucial to providing best interest advocacy for a child.

I want to highlight a few important accomplishments over the past year, based on our six strategic priorities:

Refresh the CASA brand and increase foster care awareness.

We reignited and revamped our organization newsletter to over 2,000 contacts.
Invested in new headshots for staff to support a website refresher.

Reposition CASA as an attractive employer and partner to current and future staff, board, and volunteer talent.

Enhanced our employee benefits package with two new CASA-supported benefits.
Re-engage volunteers through in-person activities post-pandemic to include a CASA supported appreciation event.
Created position of CASA’s first Chief Operating Officer to ensure an additional level of executive-level oversight of operations, development, and communications.

Ensure that CASA’s services are equitably aligned with the current demographics of foster care youth in Prince George’s County.

Continued and explored new translation services for Spanish-speaking youth
Sought out and received funding to support 50 emancipated young people with guaranteed basic income to increase economic justice over a two-year period.

Adapt to a changing funding landscape.

Sustained current funding relationships and established potential funding relationships to raise awareness about CASA/Prince George’s County and youth experiencing foster care.
Provided approximately $50,000 in financial support to young people who have touched foster care related to housing, living expenses, healthcare, or immigration support, through a fund supported by an anonymous donor.

Elevate CASA’s presence in Prince George’s County to strengthen partnership building.

Launched “Breakfast with the ED” as a platform to engage partners and community leaders.
Joined the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce to form new partnerships and expand CASA’s reach.

Develop and implement a DEI framework and plan.

Finalized a staff and volunteer assessment with an external consultant.
Executed a staff and board retreat to strengthen relationships.
Implemented ongoing DEI-related workshops.

I am humbled by everything that we have been able to accomplish within the past year and curious to discover unique approaches to catalyze this next chapter of CASA/Prince George’s County.

Thank you to the Board of Directors for choosing me and to my team of colleagues for supporting me on this journey.