Calendar

Healthcare professionals are often the first line of defense in identifying vulnerable children. This session emphasizes the importance of integrating child welfare perspectives into pediatric care, home visiting programs, and maternal health. Participants will learn how to conduct sensitive screenings, develop multidisciplinary response teams, and navigate legal and ethical issues in information sharing between medical and social systems.

Learning Objectives: 

• Strengthen provider capacity to detect and respond to risk factors. 

• Embed prevention into pediatric visits and maternal health programs. 

• Navigate HIPAA and information-sharing within ethical boundaries. 

2025 – 2026 Louisiana CASA Webinar Series: Strength in Unity 

Louisiana CASA is excited to host our fourth webinar series. This year, we are partnering with Louisiana Child Welfare Training Academy (LCWTA) to bring this series to community members across our state. This series equips professionals, child welfare advocates, and community members with the knowledge and collaborative strategies needed to protect children, support families, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Each session emphasizes the importance of cross-sector cooperation, early identification of risk factors, and collective responses that foster safe, stable, and nurturing relationships. By promoting a shared understanding and responsibility among systems—such as education, healthcare, faith-based institutions, family services, and policy leaders—participants will develop the tools and partnerships necessary to create resilient families and communities.  

REGISTER HERE

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.

REGISTER HERE

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.

REGISTER HERE

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.

REGISTER HERE

This webinar highlights the unique and trusted role of faith-based and nonprofit organizations in supporting families and preventing abuse. Participants will learn how these groups can act as first responders, liaisons, and advocates within their communities. The session will explore how to create partnerships between these organizations and public systems, design community-specific programs, and build networks that reflect the unique needs of families.

Learning Objectives: 

• Equip churches and nonprofits to become trusted connectors for families. 

• Address barriers families face in accessing formal services. 

• Explore successful church-parish partnerships in prevention work. 

2025 – 2026 Louisiana CASA Webinar Series: Strength in Unity 

Louisiana CASA is excited to host our fourth webinar series. This year, we are partnering with Louisiana Child Welfare Training Academy (LCWTA) to bring this series to community members across our state. This series equips professionals, child welfare advocates, and community members with the knowledge and collaborative strategies needed to protect children, support families, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Each session emphasizes the importance of cross-sector cooperation, early identification of risk factors, and collective responses that foster safe, stable, and nurturing relationships. By promoting a shared understanding and responsibility among systems—such as education, healthcare, faith-based institutions, family services, and policy leaders—participants will develop the tools and partnerships necessary to create resilient families and communities. 

REGISTER HERE

Children who have histories of complex trauma, including experiences of prenatal substance exposure, abuse, neglect, loss, and witness to violence often endure significant emotional and developmental struggles, sometimes even years after some degree of emotional stability has been achieved.  This training session will explore the neurobiological impact of complex trauma, including the profound effects of early adverse experiences on brain development and behavior. Strategies to help adults promote emotional and behavioral regulation will be introduced, with a focus on how adults show up, what adults can say, and tools adults can use to promote organized and regulated behavior.

Trainers:

Ira J. Chasnoff, M.D., an award-winning author, researcher and lecturer, is President of NTI Upstream and a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. He is one of the nation’s leading researchers in the field of child development and the effects of environmental factors on the developmental trajectory of children and adolescents.  Dr. Chasnoff’s work encompasses community approaches to the integration of behavioral health services into primary health care, the schools, and the other multiple systems that serve children and families.

Christine Schmidt, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist who has specific interest and expertise in working with youth and families impacted by prenatal substance use and pre- and post-natal trauma. Most recently, Dr. Schmidt co-directed a three-year grant designed to help address the impact of secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma on professionals working with youth in the child welfare system. Dr. Schmidt has been a member of NTI Upstream’s training faculty for over 15 years and provides consultative psychological services to administrators, caseworkers, and other professionals.

 Amy Groessl, PhD, a licensed clinical social worker, brings extensive expertise in treating children and adults with complex trauma histories, neurocognitive challenges, attachment disorders, and adoption-related issues. She is based in Chicago and provides psychotherapy, clinical supervision, and consultation through her private practice.  Dr. Groessl has been with NTI Upstream’s Training Faculty since 2016.  She is also a Core Faculty member at the Institute for Clinical Social Work, where she teaches courses on qualitative research, trauma, attachment theory, and neuropsychology.

Sue Green, OTR/L, has practiced as a pediatric occupational therapist since 1987, culminating in over three and a half decades of knowledge.  Currently, Sue is the Pediatric OT/PT supervisor at The Chautauqua Center, Inc in Jamestown, NY, providing early intervention, preschool and pediatric outpatient services to those who need it most. Sue has been a member of NTI Upstream’s senior faculty since 2023, providing education and training to healthcare and social service professionals who share a common goal of enhancing positive outcomes for the children and families they treat.

REGISTER HERE