Earlier this month, we hosted our second annual CASA Advocate Summit! The Advocate Summit is an opportunity for our volunteers to hear from experts on topics that have been particularly relevant over the course of the last year and connect with others on how best to support the children and teens we serve. This year, we heard from a father-son duo on navigating their experience with neurodiversity; a service coordinator from Building Bridges, which provides short-term, intensive, crisis-stabilization mental health services and a social worker from Safe Harbor about best-practices around disclosures of abuse.
In addition to our own Advocates from Dane and Columbia County, we invited our neighbors to the south: CASA of Rock County, to join us, as well as foster parents from Dane and Columbia County and volunteers from our supervised visitation program (Parent to Child). This really helped everyone see outside of the service they provide and gain a better understanding of the challenges children and teens under the protection of the courts face.
Before we jump into the full recap, we wanted to say thanks again to our sponsors: Beans N Cream Coffeehouse and Jimmy Johns! Jimmy Johns sponsored our inaugural CASA Advocate Summit and we are so grateful for their continued support of children and teens in our community. So, if you’re in the DeForest area, check out Beans N Cream Coffeehouse’s new location and after - make a day of it - and grab yourself a sub at Jimmy Johns!
Here are some highlights from each of our speakers:
Carlie Lavallee, Service Coordinator | Building Bridges
When additional support is needed in school, Building Bridges offers 90-day crisis intervention that connects schools, families and the community to provide wrap-around services that address the complex needs of the child. Carlie shared that CASA Advocates and foster families can request support though the school’s student services teams; and talked about how approaching each child through a trauma-informed lens helps create a safe and supportive environment that promotes healing.
Tim & Hunter Markle
Self-advocate Hunter Markle and his Dad, Director of Wisconsin Youth Health Transition Initiative, Tim shared about the challenges and growth they experienced both individually and as a family navigating the complex world of neurodiversity and mental health. Hunter spoke candidly about his difficulties in school and how therapeutic tools, with an individual twist helped him self-regulate. Tim shared that he had to reframe expectations about what success and development looked like, raising a child with Autism and how a flexible mindset is important in parenthood. Hunter also shared his experience with suicidal ideation and credited his treatment team for supporting him through those difficult times. Both Tim and Hunter use their story to help others; reduce the stigma around neurodiversity and mental health; and build a network of support for children, teens and families with similar experiences. It was a great reminder to treat each child and family individually, with compassion and understanding.
Jenny Rusch, Multidisciplinary Team Coordinator | Safe Harbor
Canopy Center is co-located and works closely with Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. Jenny joined us to explain the role of a child advocacy center and best-practices for responding to disclosures of abuse. She shared this visual to help explain how child advocacy centers support children who have been victim of or witness to a crime and used this analogy to describe the effect abuse can have on a child pre/post disclosure: “When the abuse is happening, it’s like a hurricane over the ocean; when disclosure happens, it’s like the hurricane made landfall.” For Advocates and volunteers, the key take-away was to stay calm, listen with compassion, believe the child or teen and gather minimal facts/avoid in-depth questioning prior to when the children can be seen and interviewed at a child advocacy center. The latter is to preserve the integrity of the investigation and the child’s credibility.
After we heard from these community partners, we had small group discussions where CASA Advocates, foster parents and related volunteers could share their experiences, learn from each other and brainstorm creative ways to engage and support the children they serve. We've found over and over again that our volunteers gain so much from simply spending time with one another. CASA of Dane & Columbia Counties Program Director Cheri Dvorak said: “Advocates are able to share about their cases, offer support to others experiencing similar challenges and celebrate the positives with those who also understand how big the little things are.”
Once again, we are so grateful to our sponsors and everyone who could join us - our staff, speakers and all of the attendees, for choosing to spend the day with us. Together, we are strengthening families and supporting children and teens impacted by trauma and adversity.
