By Ann McAlpin, Executive Director, CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County As 2020 comes to a close, we know that 2021 is filled with possibilities. For kids in foster care, 2021 could be the year they leave the system for a safe, permanent and loving home. With a dedicated Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer,… Read more »

By Ann Marie Ronsman, CASA Training Director & TBRI Practitioner A Year in Review To our Advocates, thank you for all your diligence this year learning new ways to serve our children in this COVID world. Thank you for learning Zoom so you could build connection, both with your CASA children but also with each… Read more »

By Marilyn McQueeney, CASA Child Advocates Program Director We have recently completed our 2020 Program year (9/1/2019 – 8/31/2020). During the past year, 302 Advocates served 665 children in care in Montgomery County. There were 250 new children brought into care during this time. We have sworn in 85 new Advocates. And by far most importantly, we have continued to serve… Read more »

By Ann Marie Ronsman, CASA Training Director & TBRI Practitioner Happy fall y’all! (Can a Wisconsin girl say that?) 2020 Fall Conference I hope you have enjoyed our virtual fall conference. All fall conference training must be completed by October 15th. Please make sure to document your learning in Optima. Drip Learning We took a… Read more »

By Jenn Engel, CASA Case Supervisor and Collaborative Family Engagement Lead Facilitator Our CASA Advocates and Supervisors are doing an excellent job implementing the CFE tools and working with others on the CFE team to ensure our CASA children have connections with positive, familiar adults while under CPS care and in a pandemic. Although family… Read more »

As we finally enjoy some relief from the southeast Texas heat, and as the 2020 CASA Superhero Run kicks off virtually, we’ve created a fun SUPERHERO-themed activity packet for kids! The packet contains easy at-home craft ideas, as well as an outdoor scavenger hunt. Download the kids’ activity packet here. Advocates, download a version of… Read more »

Recently, you received an invitation to attend an ARD for your LD CASA child to review their IEP, develop a BIP and consider an ED evaluation by a LSSP. Got it??? Educators are quite adept at using common acronyms in their conversations with parents and Advocates. It is often assumed that everyone understands what the… Read more »

Did you know??? Three CASA Advocates started a bike program about a year ago for children in foster care in our county. They recently sent us an update, so we’re passing it on and sharing with you! From “The Bike Guys” – Ron Finch, Randall Cade, and Paul Vallone: WHAT WE HAVE DONE We have… Read more »

By Jenn Engel, CASA Case Supervisor and Collaborative Family Engagement Lead Facilitator This is a crucial time to identify and maintain positive connections through Collaborative Family Engagement for our CASA children under CPS Care. Due to COVID-19, CASA Advocates and CASA staff have had to make several adjustments in Advocating for children in foster care… Read more »

By Linda Chilcoat, CASA Case Supervisor and Education Team Lead The Texas Education Agency has provided all school districts in the state of Texas with some general guidelines for opening schools. Much leeway has been given to local districts in beginning the school year based on their county health guidelines. Here is the link for… Read more »