Calendar

Child welfare system responses to families experiencing domestic violence (DV) and child maltreatment are based largely on the premise that children need to be rescued from the parent(s) who have “failed to protect” them. This understanding of the problem justifies “solutions” such as surveillance of families and mandated reporting, family separation, and coercive service and treatment plans. Well-documented race, class, and gender inequities are inherent in child welfare and its intersections with the criminal legal system, juvenile justice, immigration, and other systems of carceral control.
Given the history of child welfare and current mindsets and practices, it can be difficult to envision possibilities for transformation toward what many people around the U.S. are calling for – a child and family well-being system in which ALL children and families are valued. Yet some organizations are successfully re-imagining the system landscape and actualizing new ways of seeing, thinking, and doing! In this critical conversation, leaders from Safe & Sound, the Young Women’s Freedom Center, and Futures Without Violence will share their learnings.
Objectives:
This webinar will aim to:
- Energize activists, organizers, and systems actors & leaders to create a bold vision for supporting and empowering families and comm-unities to end family violence.
- Identify active ingredients & critical touchpoints for innovation within the child welfare ecosystem.
- Learn from the histories two long-established organizations who have evolved to meet the needs of impacted people.

Join us for an enlightening session on “Identifying and Providing Mental Health Services for At-Risk Children,” hosted by the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund. This virtual event is designed for educators, mental health professionals, attorneys, caregivers, and community members dedicated to supporting the mental well-being of vulnerable children. Our speakers will provide information about the challenges faced by at-risk children, the signs of mental health issues, and the most effective methods for providing the necessary support and services. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the mental health needs of at-risk children and practical strategies to ensure they receive the care they deserve.

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s prompted educators and health and human services professionals to develop cultural competence. The belief was, if the mostly white practitioners increased their knowledge of diverse racial and ethnic groups’ values and customs, they could improve the delivery of services to diverse populations. While cultural competence was a step in the right direction, it inadvertently reinforced and created stereotypes about cultural practices and experiences that fell short of achieving its goal of supporting culturally sensitive service delivery.
In this two-part training session, participants will learn the importance of cultural humility: suspending cultural assumptions and, instead, embracing individuals’ personal definitions and expressions of culture. Participants will explore cultural humility by defining their own personal culture using a myriad of identity factors (e.g., skin color, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and ability) and determining whether those identity factors place them in privileged or marginalized groups, or both. They will learn how the intersections of various identity factors create a unique cultural experience for every individual and how these intersections result in systemic power differentials and complex experiences of oppression. Finally, they will apply their cultural identity to the framework of the Cage of Oppression and, using the example of lookism, evaluate how existing power structures impact their lives and the lives of those they serve. By recognizing the societal effects of intersectionality, participants will be challenged to incorporate cultural humility in their personal and professional interactions.

The 24th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN), sponsored by the Children’s Bureau, will be held April 1–3, 2025, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland. Innovative sessions will focus on developing ideas-to-action strategies that provide opportunities to exchange ideas and learn what works from community members and peers. The conference will also offer plenaries, workshops, posters, and exhibits, that highlight Children’s Bureau priority areas. So, mark your calendars now—additional information is coming soon. We look forward to seeing you there.

CWLA’s evidence-informed model of practice, Traditions of Caring and Collaborating addresses the unique strengths and needs of kinship caregivers, formally involved through child protective services or through informal family arrangements. This model is responsive to the needs and experiences of kinship caregivers recognizing the dynamics unique to the inherited role of being someone’s grandparent, other relative, or a non-related extended family member and the acquired role of volunteering to foster. This two-part training opportunity provides an overview for identifying areas of concern for kinship families and agency staff who work with them including: legal, financial, family relationships, health and mental health, child behavior, fair and equal treatment, satisfaction and recommendations. It will highlight the competencies needed to support kinship caregivers through phases of collaboration aimed at achieving the three federally mandated outcomes for all children: safety, well-being, and permanence.
Facilitator: Marcus Stallworth, CWLA Director of Training & Implementation

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.
SPEAKERS
Veronica Gillispie-Bell, MD, MS, FACOG – Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell is a Board-Certified Obstetrician & Gynecologist and an Associate Professor at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the Senior Site Lead and Section Head of Women’s Services at Ochsner Kenner, the Director of Quality for Women’s Services across the Ochsner Health System, and the Medical Director of the Minimally Invasive Center for the Treatment of Uterine Fibroids. As Medical Director of the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and the Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review for the Louisiana Department of Health, Dr. Gillispie-Bell is a leading force in addressing maternal health disparities. Her work focuses on improving birth outcomes and eliminating racial disparities in maternal health across Louisiana. Dr. Gillispie Bell has testified before Congress, led congressional briefings, and was an invited speaker at The White House Maternal Health Day of Action, where she advocated for policy improvements in maternal care and outcomes.

Although race is merely a social construct, it has fractured American society for centuries. Race has been the impetus for war, both historically on the battlefield and, in more recent times, on the streets of America and around the globe. Do we really understand the power race holds while being only an illusion? Moreover, what trauma is caused by race and its influence on laws, policies and individual behaviors? This three-hour training session begins the critical conversation about the intersection between race and trauma, and its impact on us as individuals and collectively.

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.
Allysin Swift, PhD – Dr. Allisyn L. Swift is the Project Director of NOLA C.A.R.E.S. at Beloved Community. Her research interests include the use of participatory action research to study the effects of race-based interpersonal and systemic stress on child socialization and parenting practices, advocacy for child centered anti-racist approaches to education, and professional development to enhance the cultural and social-emotional competence of teachers. She has authored several book chapters and professional articles