CASA Program of Delaware and Union Counties

NY Giants’ Nick Gates dons National CASA/GAL logo on cleats Nick Gates of the NY Giants will wear cleats highlighting the National CASA/GAL logo as part of the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative.

We just HAD to reshare this awesome message from CASA for Clermont Kids!

https://sco.csod.com/client/sco/default.aspx

OhioCourtEDU

The United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument on November 9, 2022 over the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act in Brackeen v. Haaland and several other consolidated cases. An audio feed of the oral argument will be live-streamed, and the audio will be available on the Court's website later in the day.

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 is a federal law that recognizes tribal sovereignty and governs jurisdiction over the removal of Native American (Indian) children from their families. Under ICWA, foster care placement and termination of parental rights proceedings in state courts must undertake special processes and considerations for any “Indian child,” which ICWA defines as “any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member of an Indian tribe or (b) is eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe.” ICWA applies to every Native American child that is served by a CASA/GAL program, and CASA/GAL volunteers supporting these children need to look out for the special issues that arise in these cases.

In 1979, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) promulgated guidelines intended to assist state courts in implementing ICWA but without “binding legislative effect.” The 1979 Guidelines left the “primary responsibility” of interpreting certain language in ICWA “with the state courts that decide Indian child custody cases.” In June 2016, the BIA promulgated the Final Rule to “clarify the minimum Federal standards governing implementation of ICWA” and to ensure that it “is applied in all States consistent with the Act’s express language.

In 2018, a federal district court in Texas, held that ICWA is unconstitutional. The court ruled that provisions of ICWA and the Final Rule violated the Constitution because the definition of Indian Child under ICWA was race-based, and that Congress did not have the power to order how the states implement ICWA.

On August 9, 2019, the federal circuit court (three-judge panel) reversed the federal district court’s ruling that struck down the validity of ICWA. In its opinion, the federal circuit court determined that ICWA’s definition of “Indian child” is a political classification based on the sovereignty of tribal nations, and not race-based, and that the Constitution gives Congress express authority to legislate on matters relating to Indian tribes.

On November 7, 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion for a rehearing by the court en banc – by the entire court rather than a panel of judges. The order granting the rehearing vacated the earlier August 9, 2019 decision. On April 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, issued a very lengthy and confusing opinion. The court split over the constitutionality of the placement preferences, affirming in part the lower court's decision striking them down as unconstitutional.

In September 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice, intervening tribal nations, and Texas and individual Plaintiffs all asked the Supreme Court to review the Fifth Circuit’s en banc decision. In February 2022, the Supreme Court granted all four petitions and consolidated the case with others that raised similar issues. The parties submitted legal briefs, and amicus briefs by interested tribal nations, national organizations, and state governments were submitted throughout spring and summer 2022.

The United States Supreme Court has posted on its website a Summary of Questions Presented that will be heard on November 9, 2022. Additional information about ICWA and background information previously posted on the National CASA/GAL Member Portal can be found here.

This month, the National CASA/GAL Association will launch its next learning series, focusing on the key issue of children with incarcerated parents. The Parental Incarceration Series, featuring a book club, webinars, and the Change Leader Speaker Series, is the third in a series that includes the Poverty Learning Series and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Series.
Our first event is November 17 (10:00-11:00am PT | 1:00-2:00pm ET) with Susan Burton, the first speaker in our Change Leader Speaker Series. Ms. Burton will virtually join CASA/GAL’s staff & volunteers to discuss her award-winning memoir, Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women, detailing her struggle to rise above a life of poverty, violence, and loss.
After being released from prison for the sixth time, she was finally able to access recovery services in an affluent area of Los Angeles. There, she discovered and embraced opportunities that were never offered before. Determined to bring those resources to areas plagued by poverty and over-incarceration, Burton founded A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL) in 1998. Now, over two decades later, A New Way of Life is an internationally recognized non-profit organization that promotes healing, leadership development, and safety for formerly incarcerated women. ANWOL has supported the reentry of over 5,500 individuals through safe housing, pro bono legal services and leadership development to date.

https://nationalcasagal.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Y87E6yVAR6OQr-9au87tHg?utm_source=Network+News&utm_campaign=d9d18cbb45-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_01_07_48_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3a5c7529a4-d9d18cbb45-37063016

https://apnews.com/article/resilience-stories-explained-fcab30647e942eaad904a5fb7b3879ae

Does adversity make you stronger? Scientists say not always There’s an old saying that adversity makes you stronger. Real life shows that’s not always true, but the adage highlights an evolving debate among scientists about resilience. After traumatic events and crises such as child abuse, gun violence or a pandemic, what explains why some people bounce ...

Loving Solutions (beginning January 11, 2023)
Parents of youth ages 5-10 that are seeing issues with school, not following rules at home, struggling with ADD/ADHD symptoms. This program is designed to help parents learn about the importance of creating structure in their home, providing good nutritious meals, effectively dealing with defiance and learning about mental health support.

Parent Project (beginning January 10, 2023)
Parents of youth ages 12-17 that are seeing destructive behaviors such as drug use, truancy, running away, habitually getting in trouble at home/school, and violence. This program is designed to help parents learn new effective skills to better manage these behaviors at home.

