Tickets on Sale for SFCASA’s 30th Anniversary Virtual Fostering Change Gala


Join us from the comfort of your couch on Friday, May 7th for SFCASA’s virtual gala event! Tickets are on sale now, and include a charcuterie board and wine delivered directly to your home!

If you’d rather skip the delicious treats and just want to join the free live broadcast, we’ll send out the link as we get closer. Advocates receive a 50% discount on one Poppy Ticket with code: WELOVEOURCASAS50.

Reusable Facemasks in Office
SFCASA has 50 reusable cloth facemasks in adult and youth sizes. Please contact [email protected] to arrange to pick your masks up from our office or have them mailed to you.

Searching for creative ways to connect with your youth? Available in solid black and white colors, tie-dyeing (or bleach-dying) the masks can be a fun activity to add some flair to pandemic safety! Tie-dye instructions here.
AL Improvements Live Today!
We have made some exciting changes to Advocate Link that allow you to easily navigate to your most used features. Preview the changes here:

  • Add log hours from your CASA case OR the homepage. On the homepage, you will now see icons for these functions.
  • In the logs, the Advocacy Areas are no longer in dropdown menus.
    
  • Complete quarter's survey from a homepage icon. You will continue to receive the survey reminder via email twice per quarter.
    
  • Access pertinent information for your court report with the new Court Report Assistant by clicking the court report icon on the homepage and choosing your upcoming hearing.
  • View recent logs, court hearing detail, and relationships
   
  • Quickly view the Advocate Link guide from a homepage icon.

  • Visit http://sfcasa.force.com on your iPhone, click the middle button at the bottom of the screen, and choose to add to home page. An icon will appear that will easily lead you to the new mobile friendly Advocate Link.
        
  • Visit http://sfcasa.force.com on your Android, tap the menu icon (three dots in upper right-hand corner) and choose to add to homescreen. 
 
Upcoming SFCASA CE Opportunities
Please join us at CE trainings that can help to strengthen and refresh your advocacy. The requirement of 12 CE hours/year is there to support you to be more impactful in the CASA role. See you there!

To receive CE credit, send your reflection responses to [email protected]!

AL Improvements Training on Tuesday 3/9, 12:00pm-1:00pm,
Wednesday 3/10, 6:00pm-7:00pm, and Tuesday 3/16, 12:00pm-1:00pm on Zoom (1 CE Credit).

To learn more about the AL changes, join Data Specialist, Janey Kemp & Program Director, Erika Dirkse via Zoom. We’ll be demonstrating the new functions in AL.
 
Attachment and Trauma on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021, 6:00 - 8:00 PM on Zoom. (2 CE Credits) with Dr. Natalia Estassi

Establishing a healthy relationship with our youth and families is key to being effective in our roles. Many of our foster youth and families have Attachment disorders and traumatic pasts which can directly affect the therapeutic relationship.

Discuss the importance of understanding child abuse and trauma; its effects on attachments; and how unhealthy attachments affect our therapeutic relationship and work. Learn: how to recognize signs and symptoms and the overlap prevalence between Attachment and Trauma. Explore strength-based techniques and how to engage, facilitate, and empower our youth and families to facilitate change. 

Educational Rights Holders Booster Class on Wednesday, April 7th, 2021, 6:00 - 8:00 PM on Zoom. (2 CE Credits) with Mia Ragent

Calling all Educational Rights Holders! Please join SFCASA Education Specialist Mia Ragent for an evening of educational advocacy “booster” training and discussion. Mia will review ERH expectations before focusing on remote learning-specific advocacy. The training will include time for breakout rooms where volunteers can share education success tips and ask case-specific questions of Mia and their group. Current ERHs are strongly encouraged to attend, CASAs who are not ERHs are also welcome!

Please contact [email protected] to register for one or all of these CE opportunities.

Upcoming Partner CE Opportunities

Real World Speakers Panel on Wednesday, March 3rd at 6:00 PM on Zoom (1 CE Credit).

Join Voices for Children for a special online Real Word speakers panel featuring youth and young adults who currently live or have lived in the foster care system.

