Federal Dollars Benefit Children and Families

Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) works with children who have experienced abuse or neglect. The organization’s work is partly supported with federal funds.

In 2025, there is heightened controversy about the flow of federal dollars to states, with state attorneys general seeking to unfreeze funds appropriated by Congress under the Constitution’s Article 1. Surely wasteful expenditures exist and efficiencies can be identified, but wholesale seizures of funds are dubious and fuel troubling uncertainty. States, localities, universities and numerous programs have been affected, with potentially serous impacts.

Connecticut is a net taxpayer to the U.S. government, getting back less than it pays, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Still, in some circles there is a perception that states like ours don’t merit federal funds that they do receive, or that such funds are of minimal consequence.

Let’s underscore how federal funds benefit people in our state and beyond. From Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance (SNAP, or food stamps) to roads and bridges, child care, National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), Title I and IDEA school funds, and Veterans Affairs (VA), Connecticut residents of all ages derive value from a share of the federal resources we provide to Washington.

Recently U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro — ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee — listed examples of relevant federal dollars, as a New Haven Independent article recounted: “Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Title IX; special education funds; Head Start, home energy rebates; housing for the elderly and disabled; most programs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; veteran programs; the Crime Victims Fund… And more.”

Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Justice Department, examples

For Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)’s work with children who have experienced abuse or neglect, potential sources of concern include the Crime Victims Fund under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA); Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA); and the Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) funding for the CASA movement nationwide.

Organizations that receive federal Crime Victims Fund (CVF) dollars through…