We have written extensively about CASA in the past and how it hoovers up large amounts of Maryland taxpayer money. The self-acclaimed “foremost immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region and a national leader in supporting immigrant families” is also very politically active in MoCo, and due to this activism it ran into a public relations nightmare this winter. That was when activists controlling the “CASA for All” Twitter / X thread decided to throw out a kooky, anti-Israel screed that also brought up “colonizers” and appeared to condone violence against civilians (only those of a certain type, wink wink). As a result of this ill-timed and very poorly worded tweet thread, CASA suffered big reputational damage, and it had to embark on an extensive public / political rehabilitation project to keep the Maryland taxpayer money flowing.
But across the river, northern Virginia counties and their county council equivalents (boards of supervisors) seem to have an actual backbone and desire to protect taxpayers. Breaking today, February 21, 2024, Prince William County has voted to revoke a more then $1 million grant that was supposed to go to CASA for “building a “training lab” and supporting “programming start-up costs” at its Prince William County welcome center.” This money will instead go to other community non-profits and community needs, including renovation of a Prince William County judicial center.
Ben Peters, writing for InsideNova.com has more:
“A county audit obtained by InsideNoVa alleges the organization between July 2022 and and June 2023 improperly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on other expenditures such as marketing materials and tabling supplies and a personal development English Second Language course for an employee.
The group also spent thousands of dollars on marketing items such as lip balm, hand sanitizer, drawstring bags, hoodies, lanyards, thermometers, sunscreen, pill boxes and “fidget fun blocks,” county documents show. All were deemed not in alignment with the parameters of allowable expenditures outlined in an agreement CASA signed with the county.
The audit showed the organization misspent more than $25,000 on administrative and utility costs at locations other than the one in Woodbridge. CASA made dozens of other non-compliant expenditures that ranged in price from a few hundred dollars to $14,000.”
Ben Peters then gets a quote from CASA’s executive director, who tries to make a claim that these were paid for with CASA’s funds mainly, not Virginia’s (wink wink) until VA released the first tranche of grant money. Of course, CASA gets most of its funding from government (federal and state) sources — so if anything, we Maryland / MoCo taxpayer were likely funding this stuff as well, prior to the additional scrutiny.
Anyways, refreshing to see a local county board with a spine. Don’t hold your breath on MoCo’s feckless politicians to do anything real in reprimanding this group via contract renewal / cancellation or demanding more transparency on how taxpayer money gets doled out and utilized.
