CASA in Colorado at the 2025 Convening
CASA in Colorado was well-represented at the 2025 Convening on Children, Youth, & Families hosted in Vail April 28th-May 1st. This was the first time the event was hosted in person since 2020. It was great to connect in-person with dependency and neglect professionals from across the state.
The 3rd and 4th days of the event was a continuous quality improvement workshop for Best Practice Committees from each judicial district to strategize for the upcoming year. CASA programs reported significant outcomes, including new initiatives and enhanced partnerships fostered during these sessions.
The Arkansas Valley CASA team discussed how important it is for CASA to receive all of the information that the other parties receive, such as PCIs and psych evals. The judges wholeheartedly agreed, and since the conference, the judges have ordered that those reports be shared with CASA. It has been wonderful!
“Cynthia, Program Director, shared, “I feel like our team made some significant headway in mending some relationships and strengthening others. One main goal was to meet more regularly, and we have our first best practices meeting set for next week. We are committed to meeting monthly to keep our momentum going. Overall, it was an excellent experience. Fisher was our facilitator and he was absolutely amazing. I credit him with how much progress we were able to make.”
The 19th Judicial District BPCT, of whom Life Stories Child & Family Advocacy is a member, is really focusing on making Family Time more individualized and more natural for each family. Our push is for this to be an intentional focus from the entire team from the very beginning including getting the child’s voice in the discussion and that the Family Time Plan is a living document that changes as needed.
For Advocates for Children CASA, the 2025 Convening and CQI Workshop was a critical opportunity for CASA to be present, especially as the former 18th Judicial District has now been divided into two separate districts, the 18th and the newly established 23rd. This transition made it especially important to focus on building and strengthening relationships across both jurisdictions. The workshop sessions highlighted the vital role CASA plays in fostering collaborative partnerships and creating space for intentional, goal driven conversations. These efforts are instrumental in setting and aligning common goals across both judicial districts, ensuring continued progress toward Best Practice Court Team objectives.