Information for Current Volunteers

                                                                        Forms:

Monthly Log (blank)

Book Review Form (in-service credit)

Research Review Form (in-service credit)

Video/Conference Review Form

Upcoming Trainings:

CASA Café- Tuesday, October 24^th, noon to 1pm: Please note the date change for the Café.  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth in foster care often face unique issues such as verbal harassment and physical violence due to their orientation/identity, and high rate of running away due to hostility in their homes or foster homes toward their orientation/identity. Sara Bendoraitis, Program Coordinator for The Women's & Gender Equity Resource Center will help us to have a better understanding of issues that LGBTQ youth might be facing, and how we as advocates can raise our own awareness, provide support, and ensure safety for all of our kids.

October 19^th -21^st: The Annual Texas CASA Conference is in Austin.  A list of the workshop topics and a registration form was in this month’s issue of Heartbeat, but if you’re interested, please ask staff for a copy of the topics/presenters. 

Thursday, November 2^nd, 1pm-7pm: We are currently teaming up with Scotty’s House for this half-day training on The Impact of Childhood Trauma with Neil Stegall, LCSW as our speaker.  All CASA and Scotty’s House volunteers, family law attorneys, CPS caseworkers, and interested community members are invited to attend.  Training will take place at First United Methodist in Bryan and a light dinner will be included. 

CASA Café- Thurs November 9^th, noon to 1pm:  Our training this month will be on the adoption process and CASA’s role throughout this new phase in a child’s court case.  We will discuss the different ways to affect the process and help keep a sense of urgency, as well as what this process looks like from start to finish.      

Quarterly In-Service Training, Tues November 14^th, 5:30pm-8:30pm: Aging Out aired on PBS May of 2005 and documents three teens attempting to make the transition as they exit foster care.  The film follows their struggles as they make their way and discusses some very real challenges that teens leaving foster care often have to overcome.  As you know, several studies have shown that youth who are aging out of foster care tend to have poorer outcomes in areas of job placement, stable housing, mental health, and substance abuse.  Following the 1½ hour film, we will discuss some very real ways that we as CASAs can ensure that our teens have everything possible in place for them as they exit foster care so that they can start out with the highest chances of success in their adult lives. 

CASA Café- Thurs December 7^th, noon to 1pm: Please note the date change for the Café.  We will cover Family Group Conferencing (FCG) or Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) as well as Circles of Support.  All of these types of meetings have a focus of planning for the child's safety, permanency, and well being by engaging the entire family in the planning process and using family strengths to overcome barriers.  FGC/FGDM usually occurs either at the beginning of a case or when the case has stalled in it’s progress toward permanency, where a Circle of Support is held for teens aging out of the system to help them identify some resources for the future.  These are all available now in our area- come learn more about each and how to request one on your case.