CAFB May News - Child Advocates of Fort Bend
CAFB May News

Friends,

We had an amazingly busy April in celebration of Child Abuse Prevention Month!  We painted the town blue working with the Exchange Clubs to tie blue ribbons on trees, teamed with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office for the Light of Hope/Pinwheel Festival at Homestead Park, and made presentations across the community about child abuse signs and symptoms and keeping children safe with our “30 Schools in 30 Days” program, hosted tours in our building and engaged FBISD high school students to become our first class of Student Ambassadors who invited us into their classrooms to speak with peers about child abuse.   As we honor those child victims, let us remember that child abuse knows no season.  365 days a year, we are in the community and at work providing a voice, healing the hurt and breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect.  Thank you for all you do to keep our children safe.

For the Children’s Sake,

Ruthanne Mefford
CEO, Child Advocates of Fort Bend

Sports Clips of Greatwood is Making a Difference for Foster Children

 

Thank You Fluor for Selecting us AGAIN!

We’re a Beneficiary of Golf For Greater Houston…

Thank you to our friends at Fluor for supporting older foster youth! Did you know Child Advocates of Fort Bend serves children and youth who are at high risk of aging out of the child welfare system? Keep in mind that the average age of children entering care is 6+ years old.  This is the situation for about 100 Fort Bend youth right now who have not yet found a permanent placement outside of foster care. In response, with the help of CASA volunteers and the local community, the Court Appointed Special Advocates staff delivers age-specific programming called N.E.S.T. (for ages 6-13) and WINGS (for ages 14+) year-round. Each age group receives a support system to help them educationally, socially and emotionally and prepares them for life with the necessary skills and connections they will need to succeed on their own when that time comes.

For the second year, Child Advocates of Fort Bend has been selected as one of just nine beneficiaries of the 11th annual Golf for Greater Houston charity event put on by volunteer Fluor staff. A share of the proceeds from the event will go directly to N.E.S.T. and WINGS. There are many ways to ensure this year’s event is a success. Like to golf? You can sign up to sponsor a team and/or play. The tournament will be October 1 at Shadow Hawk and Black Hawk Country Clubs in Richmond. When you sign up, be sure to tell them Child Advocates of Fort Bend sent you! http://www.golfforgreaterhouston.org/home.html

Not a golfer? Not a problem! CAFB is seeking new auction items and packages to be sold to the highest bidders at the event. Some of the themes in need include Trips/Getaways, Jewelry, Date Night, Sports, Wine/Hill Country, Music, Wellness and more. Have something to donate? Please contact Jessica Jubin on the Development Team at jjubin@cafb.org or 281-344-5136 as soon as possible.

Please join us in thanking the people of Fluor and the Golf for Greater Houston team for once again supporting Child Advocates of Fort Bend and the children who we are honored to serve.

 



Welcoming Another New Team Member!
Meet Amna Ahmed

The Children’s Advocacy Center is excited to welcome Amna Ahmed as the newest member of its team as a Children’s Services Coordinator.

Amna, who previously served as an intern for the CAC, is working toward her Masters in Social Work the University of Houston. She has a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and Bachelors of Art in Liberal Studies from the University of Houston.

Prior to joining the CAC, Amna worked as a client advocate at Daya, a nonprofit that serves survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in the South Asian Community.

During her time at Daya and as an intern at the CAC, Amna has observed how traumatized children are impacted as victims of family violence, and the complexity of services they require.

“I am glad to be part of a multidisciplinary team to make sure there are no gaps in the services offered, so that children are quickly able to start their path to a happy and healthy life,” she said

 

WINGS College Signing Day 2018!

Getting into college is a major accomplishment and we want to make sure that we celebrate this achievement with our WINGS youth. On June, 28th, we will host a WINGS College Signing Day for WINGS students who are headed to college in the fall!

We need your help to make this day extra special!  Do you have a connection to any university or college? If so, we would love donations of that college/university’s pamphlets, promotional items, pennants, etc.  If you would like to donate items to our College Signing day, please contact Aly at atomasello@cafb.org or Leroy at lhodge@cafb.org.

 

New Email Signature for CASA Volunteers
Get the new email signature and start using it today. . .

