Pennsylvania CASA Conference

You heard a crucial message in the keynote: your work now and into the future on behalf of children is arguably most effective when it comes to life through story. But how exactly do we do that? Stories create “ecosystems” of action-driven impact when tended to properly, and this workshop will build upon the opening session to offer you tangible tools and practice in the art of story creation. You will learn a process for creating effective stories—and encouraging other voices to do the same through a commitment to equity and ethics—that fit into that strategic ecosystem to bring your work to life authentically. Dr. Trybus will coach you through hands-on activities on how to not only think but act as conveners of story ecosystems that create impact within our communities.

This workshop will introduce definitions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Differences between being culturally competent and culturally humble will be explored with emphasis on the importance of cultural humility and how to apply it to your role within CASA. Disproportionality data will be presented so participants will gain an understanding of the overrepresentation of different groups within foster care and become more culturally aware, and prepared to advocate for all children and their unique backgrounds.

This workshop will introduce and explain the core skills and principles of Motivational Interviewing, an evidence-based communication proven to evoke more and truer information from others. We then apply these skills and principles to the task CASA volunteers have of evoking fuller, imperative information about a child or adolescent’s story in order that they can be helped and attended to in the most appropriate and useful way possible. Both didactic and practical application practice will be utilized in the workshop, with an emphasis on making this material as ‘user-friendly’, efficient, and practical as possible so that folks can leave the session with some level of confidence in immediately using what is learned.

The presenters will share both quantitative and qualitative data collected by and for LGBTQ+ community members for the purpose of addressing barriers to care. After reviewing content from the 2022 Pennsylvania LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment, workshop participants will engage in a discussion about how barriers to care disproportionately impact people of different identities and how PA CASA staff and volunteers can best advocate for the youth they represent.

This dynamic session with multiple facilitators, including young leaders with lived experience in the foster care system, will focus on how story telling is essential for transformative advocacy and how professionals and adults need to take extra care and consideration when working with youth to talk about their experiences. The presenters will cover key research around adolescent and childhood development, a full explanation of narrative shaping and sharing, tools from the Youth Advocacy Program at Juvenile Law Center, and breakout sessions to troubleshoot working with clients to share their narrative in court.