San Marcos — Recent legislation has made it easier to care for victims of child abuse, local youth advocates said this week.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Texas came home with 11 pieces of legislation from the 81st session, including new policies on victim benefits and volunteer training.

HB 1462, upon Governor Rick Perry’s approval, will allow certain state employees to take five hours per month of paid leave to train or volunteer with CASA.

“That’s going to be wonderful,” Norma Castilla-Blackwell, executive director of CASA of Central Texas, said.

CASA volunteers, or advocates, research children’s needs and make recommendations in court to provide for their medical, educational and therapeutic care.

A 40-hour training course is required to become an advocate. Each case takes about 12 months.

When children age out of the system at age 18, their benefits stop and they are on their own. HB 704, effective immediately, extends court jurisdiction for children 18 to 21 who want or need additional support from the courts or CASA.

“Sometimes children need additional support,” said Blackwell. “We want to break the cycle and give those children the opportunities, whether they need to get their high school diploma or whatever they need.”

SB 983 will coincide with that policy by ensuring that youth aging out of the system have the documents they need, like birth certificates, social security cards, Medicaid cards, medical records and identification cards, to become adult citizens.

“Sometimes they don’t get what they need and they end up homeless,” said Blackwell.

That program will begin Sept. 1.

The legislature appropriated $7 million in state funding for CASA programs to recruit and train more volunteer advocates for children (SB 1).

“One of the best things about our child welfare system is CASA advocacy for children,” Representative Patrick Rose said. “Unfortunately, only half of the children in CPS custody have a CASA volunteer. Additional funding for CASA will help provide more volunteers and is an important step toward the goal of a CASA for every child who needs one.”

In Texas more than 20,000 children are served by CASA volunteers each year. SB 1369 will ensure that CASA programs receive the state funding.

New legislation (HB 1912) also improves on the Preparation for Adult Living program by requiring Child Protective Services (CPS), CPS contractors and foster homes to provide life skills training to youth on an individual basis.

SB 939 will speed up the adoption process and require that the Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) and the courts continue to work together to provide safe, permanent homes for children and SB 1511 implements available federal funding for relatives who make a long-term commitment to raising children in lieu of foster care.

SB 2248 will help ease educational transitions for foster youth and SB 43 will extend the eligibility period for tuition waivers and waives other fees for foster and former foster youth.

HB 1629 ensures that foster youth who enter the juvenile justice system continue to have support from CPS, the court system, their attorneys and CASA.