Important Information
Winston Rhea Scholars Program - Each year we select 2-3 scholars and provide them with four consecutive years of unwavering support that goes beyond just a scholarship. Learn more here. The application window for the 2026-2027 school year is now open until March 1st, 2026! The scholarship … Read More
Spotlight on State CWLS Champions – LOUISIANA! - LOUISIANA’s CIP Sponsorship and Child Representation Partnership In Louisiana, the Court Improvement Program (CIP) and one of the state’s child representation agencies (MHAS/CAP) both support and celebrate the CWLS community. The CIP underwrites the cost of registration for the Red … Read More
Enhancing Juvenile and Family Court Responses to Human Trafficking: A Project Snapshot - In 2021, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) to provide training and technical assistance to four grantee sites separately funded under the … Read More
Upcoming Events
This webinar will explain the concept of a Caregiver Will, a tool to ensure every parent of a minor child can designate chosen guardians in case they become unable to care for their child either temporarily or permanently. Based on longstanding Supreme Court recognition of parental rights to raise and care for children, this tool is grounded in legal precedent and state and federal statutory authority in family law and child welfare law. The Caregiver Will emphasizes how important it is for parents to be able to exercise their constitutionally protected rights when it comes to defining their own family’s village and determining what community support and collective efforts may best meet their family’s needs and rights in the face of unexpected events.
ABA Resolution 610: Caregiver Wills: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/policy/annual-2025/610-annual-2025.pdf
REGISTER HERE
This workshop is for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families who want to understand how to access services and supports for adult life.
In this interactive session, participants will learn what a Medicaid waiver is, why people may need one, and how waivers help pay for important services that support independent living. We will talk about different Louisiana waivers, how the application process works, what the SUN score means, and who can help along the way.
Participants will also explore how waiver services can support housing, daily living needs, employment goals, and overall health and wellbeing. We will review how to access healthcare services, understand basic insurance concepts, and identify helpful community resources and professional contacts.
This workshop breaks down complex information into simple, practical steps — empowering individuals and families to understand their options, ask the right questions, and take action.
Your future starts with knowing what supports are available to you.
This workshop is for youth and young adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and their families who want to explore options and prepare for independent adult life.
In this interactive session, participants will learn about different housing options such as living with family, supported apartments, or group homes. We will discuss how to think about future living arrangements, what supports may be needed, and who can help with making housing decisions and finding local resources.
Participants will also explore the skills needed to live more independently, including managing daily routines, understanding personal responsibilities, and planning for long-term support. Through guided discussion and activities, learners will practice identifying questions to ask when considering housing choices and how to plan for the future with confidence.
This workshop provides practical information and simple tools to help individuals and families start meaningful conversations about housing, independence, and long-term planning.
Planning today helps create a strong and supported future.
Join the CARE Community Classroom Webinar Series! Presented by the Louisiana Childhood Adversity Resilience Education (LA CARE) Network, this monthly webinar series explores trauma-informed care, childhood adversity, and practical resilience-building strategies.
The Louisiana Childhood Adversity Resilience Education (LA CARE) Network, housed within the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Public Health, Bureau of Family Health, trains professionals and community members alike to become certified educators on four core trauma-informed modules. Certified volunteer CARE Network Educators deliver these no-cost presentations within their communities and at various local organizations. From January to October, you have the opportunity to watch presentations live via Zoom. Each webinar will introduce the foundations of trauma-informed practice and show you how to apply these insights in your daily life – whether at home, at work, or in your community!
Throughout the year, the CARE Community Classroom series will rotate through all four core modules, giving you a well-rounded understanding of how to foster resilience and support healing in children who have experienced adversity and/or trauma. Below are the dates for each module
Children with disabilities experience unique vulnerabilities that increase their risk of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. We will explore the intersection of disability and abuse through an advocacy and prevention lens. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of why children with disabilities are at higher risk, how abuse may present differently, and the critical role of advocates, caregivers, professionals, and systems in recognizing and responding to concerns. The session will also highlight practical strategies, legal protections, and community resources that support prevention, early intervention, and the empowerment of children with disabilities and their families.
Lawyers have increasingly turned to generative AI as a powerful productivity tool, but using AI introduces ethical risks. AI can help many attorneys produce work product better and faster, but only when used effectively, ethically, and within the Rules of Professional Conduct. You have probably heard about attorneys getting in serious trouble for filing AI-generated documents that are riddled with errors, but there are other significant risks. In coming years, the legal profession will become increasingly reliant on generative AI, and even attorneys who do not use it will need to be aware of its impact.
We will discuss the dangers, pitfalls, hazards, and benefits of AI within the child welfare arena, with a special emphasis on the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- To identify ethical challenges in the utilization of AI in child welfare cases
- To discuss how AI is pushing the legal profession
- To confront anxieties related to the prevalence of generative AI
- To identify ethically sound ways of implementing AI in a professional legal practice
Rebecca May-Ricks, JD, CWLS, Director, Mental Health Advocacy Service/Child Advocacy Program
Ms. May-Ricks is the Director of the Mental Health Advocacy Service/Child Advocacy Program. She represents children in abuse and neglect cases and/or mental health cases, while supervising other attorneys who do the same. She is a member of the Pelican Center Training Faculty, the Court Improvement Program’s CARE team, the CQI Committee, the Louisiana Bar Association’s Children Law Committee, and numerous other policy organizations, committees, subcommittees, and workgroups related to children and the law. Ms. May-Ricks is a Board-Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children and serves as the NACC State Coordinator for Louisiana.
Richard Pittman, JD, CWLS, Assistant Professor, LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center
Richard M. Pittman is a certified Child Welfare Law Specialist and has been involved in child welfare law and policy since 2006. He is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where he is tasked with preparing law students to enter the profession, and where he promotes public service. Prior to his appointment, he served as Deputy Public Defender and Director of Juvenile Defender Services in the Louisiana public defender system for 11 years. He is a co-reporter of the Children’s Code Committee of the Louisiana Law Institute, the Pelican Center Training and Education Committee, the CARE Committee, the Steering Committee of the ABA Parent Representation Project, and many others.
Aimee Self- Pittman, JD, MLIS, Associate Director of Instruction, Research, and Reference, Thurgood Marshall Law Library, University of Maryland
Aimee Self-Pittman is the Associate Director of Instruction, Research, and Reference at the Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Before becoming a law librarian, she worked as a VAWA grant attorney for Legal Services Alabama, where she represented survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking in rural communities. She also served as library director at a small, rural public library in Alabama. Aimee teaches courses on legal research and law practice technology and is a collaborator on the Legal Profs AI Sandbox (https://sites.google.com/view/lwai/ home), a project focused on practical applications of generative AI in legal practice and education. She holds a BA from Centre College, a JD from the University of Alabama School of Law, and an MLIS from LSU.
Join Whole Health Louisiana in our informative sessions about topics relating to the implementation of trauma-informed care.
Whole Health Louisiana is the state’s cross-sector initiative intended to systematically address, mitigate, and prevent childhood adversity within our systems of care and support sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Health and the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center.
Parenting is challenging, particularly when you are parenting a child from a hard place. Children from hard places include children who experienced distress in the womb or during delivery, were hospitalized early in life, were abused or neglected, or experience trauma, whether natural or man-made. Trust-Based Relational Intervention® Introduction & Overview will focus on understanding the meaning of child behaviors, the brain chemistry of a child from a hard place, and how to help children and families heal and connect. This multi-disciplinary training is designed to give caregivers, volunteers, and professionals who serve children and families the knowledge and practical skills they need to bring hope and healing.