We would like to maintain consistency in our communications and ask that all Volunteers who currently use an email signature for CASA business that includes their Volunteer title contact Casey at cdavis@cafb.org to get a copy of the official email signature. If you are not currently using an email signature but you would like to, please contact Casey and get a copy of it.

 


N.E.S.T. Program Volunteer Resources Available

Mentoring & Supporting Parents in Advocating for their Children

Our focus is to encourage parents to participate in their children’s educational and health experiences.

This would include extra-curricular activities, ARD meetings, parent open house, attending doctors’ appointments, parents being aware of their children’s medication and diagnosis and attending dental exams

If you are a CASA volunteer who currently has a NEST case and would like to request resources to assist your parents that you work with, please contact April at ashaver@cafb.org or Krystal at khughes@cafb.org for more information.

 

SAVE THE DATE!


On June 9th, we will be celebrating our N.E.S.T. Incentive Program Party for our children for their great work at school! If you are a CASA Volunteer or Children’s Advocacy Center mentor and would like to send your child an invitation to attend for all of their hard work and improvements, please contact April at ashaver@cafb.org or Krystal at khughes@cafb.org for more information.  If for any reason you do not feel your youth has earned an invite, please just let us know.  Please note that at least one caretaker is required to attend and we will pay for their meal. CASA Volunteers are also encouraged to attend if they are celebrating their children during this time.

 

Reaching Out to the Community


If you have any upcoming community events or neighborhood events that you would like for Child Advocates to attend, please let us know!  We are always looking for opportunities to go to different community events to spread the word about volunteering and child abuse prevention.  If you are interested in Child Advocates of Fort Bend coming to your area, please contact Lauren at ljordin@cafb.org.

 

TBRI Survey (Trust Based Relational Intervention) from TCU

Child Advocates of Fort Bend is participating in a research project with Texas Christian University (TCU) regarding trauma informed care. In an effort to provide better services to our children, we want to enhance our advocacy skills for working with traumatized children. Participation in this project will afford us the opportunity to participate in trauma informed care trainings as well as receive case consultation. You may have received a survey from TCU to provide input. The purpose of the survey is to collect some baseline information of the knowledge we have about trauma informed care. We truly appreciate your help on this survey if you filled out the survey and provided feedback!  Thank you for your time!

 

TBRI Training Coming Soon!

Trust Based Relational Training (TBRI) will be available for all volunteers

More details will follow once we confirm the date.  This will be a 1-day training provided by the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University.   We will let all Volunteers know when this training date is coming.

 

Meet Alice Washington!
CASA Volunteer Tracey Cabucio joined us in 2017.

 

 

On May 5th at 6:00pm we will be OFF TO THE RACES for our 18th annual Gala at the Sugar Land Marriott Town Square. We are planning an amazing event with mint juleps, live bluegrass music, silent and live auction, raffle, wine & jewelry pulls and so much more. It’s not too late to find a large colorful hat and bow tie to join us! We still have sponsorship opportunities and individual seats on sale here: https://www.cafb.org/events/gala/sponsorship-opportunities/ .

If you’d like to help as a volunteer for this exciting evening please contact Alexis Jackson at alexisjackson@outlook.com to sign up for a 5:30-12:00 or 8:00-12:00 shift that evening. We love to have people help us in the silent auction area greeting and helping guests and helping to pack up their goodies at the end of the night.

It’s an evening you won’t want to miss and the proceeds benefit our programs and services.  For more information or to get involved, please contact Lisa Moore at lmoore@cafb.org or 281-344-5108.

Can’t make it that evening but still want to participate in the auction?

You can see the auction items and bid online at https://cafbraces.auction-bid.org/microsite/

 

Mark your calendar!.

May 5, 2018:  Off to the Races Gala
6pm
Sugar Land Marriott Town Square

For more information go to Get gala details or contact Lisa Moore at lmoore@cafb.org

Become a Gala sponsor

 

May 10, 2018:  Case Closing Celebration
6pm
Location TBD

Celebrating volunteers whose cases have closed this quarter.

 

May 17, 2018:  Volunteer Swearing In Celebtaion
11:30am until 1pm
Child Advocates of Fort Bend Training Room

Join us as we welcome our new volunteers who have just completed their training.

 

June 21-22, 2018:  Keeping Infants & Toddlers Safe (KITS) Conference
United Way Fort Bend Center
Stafford, TX

Stay tuned for details as they become available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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