2024 Sussex County CASA In-Service Trainings

January, Thursday the 11th from 10am to 12pm

Permanency Options ~ Lauren Brueckner will partner with Child Attorney Alaina Chamberlain to discuss permanency options including reunification, guardianship, permanent guardianship, TPR/Adoption and APPLA.

February, Tuesday the 6th from 10am to 12pm

Let’s Play Jeopardy! ~ Lauren Brueckner will kick off the fall with a game! CASA volunteers will play Jeopardy and learn about a variety of topics related to child welfare

March, Tuesday the 12th from 10am to 12pm

Drugs In Our Community ~ Two members of the Delaware State Police will present information on current drug trends, what and how drugs are moved through the state and what happens when the state police respond

April NO IN-SERVICE.... Note: Protecting Delaware’s Children Conference will be on 4/18

May, Thursday the 9th from 10am to 12pm

ACES & Trauma ~ Lauren Brueckner will lead a discussion on the Adverse Childhood Experiences study and how it relates to trauma within the families CASA volunteers work with. We will do this through a deep exploration of the book The Deepest Well by Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris. (If you read the book, you get another 2 hours of training credit)!

June, Thursday the 13th from 10am to 12pm

Why Family First? ~ Lauren Brueckner will team up with DFS personnel to lead a discussion as to why familial reunification is usually the first permanency option sought in a dependent/neglect case. This training will also include family search and engagement activities as well as reference national research

July NO IN-SERVICE

August, Wednesday the 7th from 10am to 12pm

Book Club: The Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott” ~ Lauren Brueckner will facilitate a discussion on this book and how the topics within relate to child welfare.

September, Tuesday the 10th from 10am to 12pm (note: location is Judge Jones’ Courtroom)

Testifying in Court with a Mock Trial ~ Lauren Brueckner will facilitate a mock trial where participants will engage in the role play of a DFS case. These trials will be held in courtrooms in New Castle County (Judge Much) and Sussex County (Judge Jones). The trials will include a judge, a child attorney, a DFS Attorney, parents, a parent attorney, a CASA Coordinator and a CASA Volunteer to better understand the dependency/neglect court process.

October, Tuesday the 8th from 10am to 12pm

Medications for Mental Health ~ CASA Volunteer Stephanie Evans-Mitchell will present on what certain types of medications are for, how they are prescribed, and other things CASA volunteers should know about mental health medications

November NO IN-SERVICE

Host or Publisher Office of the Child Advocate CASA Program