More about CASA

Today I went to a Reasonable Efforts Symposium.  The subtitle was "Best Practices in Dependency".  This program is funded by a grant from the Washington State Courts and is part of the Court Improvement Program.  When I went to this symposium last year, the title sounded like a lot of gobbledy gook.  I didn't realize that all the professionals involved in the dependency court process were represented at the symposium.  That includes the commissioners and judges, attorneys for the parents, social workers for the parents, social workers for the children, the assistant attorney generals who represent the state, psychologists, foster parents, and of course, CASAs and GALs (Guardian ad Litems).

The symposium is held in Longview, WA, each year and people from the counties of Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, Pacific, and Wahkiakum participated.  This year's theme was "Colliding Ethics...a Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Ethics and Dependency".  The presentations and discussions were pretty interesting.  The theme last year was "Purposeful Visitation".  I didn't like that discussion as well, partly because I had already heard the main speaker at a Washington State CASA Conference that I had attended. 

There were about 10 CASAs from Clark County at the Symposium and I felt honored to be among them.  It was a stimulating experience!  Click here for more information about the Court Improvement Program and click here for videos of part of symposium from prior years.