UPCOMING EVENTS

CASA Summer Activities 2023

MeWater

CASAs and their youth will enjoy a fun beach day in Half Moon Bay. They will get the opportunity to try surfing if they want to try and learn and/or participate in the surfing activity. The MeWater volunteers also have non water activities for those who do not want to get in the water, so non-swimmers are most welcome! SFCASA will provide the lunch for those participating. There is no limit to how many people who can participate in this activity.

MeWater Foundation is a nonprofit organization run by surfers and mental health professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. They provide day and overnight surf camps to youth, families, and groups, with a mental health approach to mindfulness, empowerment, and exposure to the ocean and the great outdoors.

The date for the MeWater event will be July 29th.

If you are interested please email programassistant@sfcasa.org. More details to follow closser to the event.

BlueWater

CASAs and youth will enjoy afternoon morning learning how to sail, and afterwards will be treated to a yummy lunch on the docks (also provided by SFCASA). BlueWater has one boat docked in Berkeley Marina which will hold 12 people. We ideally would want 6 pairs of CASAs and their youth. This activity will held on June 24th and will be a first come first serve opportunity.

Bluewater is an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to bringing the joys and challenges of sailing to San Francisco Bay Area under-served youths.

If you are interested please email programassistant@sfcasa.org. I want to note that the spots for the event are currently full, but I will start a waitlist in case there are pairs that can no longer make it.

Summer Bike Event

Join us for the SFCASA and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's "Bike It Forward" Bicycle Distribution Event on Saturday, June 3rd! Let’s get bikes for our youth and their families. Event details might change. We will send you updates. Please fill out the registration form. Register HERE.

Bike Repair Clinic and Ride Out Summer Event

We have 5 more free bikes left! Join us for the SFCASA and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's "Bike It Forward" Bicycle Distribution Event on Saturday, June 10! Let’s get bikes for our youth and their families. Event details might change. We will send you updates. Please fill out the registration form. Register HERE.

Trivia Night

SF CASA is excited to present our very first CASA of Color Recruitment Event! Cultural Diversity is essential to SF CASA’s Mission. This is initiative is an effort to recruit BIPOC volunteers. Join us on June 20^th at Manny’s for Trivia Night! We will really appreciate if you can invite some friends who might be interested on becoming a CASA. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the organization, meet the SFCASA team as well as current CASAs, and have lots of fun! If interested, please Register HERE.

SFCASA Youth Art Show

SFCASA’s Youth Empowerment Board will be hosting a Summer Youth Art Show! The event will be held on August 12^th at the Sports Basement Community Space which is located on 1590 Bryant Street in San Francisco! Young People between the ages of 16-25 and who are currently or formerly system involved are encouraged to participate! This will be a safe space with food, music, art, fun and raffles at a chance to win VISA gift cards! If you are interested in being a participant and showcasing your art please fill out the interest form for more information!

ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES FOR YOUTH

Empower Me Academy

SFCASA has partnered with Empower Academy to offer a 50% discount on their sport clinics this summer! Empower Academy is a social enterprise youth basketball organization, provides enrichment programs for athletic excellence to students from kindergarten through highschool and all socioeconomic backgrounds. EMA teaches all the skills and fundamentals, then step in at opportune times during classes to take advantage of great teaching moments, which accelerates their development and growth potential. This helps them become a more confident and positive leader in a changing world.

Our coaches have designed these sessions to push and motivate your child to become a better athlete and person. They will thrive on powerful encouragement, positive reinforcement, and carefully planned drills. Check out the clinic dates here.

Free Therapeutic Horse Riding Lessons

SFCASA has partnered with Brady Therapeutic Riding to offer low-key, safe and fun sessions learning about horses. Youth can come, hang out and decide what they want to do: volunteer-type activities (grooming, saddling horses, cleaning stalls) and/or get on the horse for a riding lesson, and/or a combination of the two! Brady Therapeutic Riding is located on the SF Zoo campus, and helps youth learn about being present, letting go of stories, and being aware of their body via relationships with gentle rescue horses. There are no foster youth labels or jargon at “Hanging with the Horses”, just a time and space to learn, grow and heal.

SFCASA covers the cost of sessions. Introductory sessions are on Sunday mornings, after which times can be scheduled on afternoons W-F, and Saturdays. Please contact Program Manager Sue Lockyer (sue@sfcasa.org) for more information or to get started with “Hanging with the Horses”.

Huckleberry Youth Clinic:

Artful Minds

San Francisco Summer Camps

Are you still looking for summer camp opportunities for your youth? Check out these two websites for more information: City Kid Summer Camp and San Francisco Summer Camp.

