A couple of months ago I talked about my own experiences with school and why I think it is important to all kids, especially the kids we serve. I talked about how school was a normalizing influence on me—somewhere safe that I could go. It was a source of stability… Read more
I wanted to take a moment to talk about what we’ve done this year and where we are going. I wanted to talk about what we’ve accomplished and what we hope to accomplish in the coming three years. The board and staff have spent the last three months in strategic… Read more
I think one of the hardest things to articulate about CASA to someone who isn’t familiar with the program is how many different things we do. Because the needs of our kids are so diverse, we’re often willing to go the extra mile, and do whatever it takes to see… Read more
I always struggle with telling my own personal story. I’m not sure I’m supposed to. I’ve started to tell it more and more though. Yet I think it helps to share it and describe what brought me to the issues I care deeply about. One of those issues is education…. Read more
Starting in early June, we began a series of direct conversations with volunteers and supporters about the Peer Coordinator model. Currently, we have a couple brave souls who have agreed to be early adopters and we are looking at a November Launch date (although preparations and trainings will happen throughout… Read more
I’ve spent the last month talking to people about a new model of volunteer supervision. The feedback has been mostly positive and I think it’s safe to say that we will move forward with it. Yet that’s by no means the last word on it. If you have any thoughts,… Read more
As some of you might know, we’ve set a goal of serving all the children who need a CASA by 2020. We’re calling it the 2020 Vision and it can be achieved with your help. We project that there will be 1,100 children and youth—or about 500 cases—in the system…. Read more
I’ve recently been working with the Denver Juvenile Courts, the Denver Department of Human Services and the Office of the Child’s Representative around the issue of keeping siblings together. We’re trying to assess the current situation and write a paper to share at a conference in August. While the lawyers… Read more
I recently changed jobs and started doing administrative work at a hospital in town. Not having any prior experience working with patients in a healthcare setting, I hadn’t much considered that most of the people I would be encountering each day would be, of course, sick. My clinic sees many… Read more
Vicarious trauma (compassion fatigue, secondary PTSD, or countertransference) is a big deal. I think as CASA volunteers we are all too aware of this—we see members of our interdisciplinary teams dealing with its reality every day: department workers overloaded with cases; agency workers, foster parents, friends and family constantly dealing… Read more
As we know from both experience and research, foster care can be as equally traumatizing as the abuse or neglect. Being removed from your family, placed with strangers and made to change schools are extremely difficult. Still, some children and youth who experienced foster care say it was beneficial. Some… Read more