Calendar
The OJJDP FY25 Enhancing Youth Defense funding opportunity seeks to implement youth defense system efforts that strengthen and improve the representation of youth involved in the juvenile justice system. This program supports organizations providing public defense services through a combination of direct grants and national training and technical assistance to implement sustainable system improvements that result in improved youth outcomes, reduced recidivism, safer communities, cost savings, and increased public confidence in the juvenile justice system.
This webinar will provide a general overview of the program, the goals and objectives, a discussion about the application process, and a Q&A opportunity for participants.
Morning Session:
Strategies for Engaging Non-offending Caregivers and Addressing Professional Challenges in Child Sexual Abuse Cases
Child sexual abuse remains a pervasive societal issue, with nonoffending caregivers playing a crucial role in ensuring effective case outcomes and supporting child victims’ recovery. This workshop explores the complex dynamics of culpability, belief, and support in child sexual abuse cases, emphasizing the indispensable role of nonoffending caregivers from initial disclosure through forensic interviews, legal investigations, prosecution, and treatment.
Featuring two case histories of adult survivors, the session provides a window into the lasting impact of caregiver support on the long-term healing and outcomes for child victims. Participants will learn strategies to address challenges in engaging nonoffending caregivers, navigate professional frustrations, and apply trauma-informed approaches to foster caregiver involvement and kinship support in investigations.
This workshop underscores the importance of cultural sensitivity in investigations and interventions, identifying it as essential for the welfare of the child and family. Participants will also discuss the intergenerational aspect of child sexual abuse, addressing recidivism within families and the need for culturally sensitive practices to prevent and break abuse cycles.
In discussing implications for research, practice, and policy, the workshop advocates for a holistic, evidence-based approach that considers the complex, intergenerational nature of child sexual abuse cases. Participants will explore ways to advance research, foster supportive policies for nonoffending caregivers, and enhance collaborative, trauma-informed practices among professionals involved in child abuse investigations and treatment.
1. Participants will learn at least 3 practical, trauma-informed strategies to support and engage nonoffending caregivers.
2. Participants will be able to identify at least 3 approaches for managing frustrations in these complex cases.
3. Participants will gain insights into the importance of cultural sensitivity in investigations and be able to identify at least 3 culturally sensitive interventions.
Afternoon:
Get in the Zone: Strengthening Support for Families and Professionals
This interactive session equips professionals with the skills and confidence to implement No Hit Zones—a straightforward, impactful tool proven to strengthen families and address the leading risk factor for child abuse: corporal punishment. Participants will explore how No Hit Zones, successfully established in churches, daycares, hospitals, and child advocacy centers, are transforming child protection efforts and creating safer, more supportive environments. Through case histories featuring outcomes from adult survivors, along with evaluation results and forthcoming research, attendees will gain insight into the tangible impacts of NHZs.
This workshop offers practical strategies to prevent children from entering formal care, reduce professional burnout, enhance kinship care, and support investigative processes. Presenters will delve into community partnerships, innovative approaches for engaging families, and strategies for addressing poverty, while emphasizing collaboration with other family-serving systems, such as education, health, housing, and childcare.
The workshop will highlight the critical role of cultural sensitivity in investigations and interventions, essential for achieving positive outcomes and long-term welfare for children and families. By equipping caregivers with resources and effective alternatives, this session aims to empower child protection professionals to make informed decisions that safeguard children’s future and reduce recidivism.
Advocating a holistic approach to child maltreatment prevention, this workshop underscores the need for ongoing research to support evidence-based practices and policies that assist caregivers and foster a collaborative, trauma-informed framework among child welfare professionals.
1. Participants will be able to identify at least 3 benefits of using No Hit Zones in preventing child abuse.
2. Participants will learn at least 3 trauma-informed communication techniques to effectively engage caregivers.
3. Participants will learn at least 3 culturally sensitive alternatives to support a child’s well-being.
Parenting is challenging, particularly when you are parenting a child from a hard place. TBRI ® Empowering Principles will provide an in-depth look at ways to empower your children by meeting their unique physical needs and creating an environment in which they can succeed. This session includes information on sensory processing and practical tools and skills to help children regulate their emotions and behaviors. 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.
The Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council has partnered with The Arc of Louisiana to host a series of training opportunities to learn about navigating Louisiana’s complex service delivery system. Trainings are open to all, but individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families are encouraged to attend. Attendees will learn about:
- Addressing existing barriers,
- Identifying service gaps, and
- Identifying inadequacies in both the I/DD and Behavioral Health service systems
Ten training opportunities will be hosted across the state for individuals with I/DD and their families as well as one web-based training for professionals. Take advantage of this incredible opportunity to learn more about the systems and supports available for individuals with I/DD and Behavioral Health needs.
