CASA Connection

It's that time of year where foster youth will begin another school year. For many in foster care, it's an uncertain time due to the instability within their lives outside of the classroom. What kind of resources are available for foster youth to help them succeed in school? How can we best advocate for their education? These are just a couple of the topics we dove into on this episode.

On this episode, we talked to CASA SHaW's Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Amanda Gilliam, about our CASA program's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and why they're important for the work we do. Amanda tells us about her story, the benefits of DEI initiatives for our CASA program, and how we're progressing in this realm. We also embarked on some DEI myth debunking as well. 

Over the past few months, we have been generating an exciting new initiative called the CASA Family Video Series! We understand that resource homes and biological families don't always have valuable information at their fingertips when trying to learn about the challenges and needs that their children may have. How does an infant's brain develop? How do you care for textured hair? What resources a...

On this episode, Tracey and Jeff talk about how and why community resources and partnerships are so important to the work we do. Whether it's partnering with other nonprofits, clubs, businesses, or larger corporations, our collective community within our region continues to be a tremendous partner in the important work we do for foster children.

June is a time where we recognize and celebrate Pride Month at our CASA program. As advocates and supporters of our LGBTQ+ community, it's important for our CASA program to be visible within our community.  Whether it's setting up a Pride Day booth or helping to educate people with an open mind, to listening to LGBTQ+ community stories, we support our LGBTQ+ community. Listen to what Pride Month m...

We recently spoke to Davon Woods, the founder of Foster Kids Matter, about his and his twin brother's journey across the United States. The Woods brothers are raising foster care awareness by walking in all 50 states and spreading the word about how we can all help children who are going through the foster care system. Davon spoke to us about his story, thoughts on the foster care system, and how...

It's May! So that means it's National Foster Care Awareness Month! Here at CASA SHaW we like to celebrate and talk about our positive impact stories. Through these stories we are able to highlight how our CASA volunteers, one step at time, truly make a difference in the lives of the abused and neglected foster children they serve. This episode contains three stories: The Wrestler, The Readers, The...

This episode takes you into the world of a parent's journey. Kristen had her baby taken from her due to substance abuse addiction. She battled and came out on top. Thankfully, she is here and healthy today, telling her story to our CASA program in the hopes that her story will inspire others.

Every April, we commemorate and recognize Child Abuse Prevention Month. It's a great time to not only learn about how and why the cycle of abuse continues to perpetuate itself generation after generation, but also what we can do to curb this awful phenomenon. In this episode, we discuss why child abuse happens and what we can do to prevent it more in the future.

The concepts of building resiliency are different for foster youth than those who are not navigating their way through the child welfare system. In this episode, we talked about a Florida State University study that specifically dove into building resiliency for youth. There are six domains they identified, which we discussed this week.

Our CASA program has not only focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), but we have equally focused on Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). Various research and study has been done over the years that highlights PCEs, what they are, how they're defined, and how many PCEs there are in the world. Connectivity plays such an important part of PCEs. We dove into this important subject on this...

Our CASA program at CASA SHaW is proud of the work we've undertaken over the years to engage racial diversity, not just within our region, but throughout our CASA network within the State of New Jersey. How can we better reflect the foster children we serve day-in and day-out? How does cultural competency play a role within our CASA program? We're continuing to take positive steps to make change w...

Disproportionality and bias is a reality within the child welfare system and world of foster care. As a result, we have been engaging our CASA community and programs throughout the State of New Jersey with various trainings and educational-based learning platforms to help our advocates and stakeholders understand the realities of implicit bias, where it comes from, and how we can combat it in the...

Human and sex trafficking is a billion dollar industry that targets vulnerable children in all of our communities. Within this episode, we discuss those vulnerabilities and help to raise awareness of how human and sex trafficking swirls around the realm of foster care throughout the nation.

On this episode, we discuss concrete resources. Concrete resources are at the heart of how we can, and should, do better for those within the realm of foster care.  What happens if a family's hot water heater breaks? What if a family member is laid off from work unexpectedly? We discuss this issue, how changes can and should be made, and what we're doing a CASA to help make a positive difference.

Our amazing CASA volunteer, Joe Young, joined us on this episode to talk about not only his story, and aspects of his case, but some best practices of a CASA volunteer. Joe takes us through the educational and placement challenges with his CASA youth. Joe's tireless efforts are truly valued.

Within the foster care world, children are often moved from resource home to resource home. Adapting to new environments, schools, and homes is sometimes a significant challenge for children and youth. On this episode, Jeff and Tracey talk about the transitions in foster care, and how we can lighten the burden of youth who move from one placement to another.

The holiday season can be an extremely difficult time for children in foster care. Whether foster youth feel the heavy loss of family, their culture, and even a lack of gift-giving, the holidays can be especially painful and lonely for foster kids. What should we be aware of, and how can we make things a little better? Take a listen. We hope you have a great holiday season!

There are so many myths about the world of foster care. During this episode, we wanted to debunk some of those myths and prejudgements. No, not all foster youth are delinquents. No, foster parents don't always get attached to the children. Take a listen and share with those in your network to help inform others as we debunk these myths.

What is kinship care and why is it important within the world of foster care? There are many benefits to placing children with relatives or other kinship caregivers, such as increased stability and safety as well as the ability to maintain family connections and cultural traditions. We dove into this subject on this episode.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and we wanted to discuss how children are affected by abuse in the home. What does it mean for them long-term, and how does CASA provide that stability for foster youth who are in troubling atmospheres?

Brittney joined us on Episode 008 to discuss trauma within the foster care world, and she returns in this episode to discuss her experiences as she was aging out of the foster care system. Her stories truly tell a picture of why it is critical that foster youth need a CASA by their side.

This week, our CASA Ambassador, Brittney, joined us to talk about the removal from her home and parents back when she was 15-years-old. That removal, of course, caused her trauma. Listen to Brittney's story and also how CASA inevitably was a stable, foundational force for good in her life as she navigated the trauma waters.

This week, one of our amazing CASA volunteers, Donna Cardamone, a retired educator sat down with us to discuss educational advocacy within the foster care system. What are the biggest challenges to foster youth face, and how can we help?

There are challenging times throughout the year for foster youth. One of those times is heading back to school. There is much uncertainty. How can we help and support foster youth as they head back to the classroom? We have some good ideas!