"Small Steps Open Doors"
November is National Adoption Month!
Each November during National Adoption Month, it is important to bring awareness to the need for finding loving, stable, and permanent homes for children and youth waiting to be adopted. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System for 2020, there were over 117,000 children and youth in the United States waiting to be adopted.
The theme of this years initiative is "Small Steps Open Doors" to emphasize how even taking small steps to overcome the unique challenges youth waiting to be adopted face can help support their goals of permanency. Click the link below to review the newly designed National Adoption Month website which features resources, tips, and tools to allow child welfare professionals to start conversations about youth permanency.

139 CASA volunteers served 276 children in October and helped find safe, permanent homes for 21 of those children.
136 children are still waiting for someone to be their voice.

Recruiter's Corner

It only takes 30 minutes to learn about the difference a CASA can make in a child's life.

Register for a virtual CASA 101 information session here.

Our next CASA training will begin January 17, 2023.


"When you connect to the heart of a child, everything is possible."
Dr. Karen Purvis
Child.tcu.edu


OPTIMA's Importance to the Children We Serve
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The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is stressful to adults. We get caught up in scheduling Christmas gatherings, shopping, cooking, and all end of year church and school events. It is easy to forget about how stressful the holiday season can be for our CASA children. This is often the time of year that they miss their parents the most. If they are not placed with their siblings, they often worry whether they are going to get to see their siblings or if their siblings are going to get holiday gifts. Younger children wonder if Santa Claus is going to find them in their new home, and older kids start to worry about if they are going to have anything under the tree on Christmas morning. Your role as their CASA Volunteer becomes even more important during this time; yet, it is often the time of year that we find it most difficult to fit in a visit. Scheduling becomes more challenging as foster parents are busy planning their own holiday events which adds to your stress as a volunteer.  

Remember to keep your CASA Volunteer file up-to-date with your current
auto insurance card, driver's license, and contact information. 
And remember to visit your CASA child face-to-face at least once a month.
In October, the Children's Advocacy Center provided advocacy and forensic interviews to 61 children.

In the River Region, 24 children and families were provided 59 hours of counseling.


The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program® is one of the world’s most effective parenting programs. It is one of the few based on evidence from ongoing scientific research. Triple P works by giving parents the skills to raise confident, healthy children and teenagers, and to build stronger family relationships. It also helps parents manage misbehavior and prevent problems occurring in the first place.

Triple P: Selected Seminars Series is a “light touch” parenting information presentation to a group of parents or one-on-one, who are generally coping well but have one or two concerns. There are three seminar topics with each taking around 90 minutes to complete. The series of seminars are designed for parents with children up to 12 years and are interested in general information about promoting their child’s development. There is also Triple P Teen program for parents of teenagers ages 13-16. Parents are likely to benefit if their family is not complicated by significant behavior problems or family stress.

Seminar 1: The Power of Positive Parenting - Parents learn the five key principles of positive parenting that form the basis of Triple P. These principles are: Ensuring a safe engaging environment, creating a positive learning environment, using assertive discipline, having reasonable expectations, and looking after yourself as a parent.

Seminar 2: Raising Confident, Competent Children - Parents are introduced to six core building blocks for children to become confident and successful at school and beyond. These competencies are: Showing respect to others, being considerate, having good communication and social skills, having healthy self-esteem, being a good problem solver, and becoming independent.

Seminar 3: Raising Resilient Children - Parents are introduced to six core building blocks for children to manage their feelings and become resilient in dealing with life stress. These competencies are: Recognizing and accepting feelings, expressing feelings appropriately, building a positive outlook, developing coping skills, dealing with negative feelings, and dealing with stressful life events.

Prevention Services Coordinator, Jordyn G’sell, was trained in the Selected Seminar Series in partnership with the Louisiana Parenting Education Network in September 2019. With this partnership, Jordyn is able to offer this program free to the community when requested.

Interested in a prevention training? Contact Jordyn G’sell by email at jgsell@childadv.net or call 985-603-4022 for requests and scheduling!
Upcoming Webinars and Conferences
*CASA Volunteers are required to receive 12 Continuing Education hours per year. Only 4 can be articles, newsletters, and films.

December 2 and 9: TBRI Correcting Principles

December 6, 8, 13, and 15: TBRI Intro and Overview



January 19: CIP Cafe Presents: Overview of the Law and Fiscal Implications

Brave children tell their stories. Courageous adults help these children through their trauma and assist them in finding a safe future. Buttons of Bravery represent the journey of one child for a year under the care of Child Advocacy Services. 
In 2021, Child Advocacy Services CASA Program served 446 children with 188 volunteers dedicating over 6,890 hours. The CAC Program provided 707 forensic interviews and 536 counseling sessions to children and families.

YOU can help us do more by investing in services for children!