Calendar
CWLA is pleased to present a virtual training opportunity for social work and human service professionals that invites participants to explore the evolution from traditional competence frameworks toward approaches emphasizing continuous reflection and respect for self-defined identities. Participants will analyze how overlapping identity dimensions—such as age, ability, and socioeconomic position—shape lived experiences and influence outcomes within child welfare systems. Drawing on theoretical constructs, the discussion will examine how long-standing structures and prevailing norms—such as appearance-based decisions—affect both practitioners and the families they support. Through guided inquiry, attendees will develop strategies to engage with authenticity, interrogate assumptions, and advance fairness and consistency in professional practice.
TRAINER:
Deborah Wilson Gadsden, LSW, MSW, MHS, CWLA Director, EIB & Permanency Standards Project
This fun and interactive workshop helps young people with disabilities get ready for work. Together, we’ll talk about why having a job is important and how working can help you earn money, meet new people, and become more independent. You’ll learn what employers look for, practice important workplace skills like communication, teamwork, and problemsolving, and explore jobs that match your interests and strengths. Practice real-life skills such as building a simple resume, preparing for job interviews, and learning how to ask for help or accommodations at work. This workshop is designed to help you feel confident, prepared, and excited about your future at work!
As part of the Transition to Adulthood Workshop Series, this interactive session will provide individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families with essential information about waivers and how they can support independent living. Participants will learn practical tips for navigating waiver programs, accessing available services, and advocating for their needs. Through real-life scenarios, hands-on activities, and guidance, attendees will gain confidence in utilizing waivers to enhance their quality of life. Join us for this engaging workshop and take home easy-to-understand resources to support your transition to adulthood!
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.
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.
As NPEN celebrates 30 years of advancing science-based parenting education, this virtual conference explores innovative, practical ways parenting educators can support parents where they live, learn, work, and gather. Attendees will discover new approaches, tools, and strategies to use in their parenting education programming to keep parenting education relevant, accessible, and impactful in today’s evolving world.
A two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid. The LivingWorks ASIST program teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety.
SaveCenla is fully funded in Central Louisiana and available statewide. They welcome requests from law enforcement, educators, high school students 16+ y/o, medical and mental health professionals, and organizations of all kinds.
To schedule a training, contact Angela Dixon: 337-519-1888
Parenting is challenging, particularly when you are parenting a child from a hard place. TBRI® Connecting Principles will provide and in-depth look at connection and attachment and will give you strategies and skills for helping children and families heal. 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.
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. This live, online training has 4 video-conferencing modules, giving participants the opportunity learn in an interactive environment.
TRAINER: Carrie Norris
Parenting is challenging, particularly when you are parenting a child from a hard place. TBRI® Connecting Principles will provide and in-depth look at connection and attachment and will give you strategies and skills for helping children and families heal. 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.
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. This live, online training has 4 video-conferencing modules, giving participants the opportunity learn in an interactive environment.
TRAINER: Carrie Norris