CASA on the Go: Continuing Education for CASA Volunteers

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and Texas CASA is deeply honored to have Rhonda Kuykendall discussing what advocates should know and can do when it comes to preventing child trafficking and supporting youth who have experienced the trauma of trafficking. Some trainings and resources mentioned in the episode include Innovations in Advocacy to Combat Child Sex Trafficking ; Ad...

Foster and kinship caregivers play an incredibly important role in caring for the children and youth we walk alongside. How can CASA advocates ensure that these caregivers have the support they need while engaging them as valuable team members in our advocacy for children and families? Joining us for this conversation is the phenomenal Naomi Sawyer, Advocate Supervisor and CFE Lead at CASA of Hill...

At Texas CASA, we believe in learning from the stories and leadership of those who have experienced our systems firsthand. In this episode, we’re joined by Renequa Burch, a mother whose family has been impacted by the Texas foster care system in a deeply agonizing way. Renequa’s experiences offer crucial insights about the importance of engaging meaningfully with parents and family members from th...

How can we learn from the stories of those who experienced our foster care system firsthand, and move towards more compassionate and holistic advocacy for youth and families? Join us for an inspirational conversation with Collaborative Family Engagement Coach Maria McCord about the importance of empathy in our work with children and families, and the lifesaving power of connection. Support the sho...

Our guest Lisa Merkel-Holguin has written that "children and youth, in systems that are designed to serve them, often experience their needs and opinions as being overlooked in the context of planning for them." Join us for part two of this episode featuring Anita Horner and Lisa Merkel-Holguin to learn more about creative and meaningful ways young people’s needs and interests could be b...

Too often, child welfare professionals' good intentions of protecting children or youth from difficult conversations can have the unintended result of excluding the young person from decision-making that profoundly impacts them. Texas CASA is deeply honored to welcome the powerhouse duo Lisa Merkel-Holguin and Anita Horner from The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse...

Understanding the desires of the child or youth is central to best interest advocacy. How can CASA advocates partner with youth to ensure their voices are heard and their perspectives are valued? In this episode we're joined by two wonderful guests from Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS), Prince Hayward and Josue Rodriguez, sharing their expertise about how advocates can work to meaningf...

The CASA guiding principles stress that strengthening families, through recommendations for services, supports, visitation and communications, is in the child’s best interests to achieve stability and/or reunification. In this episode, we reflect on how  CASA advocates can help bend the arc of child welfare practice to become more fully strengths-based and family-centered. The wonderful Dr. Natali...

The CASA guiding principles emphasize that if a child is removed from their family of origin, the child should be placed with a relative whenever safely possible and in the child’s best interests. This week we're thrilled to share a conversation with The Honorable Leonard Edwards, who joins us to talk about his recent article on the urgency of placing children with relatives . A retired judge...

Research shows that youth in foster care are at high risk of dropping out of school and are less likely to attend or graduate from college than peers who did not experience foster care. CASA volunteers can play a powerful role when it comes to supporting these youth in meeting their educational goals, including access to higher education. In this episode of CASA on the Go , we're joined by Je...

This special episode of CASA on the Go comes from our Distinguished Speaker Series, where we had the amazing opportunity to host conversations with trailblazers in equity and child welfare. In this episode, Kevin Campbell, developer of the Family Finding model, and Texas CASA CEO Vicki Spriggs discuss the role of compassion in child welfare work, and how CASA volunteers can influence the quality o...

Domestic violence impacts many families involved in the child welfare system, and this is an area where CASA volunteers can make a powerful impact through informed recommendations about appropriate services and supports. In this episode, we're joined by Claire Sudolsky of the Texas Council on Family Violence as she shares her expertise about how volunteers can best advocate for families heali...

How can CASA volunteers skillfully advocate for youth with disabilities? On this episode of CASA on the G o we're joined by Heidi Lersch, Educator and Training Coordinator with SAFE’s Disability Services, and Rashid Amrani-Khaldi, Community Engagement Specialist with SAFE Disability Services, sharing strategies for how CASA volunteers can work to identify and promote protective factors that c...

According to a report from Texans Care for Children, DFPS data from 2017 indicate that parental substance use is a contributing factor in 68 percent of child removals in Texas. On this episode of CASA on the Go, the Honorable Aurora Martinez Jones shares her expertise on trauma-informed advocacy strategies for working with families impacted by substance use disorder. Judge Martinez Jones leads the...

Studies have found that one of the strongest indicators for child well-being is the number of committed adults in a child’s life. How can CASA volunteers use a connection-informed advocacy lens to actively and skillfully engage the children and youth we work with as well as their family and community? This episode features Candice Dosman, Director of Collaborative Family Engagement at Texas CASA a...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our communities here in Texas, many of us are experiencing a radical disruption in our normal everyday routines. What can these experiences of sudden discontinuity and increased social isolation teach us about the experiences of youth and children who are removed from their families, and the jarring loss of normalcy a child endures when they are plac...

According to a Texans Care for Children report citing data from 2015, teen girls in Texas foster care were almost five times more likely to become pregnant than their non-foster care peers. In this episode of CASA on the Go we're thrilled to host Kate Murphy, Senior Child Welfare Policy Associate with Texans Care for Children, sharing her expertise on the complex issues around teen pregnancy...

Join us for an engaging discussion on the importance of strong educational advocacy within the classroom and beyond! This episode features guest Jamie Bernstein, Assistant Director of the Supreme Court of Texas Children’s Commission, sharing expert tips on the nuts and bolts of how CASA volunteers can advocate for a child's academic success.  Support the show