Ohio CASA connects with judges, child welfare leaders, CASA programs at National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges conference 

Information about impact of CASA shared at Cleveland conference, attended by hundreds from child welfare field 

Ohio CASA staff shared information about CASA and strengthened connections at the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges conference held in Cleveland in mid-March. 

This conference also provided Ohio CASA and local program staff members with important training on the latest data and methods linked to best serving children. 

“The NCJFCJ Conference was valuable in many ways. We were able to further spread the word about the work of CASA. In addition, many of the training sessions provided our staff with essential knowledge from experts and leaders at the forefront of the child welfare field,” said Ohio CASA Executive Director Doug Stephens. 

This was one of the largest mid-year NCJFCJ conferences in its history with over 600 attendees, including 136 people from Ohio. 

Training sessions covered topics such as the impact of domestic violence in child protection cases, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access, and “untangling” poverty from child neglect. 

NCJFCJ Board member and Delaware County Judge David Hejmanowski presented at the conference, as well as Franklin County Judges Lasheyl Stroud and Kim Browne. Retired Ohio Judges Denise Cubbon and Anthony Capizzi were also in attendance. Both are former NCJFCJ Board members. 

Members of CASA of Portage County and other programs took part in training and networking at the conference. 

“It was worthwhile to connect with many different CASA professionals and Juvenile Court judges from across Ohio and the country,” said Stephens. 

If you would like to learn more about the work of CASA volunteers, you can read more here.