Can U Relate:

Healthy Relationships Course

San Mateo County:

Mariposa Program

SFCASA Go-Bags

for youth experiencing placement instability

Providing a GO-Bag to a young person who is experiencing placement instability can help to reduce their risk of harm. Each bag/backpack contains a Clipper Card, GrubHub gift card, solar phone charger, toothbrush and toothpaste, socks, and sanitary wipes. There is also a card with important phone numbers (you can help them add their own) so they can reach out for help and stay in contact.

If the youth you serve is homeless, couch surfing, has a pattern of leaving their placement, or has indicated they may leave their placement - please give them a GO-Bag. The goal is to support them with basic needs as they figure out where they can safely stay. You can schedule to pick up a GO-Bag at the SFCASA office during regular office hours by contacting your Case Supervisor.

Thank you for partnering to help increase youth safety!

Educational Advocacy

Andromeda Education

Andromeda Math Partners has opened registration for their Summer Tutoring Session and they have 10 slots remaining! Andromeda Math Partners is a premier tutoring service that delivers free, high-quality virtual math tutoring to 8th through 12th grader. They target students from low-income families in the SF Bay Area. Ideally, students would enroll into the program during 8th or 9th grade when they are just getting started with Pre-algebra and/or Algebra 1. Support is continuous through all of the math courses required to graduate high school (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2/Trig). New students interested in receiving tutoring can fill out this form. For students who have participated in sessions before and would like to sign up for summer, please contact Angelique Alexander directly via email or phone: angelique@andromedaeducation.com or 510.617.6674. This is an excellent opportunity for your youth to strengthen their math skills.

FAFSA

The FAFSA deadline is approaching! June 30 will be here before we know it. Check in with your youth to see if they need support completing the application. All California seniors are required to complete the FAFSA application. This is an important step in the Post-secondary Education process. Reach out to your Case Supervisor or the Educational Advocacy Specialist at alexis@sfcasa.org.

Educational Advocacy Reminders

IEPs and Transcripts

Please upload your youth’s IEPs and/or transcripts to Advocate Link. These documents can simply the enrollment process in the event that your youth has to change schools. School changes can be sudden and districts may not be able to send the documents in a timely manner. Having these documents readily available strengthens the educational advocacy for the youth.

On Track for Graduation?

The 2022-2023 school year is almost over. Check in with your youth and their academic team to see if they are on track to graduate. Check out our website for resources to support your youth with obtaining their diploma and alternative paths to high school completion.

Transitional Age Youth (TAY)

Corner

Bridges

From School to Work

Bridges From School to Work, work with young adults individually and in groups to identify career goals, develop interviewing skills, connect with employers, create a résumé, apply for jobs, get a job, and succeed in a job. Employer Representatives work closely with each young person, providing instruction, guidance, and mentoring that increases confidence, builds character, and enhances professionalism

Boys and Girls Club

Job Opportunities

The Boys and Girls Club's mission is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. Youth are encouraged to apply to work for the Boys and Girls Club and if you would like to connect directly with us to pursue our job opportunities, please email bavila@kidsclub.org.

Please explore the different job opportunities below:

· Click here to explore Camp Mendocino opportunities - hiring all to start June 7, 2023.

· Click here to explore our San Francisco opportunities - ongoing hiring all year long

If you want to learn more about BGCSF, you can watch a short video about us or spread the word that we are hiring 80+ positions by reposting from our Instagram.

Resources for Advocates

Congratulations!

Spring 2023 Cohort

Welcome our newest training class of CASAs sworn in June 1st by the Honorable Monica Wiley! We are excited to support you as you embark on your CASA journey. Welcome to the SFCASA community!

Volunteers Needed

San Francisco Marathon

SFCASA will be volunteering at the San Francisco Marathon in July! If you would like to volunteer please registers HERE.

Continuing Education for Advocates

ENDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR YOUTH AND FAMILIES with Dr. Natalia Estassi

Monday, June 5, 2023 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm on Zoom (2 CE credits)

As providers, we will learn different techniques on how to develop empathetic, respectful, and engaging, and professional relationships with our clients and other providers to best support our youth and their overall success. This includes understanding mental health, cultural sensitivity, and effective communication techniques, in order to most effectively work with providers and the system. This also includes having effective terminations with our client’s and letting them know that healthy relationships, also end.

INVISABLE INJURIES OF TRAUMA: Deepening our understanding of the challenges faced by trauma-affected youth and how we can better help them

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm on Zoom (1 CE credit)

Prenatal substance exposure and postnatal neglect and terror dramatically impact the way in which a new brain organizes and develops. In this webinar, attendees will learn how to recognize the 'invisible injuries' of exposure to prenatal and postnatal trauma that are often misdiagnosed and responded to as simply behavior problems. These invisible injuries to the structure and function of a developing brain include processing problems, executive functioning problems, and hyper/hypo-aroused nervous systems. Attendees will learn how these invisible injuries contribute to a child’s or teen's challenges to successfully navigate life. Attendees will learn how to advocate for accurate screenings, assessments, diagnoses, and interventions that can often mitigate or resolve the underlying contributors that then promote and allow the natural evolution of social, emotional, and cognitive maturation.