The Real Word provides an eye-opening experience that gives attendees an insider perspective on foster care. These youth will inspire, humble, uplift, and move you as they share their personal stories and answer questions from the audience. Panelists also share how Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASAs, can make lasting impact in the lives of their assigned youth. Register here.

Child Welfare 101: What FCS Does and Why They Do It on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2021 from 9 - 4 PM on Zoom.

This training will give participants an overview of the Child Welfare System and the complexity of decision-making. The history, philosophy, and laws that impact decision-making will be covered, as well as the structure in which decisions are made in Child Welfare. The goal of the training is to help professionals understand how Child Welfare works and the boundaries and mandates of Child Welfare.
Register here by March 10, 2021.
SOAR Program from UC Berkeley

The SOAR (Support, Opportunities & Rapport) program from UC Berkeley is an amazing summer opportunity for youth in grades 6-8 that can lead to important educational progress. If you support a young person in those grades, SFCASA strongly encourages you to support them to apply!

Once admitted into the program, each SOAR youth receives 5-10 years of sustained support. 93% of SOAR high school seniors graduated on time and 92% of those graduates went on to college, 38% to a 4-year college.

In 2021, this one-week pre-collegiate academy will take place from Sunday, August 1 to Saturday, August 7 on the University of California, Berkeley campus.

Applicants must be foster youth in grades 6-8, with an academic GPA over a C average, who are currently residing in the Bay Area.

The application packet for the Prepare To SOAR academy can be downloaded from UC Berkeley's website here. The application deadline is Saturday, March 27 (post-marked).
New Foster Youth Bill of Rights Resources
The Foster Youth Bill of Rights is now available (in English & Spanish) as a handbook for older youth and a coloring book for younger children. Help your youth understand and stand up for their rights by exploring the new FYBOR resources together!

Accessible on our website here.
Comprehensive College Guide for Students with Disabilities
Developed by Study.com, The College Guide for Students with Disabilities offers in-depth details in several areas, including:

  • Legal rights of students with disabilities
  • Services colleges can or need to make available
  • Required accommodations for students
  • Technologies and helpful apps for students
Mobile Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinic 
Street Outreach Services hosts a monthly sexual health pop up clinic serving unhoused transitional aged youth (16-24 years old) every second Friday of the month, from 1 - 4 PM at 555 Cole Street (the Huckleberry Youth Health Center). The next pop up will be on March 12th, 2021.

Services offered include Birth Control, STI Testing, Pregnancy Testing, PrEP, Medical Referrals, Hygiene Supplies, Food, Clothing, Therapy, Case Management and Coordinated Entry Referrals.

SF YouthWorks Summer Internship

Sf YouthWorks is now accepting applications for their summer internship program, which includes a virtual internship opportunity for rising 11-12th and graduating youth, internships in different SF City Departments, job readiness workshops and training, and a bi-monthly stipend! 

Apply here by April 23rd, 2021!

Bridge to Excellence Scholarship

Mayor Breed’s Bridge to Excellence Scholarship Program provides scholarship awards to graduating high school seniors from low-income backgrounds to overcome financial barriers to attending college. The Bridge to Excellence Scholarship Program will provide students from San Francisco public high schools with $2,500 each in scholarship awards.

To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be a San Francisco Unified School District high school senior graduating in spring 2021 with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20. Applicants must demonstrate a significant financial need and be the first in their family to attend a four-year college.

The application window will be open until Wednesday, March 31st, 2021. The Mayor’s Office will review all qualified candidates and notify recipients by the end of April. Interested students can apply here.
Teen Tech & Entrepreneurship Speaker Series

TeenTechSF and Bentley School’s Design Thinking Engineering Club will be hosting the Tech & Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, an amazing opportunity for teens to explore the world of STEM!

Run by and for teens, TeenTechSF’s mission is to empower the next generation of tech innovators and civic entrepreneurs through equal access to tech for all teens. The free series will be on Saturdays, starting on March 13th 2021. Register here.
CASA Tip of the Month

Celebrate the victories - even the smallest ones! It can help you to recognize progress and growth which you then can reflect back to the young person you serve. 
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