May­or Ronald Mor­rell, Jr. has giv­en $20,000 on behalf of the City of Mar­i­on to assist CASA of Grant Coun­ty, Inc. after learn­ing of a sig­nif­i­cant drop in their fed­er­al funding.

CASAs are Court Appoint­ed Spe­cial Advo­cates for Chil­dren. CASA of Grant Coun­ty, Inc. served near­ly 300 chil­dren in 2025, and cur­rent­ly oper­ates with a wait­ing list of CHINS (Child in Need of Ser­vices) cas­es, while a loom­ing 40% fed­er­al fund­ing loss of $180,000 begins Oct. 1st, 2026. As of March 4th, 2026, there were 302 chil­dren in Grant Coun­ty need­ing help, with CASA of Grant Coun­ty serv­ing 171 of them while the rest remain on a wait­ing list.

CASA of Grant Coun­ty recent­ly approached May­or Mor­rell about the bur­den, and he took their sit­u­a­tion to heart and offered to have the City of Mar­i­on help boost their fund­ing dur­ing the time of need.

CASA of Grant Coun­ty Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Leslie Hen­dricks Holt said they are incred­i­bly grate­ful for the sup­port of the City, and not­ed May­or Morrell’s action as his­tor­i­cal. ​“Accord­ing to the State Office of GAL/CASA, Mar­i­on is the first munic­i­pal­i­ty in Indi­ana to pro­vide finan­cial sup­port to a CASA pro­gram. This con­tri­bu­tion will help ensure that chil­dren in Mar­i­on and through­out Grant Coun­ty who have expe­ri­enced abuse or neglect con­tin­ue to have a ded­i­cat­ed advo­cate speak­ing for their best inter­ests in the courtroom.”

Indi­ana Court of Appeals Judge Dana Ken­wor­thy praised the City for its con­tri­bu­tion. ​“CASA of Grant Coun­ty staff and vol­un­teers advo­cate for our community’s most vul­ner­a­ble chil­dren. In my 25+ years of inter­ac­tion with CASA staff and vol­un­teers, I observed first­hand, on a reg­u­lar basis, CASA vol­un­teers pro­vid­ing strong, effec­tive, and heart­felt advo­ca­cy for chil­dren involved in CHINS and TPR (Ter­mi­na­tion of Parental Rights) cas­es. CASA vol­un­teers serve not for mon­ey, not for pres­tige, not for pow­er, but sim­ply out of love and care for these chil­dren in need. I’m so pleased to see the City of Mar­i­on invest in this wor­thy and crit­i­cal­ly nec­es­sary service.”

Grant Supe­ri­or Court 2 Judge Nathan Meeks has been over­see­ing the pro­gram in recent years. ​“This land­mark gift from the City of Mar­i­on is a pow­er­ful first in our community’s com­mit­ment to vul­ner­a­ble chil­dren. By invest­ing in CASA of Grant Coun­ty, the City is stand­ing up for those who can­not stand for them­selves, strength­en­ing fam­i­lies, and shap­ing a brighter future not just for Mar­i­on, but for the whole of Grant Coun­ty. I thank God for the City’s gen­eros­i­ty and pray oth­er cities and towns will join Marion’s efforts.”

CASA of Grant Coun­ty, Inc. is a state-man­dat­ed pro­gram, but not ful­ly fund­ed by the state. Fund­ing is dis­trib­uted based on CHINS cas­es per coun­ty. Grant Coun­ty con­tributed $63,639 in 2026 — 39.7% more than their nor­mal match with the state — in response to the need this year.

City of Mar­i­on Con­tact: Ronald Mor­rell, Jr. | May­or | 765.662.9931 | mayor@​cityofmarion.​in.​gov

CASA of Grant Coun­ty Con­tact: Leslie Hen­dricks Holt | 765.664.1891 | casa@​grantcounty.​in.​gov