Our very own Michaela Grandey won the Outstanding Volunteer Award at The hosted by ! Congratulations Michaela!

https://member.nationalcasagal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/NCJFCJC_NCASAGAL_40th-85th-Anniversary2022.pdf?utm_source=Network+News&utm_campaign=421b583836-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_01_07_48_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3a5c7529a4-421b583836-37063016

member.nationalcasagal.org

For over four decades, National CASA/GAL and the national network of CASA/GAL programs have collaborated with the leadership of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) and the NCJFCJ’s network of judges nationwide, to develop and expand CASA/GAL programs and services to more children and families in need.

Since the inception of the National CASA/GAL Association, the President of the NCJFCJ has been actively involved on the National CASA/GAL Board of Trustees and for decades has served as an ex-officio member. Some NCJFCJ Presidents have also provided leadership and support in other ways, such as going on to serve as a Trustee, on the Council of Advisors, as a member of the Judicial Leadership Council, chair of our Standards Committee and helping in a myriad of ways with our annual conferences.

In collaboration with National CASA/GAL, the NCJFCJ celebrated their Past Presidents at their 85th Annual Conference. Over a dozen Past Presidents attended!

https://www.ocvjc.org/training

Good Morning,

Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center is pleased to offer a no-cost, in-depth victims' rights training. This training will cover victims' rights in every stage of the criminal justice process, including the hospital, investigation, prosecution, and post-conviction. This training will focus on the rights victims are afforded by Marsy's Law, as well as any case law or implementing legislation related to Marsy's Law.

In addition, Judge Pat Carroll from Lakewood Municipal Court will be joining the October training on 10/13 and the November training on 11/10 to provide attendees insight into the judicial perspective on victims' rights issues. Judge Carroll provides training to Ohio municipal and common pleas court judges for the Supreme Court and has developed innovative projects regarding domestic violence education.
This training is approved for 3.5 CLE hours (2.5 professional conduct and 1 general) and 3.75 CEU hours for counselors, social workers, and marriage and family therapists.

These trainings will be held virtually on the platform Zoom. The link to attend this event will be sent through Eventbrite to those who have registered.

https://ohiokan.jfs.ohio.gov/

OhioKAN Kinship & Adoption Navigator OhioKAN is a new statewide program designed to help kinship and adoptive families navigate and connect with all available resources, locally and statewide.

"Kinnect" - Nonprofit Short Doc from FACTION Pictures on Vimeo

https://kinnectohio.org/

It’s JFC Day! Today, with Jewelers for Children (JFC), we celebrate to recognize the jewelry
industry's generous support of children. JFC is the ’s largest private funder and
has given over $11 million to support the nationwide mission and movement since 2003. We are
grateful for this partnership with JFC and their dedication to helping children and youth in need.
Thank you, Jewelers for Children!

Jewelers for
Children unites the jewelry industry to support children in need. Since 2003, Jewelers for Children has
invested in the National CASA/GAL mission and the nationwide network of CASA/GAL local
programs and state organizations. JFC’s commitment and support play an instrumental role in
furthering our vision that every child who has experienced abuse or neglect is given the opportunity to
thrive in a safe and loving home.

"If there's anything that would have made a difference [in keeping Dasani's family together], it's the programs that focus on prevention." Thank you, Andrea Elliott, for speaking with National CASA/GAL Book Club members about Dasani’s story and the resilience of a close-knit family struggling with poverty. "Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City” was an addition to the National CASA/GAL Book Club’s Poverty Learning Series, which aims to better inform staff and volunteers how to advocate on behalf of children and youth impacted by poverty.

For more information about the Pulitzer Prize winning book “Invisible Child,” visit https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/241846/.

The New York Times

Billy was born with complications related to his mother’s op**te addiction. Family reunification was the goal until his mother gave birth to a little girl, Stella, sixteen months later. Like Billy, his sister Stella was also born with medical issues related to her mother’s drug use during pregnancy. Unfortunately, reunification was deemed not possible for the children and their mother’s parental rights were terminated. The children were placed with an aunt and uncle who wanted to adopt them. The adoption was finalized a year later and at first it seemed as though Billy and Stella had found their forever family; however, things started to fall apart for Billy when he entered kindergarten. The school began having many concerns about Billy’s behavior and felt he needed services, but needed assessments completed before they could address his specific needs.

Billy’s aunt and uncle were very happy with Stella, but it became clear that they were overwhelmed by the care Billy seemed to need. When Billy was six years old his aunt and uncle returned him to state care. Shortly after Billy returned to foster care a Judge assigned a CASA on his case. Our CASA was a retired teacher and immediately began communicating the school’s concerns and suspicions of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to the state case worker and Billy’s foster parent. Our CASA advocated for testing to ensure that Billy was receiving proper services. As a result of our CASA’s continued educational advocacy, Billy was assessed by Children’s Specialized Hospital where he was diagnosed with ADHD. Our advocate ensured that Billy received therapy at home and in school to stabilize his behavior and increase his likelihood of adoption. Billy has since been adopted by his foster family, is thriving in school and has the kind of life he deserves thanks to the efforts of his CASA volunteer.

https://www.facebook.com/JewelersforChildren/

Jewelers for Children Jewelers for Children was founded in 1999 by the U.S. jewelry industry with the mission of helping children in need. Since its inception, JFC has donated $ 57 million to programs benefiting children through our charity partners.

Applications now open: Delaware County's signature holiday program is celebrating 68 years of service to the community in 2022! Family and Senior Applications are online this year - just follow the link below for instructions. Share and spread the word to help a neighbor in need this Holiday Season!
What is HCH? How do you sign up? Where do you go? Check out our website for all the answers and more: DelawarePeopleInNeed.org/HCH

https://emergencycomms.co.delaware.oh.us/request-form/