OVERVIEW: Casey Family Programs works nationally to provide human services to vulnerable children. It also offers consulting, policy development and research and evaluation services to stakeholders in the field.
IP TAKE: Casey Family Programs is an exceptionally large operation, working in all 50 states, as well as several U.S. territories and tribal nations. This organization runs several regional offices that provide direct services to children and teens, but it also provides free consulting and evaluation services to agencies, cities, school districts and Native America communities. Casey creates and shares research about best practices for “preventing the need for foster care,” and its resources inform policy and decision making at the local, state and national levels. Casey is not transparent about its giving; it does not accept proposals or offer information about how it selects its grantee partners. Organizations interested in working with Casey should make their first move by reaching out via the organization’s contact page.
PROFILE: Casey Family Programs (CFP) was established in 1966 in Seattle, Washington by the late James E. Casey. Casey, the founder of the United Postal Service, created CFP “to help improve the safety and success of vulnerable children and their families across America.” With offices in 13 separate locations across the country, CFP pursues a mission “to provide and improve — and ultimately prevent the need for — foster care.” Its signature program is Building Communities of Hope “a nationwide effort to prevent the need for foster care by supporting families in raising safe, happy and healthy children.” Casey’s efforts include Direct Services, Consulting, Public Policy and Research and Analysis related to CFPs mission and goals.
Grants for Housing, Mental Health, Education and Youth
CFP works to effect “long-lasting improvements to the well-being of children, families and the communities where they live.” The foundation’s approach involves “learning from and collaborating with” organizations, communities and agencies in the field, “especially those with lived experience with the foster care system.” CFP provides “services free of charge” to its partner organizations and has given over $2.9 billion to “to support improvements in programs, services and public policies that benefit children and families in the child welfare system.” Efforts are organized around four strategies:
CFP’s Consulting engagements “work […] with child welfare systems and American Indian tribes to help them develop practices and policies best suited to address the unique needs of the children and families they serve.” The main focus of this work is the sharing and scaling of proven strategies to “improve child and family safety, stability and well-being.” CFPs Indian Child Welfare Team specializes in supporting the “development of effective and culturally responsive child welfare services” for Native American communities.
Direct Services are provided to children and families through “nine community-based offices in five states — Arizona, California, Idaho, Texas and Washington.” Areas of focus include education, employment services for parents and mental health, with special attention given to “the unique needs of urban, suburban and rural child welfare.”
The Public Policy program uses data and expertise from CFP’s consulting and service units to “align and improve state and federal child welfare policies, allowing communities to focus on preventing abuse and neglect and improving outcomes for children in foster care.” The organization shares its research, data, testimonies and more on its resources page, which is designed to aid legislators in others in decision making related to children’s services and welfare.
CFP’s Research and Analysis services help child welfare systems and other stakeholders with decision-making, system integration, and capacity building and sustainability. While CFP’s research work is responsive to the needs of its organizational partners, areas of focus have included “evaluating strategies around safely reducing the need for foster care; improving the education, employment and mental health outcomes of youth in foster care; supporting communities in which vulnerable families reside; and building jurisdictional evaluation capacity to support continuous improvement and reform.” For additional information about this work, see the organization’s Research Reports page.
CFP does not outline guidelines or goals for its grantmaking, but tax filings indicate that, in addition to strategic support, partner organizations also receive monetary grants from time to time. National grantee partners include the Child Welfare League of America, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the Tides Center and the National Foster Youth Institute. In its home state of Washington, CFP has made grants to the Foster Club, the YMCA of Greater Seattle and the Washington Court Appointed Special Advocate Association. Grantee partners working in other parts of the U.S. include the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, the City of Buffalo and Arizona Women Legal and Youth Services, among others.
Important Grant Details:
CFP’s grants range from $50 to about $650,000, with large national organizations claiming the largest sums.
This funder supports a broad range of activities in the field of child welfare, including direct services, research, advocacy and policy development.
CFP is stringently focused on program evaluation, as well as scaling sharing information about best practices in the field of child development and, specifically, foster care.
Grantees include national organizations, community service providers, cities, towns, tribal nations and educational programs and agencies. Most grantees also receive strategic support from CFP and collaborate on research and data analysis.
This funder does not offer information about its grantmaking programs, and it does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding. However, organizations that interested in working with CFP may reach out to any one of its locations using the online form on its contact page.
For information about past giving, see CFP’s tax filings.
Submit questions to CFP using the contact page or reach out by telephone at 206.282.7300,
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