HARM REDUCTION 101: MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING SKILLS AND PRACTICE

Thursday, June 8, 2023 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm on Zoom (2 CE credits)

This interactive training will provide space for participants to reflect on their own experience in putting harm reduction philosophy into practice, taking a deeper look at how harm reduction can be applied in their work with youth. Participants will have the opportunity to hone harm reduction and motivational interviewing skills, to reflect on successes and challenges of the work, get feedback on clinical questions and concerns, and to review real life scenarios that are common when working with youth.

CCN - CASA COMMUNITY NETWORK HUDDLE –

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 from 6:00 to 7:00 PM on Zoom (1 CE credit)

Please join us on Tuesday, June 20th from 6:00PM - 7:00PM for the CASA Community Network with time to share with our CASA colleagues. We are planning to share our successes, our joys and strategies that have helped to support the young person we serve. It will be a great chance to learn from each other. The CASA Community Network (CCN) is a network for CASAs, organized by CASAs and hosted by CASAs. We share, lean in and on, and support each other through events, such as The Huddle. Sometimes we learn from expert guest speakers in continuing education sessions. In The Huddle we learn from experts – ourselves – we have collective years of expertise among us. We are a network of support – who better understands the ups, the downs, the joys, the challenges than we do.

ADVOCATE REFRESH CE (for CASAs with 3 years+ experience)

Thursday, June 22, 2023 from 6p-8p on Zoom (2 CE credits)

We are pleased to offer the following learning opportunity for advocates who have been boots-on-the-ground these past years. Connect with other tenured Advocates as we explore: gratitude and appreciation, relationship maintenance, new SFCASA policies, Court report writing, activity logs (why do they matter?), CE’s, court hearing participation options, and more. If you have served with SFCASA for 3 or more years, please plan to attend.

BEHIND THE SCENES ADVOCACY: WHEN YOUR YOUTH IS NOT ENGAGED with Allison Roeser

Wednesday, June 28, 2023, 6:00 - 8:00 PM on Zoom. (2 CE Credits)

Do you wonder at times how to advocate when the youth you serve is away from placement, or not engaged with the team? Allison Roeser will support us learn from experienced CASAs sharing real-life examples of "behind the scenes" advocacy that can be done in these situations. We'll hear about what's worked well and ways that they've advocated for and supported their youth in non-traditional ways. We'll have the opportunity to speak with other CASAs about their experiences in small groups, and will leave with clear next steps of how to continue as a CASA when a youth is out of placement or not responsive.

SUPPORTING JUSTICE INVOLVED AND YOUTH AT-RISK FOR JUSTICE INVOLVEMENT’S EDUCATION

Thursday, July 13, 2023, 6-8 PM via Zoom (2 CE Credits)

Join Juvenile Justice Specialist Luna Robledo and Educational Advocacy Specialist Alexis Austin to take a deep dive into supporting justice involved and youth at risk of justice involvement. We will learn about the three different graduation credit plans, supporting your youth’s education while detained, picking the best fit school as your youth re-enters the community, supporting your youth through school IEP and disciplinary proceedings, preparing your youth for post-secondary education, and more.

SAFE & STRONG RELATIONSHIPS for ADVOCATES WORKING WITH TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS with Kidpower.

Wednesday, July 19, 2023, 6-8 PM via Zoom (2 CE Credits)

Participants will learn skills to help young people including: Strengthen friendships and other relationships and to be safe from abuse and other harm in-person and online. We will explore how to adapt Kidpower methods to teach, practice, and reinforce skills to project confidence, set and respect boundaries, recognize and resist emotional coercion and manage emotional triggers, prevent, de-escalate and resolve conflict and protect themselves emotionally. Finally, strategies to self-advocate and to get help from adults when they need/want it.

Trainings are offered to inform your advocacy,

help you think creatively about your case,

and to build community.

SFCASA Advocates are required to earn 12 CE credits

per calendar year.

Please visit Additional Continuing Education Opportunities for alternative options.

Do you have ideas for future CEs? Let us know by emailing training@sfcasa.org

CASA Tip of the Month

SFCASA fun in the sun summer events!

SFCASA has some summer events coming up for CASAs and their youth to go and enjoy! We look forward to seeing you there.

Please comment on topics and features you'd like to see in the SFCASA Forum.