Program Notes: May 2022
CASA expands its work in family engagement and TBRI
As I think back over the past month of Child Abuse Awareness, I am reminded that the work of our Advocates is so powerful, and it is changing children’s lives in the child welfare system. Our Advocates are working each day for the best interest and the best possible outcome for every child. Our Advocates are truly making a difference.
The work of CASA in Montgomery County continues as we move into May.
- 125 new children have entered into the care of CPS in the past eight months.
- 500 children have already been served by 233 amazing Advocates in the past eight months.
- Over 70 percent of the children in the cases closed over the past eight months have been placed with family—either reunified with one or both parents, placed in the custody of a family member or adopted by a family member.
- 100 percent of the children in care in this county are being served by CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County.
We are expanding our work in the areas of Family Engagement and Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). Current staff member Jennifer Reitmeyer has taken over our TBRI initiatives as the TBRI Manager. In addition, Destin Hudek is leading our Family Engagement Program. Both of these initiatives are vital to the work we are doing within CASA Child Advocates of Montgomery County. It is exciting to see how our staff is taking on these new areas so that we as an organization can better serve the children and their families of our county. In addition to serving 100 percent of the children, we are committed to providing the best possible advocacy for every child.
We have also added three new Case Supervisors to our staff in the past few months. I want to formally welcome Karen Lee, Allison Conner, and Karen Vegas to the CASA Staff. They are all experienced Advocates and are great additions to our incredible staff.
This past month, we sent our revised Advocate Policies to you. As you recall, when you took your new Advocate training, you were provided a copy of the Advocate Policies. Recent changes in the policies of Texas CASA and the National CASA/GAL Association required us to update our policies to reflect the current standards for all the CASA programs around the state. Thank you for reading those new policies and sending back the electronic acknowledgment and compliance form. If you have not completed that form yet, please send it back to us as soon as possible. We are required to have that form in every active Advocate’s file.
I am so thankful to our Advocates for continuing to go above and beyond for the vulnerable children in our community.
Sincerely,
Marilyn McQueeney, TBRI Practitioner
Program Director
EVERY CHILD DESERVES A CHANCE…IT’S YOU!
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