Description: In this session, participants will learn that sibling aggression is the most common form of family violence, but it is often minimized or dismissed. The first part of the session will focus on knowledge building. Participants will learn about four types of sibling aggression and abuse: physical, psychological, property, and sexual. A classification of sibling dynamics will be presented, distinguishing sibling rivalry and conflict from sibling aggression and abuse. Research will be presented showing that despite being viewed as harmless, sibling aggression is associated with negative impacts on mental and physical health and interpersonal relationships across the lifespan—and should be considered an adverse childhood experience. The second part of the session will focus on screening, intervention, and treatment. Strategies to help manage sibling conflict, aggression, and abuse will be reviewed. Case examples and excerpts from survivor narratives will be infused throughout the presentation.
Learning objectives:
- Participants will learn about the prevalence of sibling aggression and abuse, variation in experiences among diverse groups, and impacts on mental and physical health and interpersonal relationships across the lifespan.
- Participants will be able to explain cultural and institutional factors that make it difficult for children, parents, and professionals to recognize and respond to sibling aggression and abuse.
- Participants will learn best practices to detect, address, and prevent sibling aggression and abuse to protect children and help survivors heal.
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.
What is race? What is racism? How do these concepts influence people’s perceptions of themselves and others? How has racism impacted the implementation of policies and procedures across our socio-economic systems?
This three-part training session explores these and other questions to understand the ways racism impacts socio-economic systems. Participants will learn about the origins of racism and engage in discussions about its four levels: internalized (within individuals), interpersonal (between individuals), institutional (within institutions), and structural (across institutions and society). They will review examples of each and evaluate how the practices of specific institutions – child welfare, education and criminal justice, to name a few – perpetuate disparate outcomes for impacted populations. Participants will also go on a historical journey from slavery and segregation to the violence, mass incarceration and voter suppression, to understand how internalized, interpersonal and institutional racism combine to create power structures that advantage some, while disadvantaging all others.
Through this historical perspective, participants will be challenged to evaluate the racist policies and practices that persist in their fields of work, and to start discussions about dismantling systems of oppression so that equity, inclusion and justice can prevail.
Promoting Positive Change in Communities by Confronting Poverty
Louisiana CASA is excited to host our third webinar series. This series is brought to you in partnership with the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund so we are required to ask participants certain demographic questions during registration. Once you register, an email will be sent to you that includes the link to join the webinar. We hope to see you there!
Promoting Family Economic Well-Being Beyond Poverty
Child poverty is rooted in decades-long trends of economic hardships among families across the nation. From the grassroots movement of United Ways, measures of financial hardships have emerged through the measurements of ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). Join us in discovering the impacts of United Ways’ data collection and the ALICE movement that promotes well-being for families beyond poverty.
Promoting Positive Change in Communities by Confronting Poverty
Louisiana CASA is excited to host our third webinar series. This series is brought to you in partnership with the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund so we are required to ask participants certain demographic questions during registration. Once you register, an email will be sent to you that includes the link to join the webinar. We hope to see you there!
Child Academic Resilience to Poverty
Child poverty is a global issue, affecting millions of children worldwide. Children in poverty face unique challenges, but with targeted strategies, we can help them develop the resilience needed to thrive academically. Recognizing signs of distress, providing targeted support, and creating safe spaces where children feel valued and respected build in their ability to achieve academic success despite some family dynamics. Join us as we empower children to break free from generational poverty.
In the 1970s, Harvard University Professor Chester Pierce coined the term microaggressions to describe the subtle, everyday ways people of color experienced discrimination from their white counterparts. He coined the term in response to his observations of the interactions between the white and black students on campus where he heard indignities and insults members of marginalized groups endured in their routine interactions with people in all walks of life. Everyone makes comments that they wish they could retrieve the moment they pass their lips. Insults, slights and derogatory behaviors are evidence of implicit biases we hold that we sometimes don’t recognize exist.
This two-part training session explores microaggressions from their origin, intent, and impact on others. The trainers chronical their evolution, their connection to racism in America and how they are embedded in code language, whiteness, and racelighting. The trainers discuss how microaggressions can be mitigated through cultural humility. Participants will identify and practice strategies for addressing the hurt and trauma caused by microaggressions as well as for correcting microaggressions emitted due to an individual’s cultural history and group membership.