Conference Sessions & Speakers
Keynotes & Plenary
Keynote - Connections That Last: Building Belonging, Identity, and Lifelong Relationships for Adopted Persons
Presented by Tony Hynes
As trusted advocates, CASA volunteers play a unique and lasting role in helping children experience connection, belonging, and stability during some of the most challenging times in their lives. Their relationships, advocacy, and commitment can have a profound impact on a child's sense of identity and hope for the future.In this inspiring keynote, Tony Hynes, PhD will explore the lifelong importance of connection for adopted persons and the critical role CASA volunteers and other child welfare professionals play in nurturing those connections. Drawing on research, practice, and lived experience, Dr. Hynes will examine how intentional efforts to strengthen attachment, preserve important relationships, affirm identity, and foster community connections contribute to positive outcomes across the life course. Participants will gain practical, trauma-informed strategies for supporting children and families by promoting secure relationships, honoring family and cultural connections, facilitating conversations about identity and adoption, and advocating for lifelong networks of support that extend beyond permanency. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how every meaningful connection—from a trusted CASA volunteer to family, community, and culture—can help shape a child's lifelong sense of belonging.This keynote will inspire CASA volunteers to recognize the lasting influence of their advocacy and equip them with practical tools to ensure every child has the relationships and connections needed to thrive long after their case is closed.
Keynote - Bearing Witness Without Carrying It All
Presented by Maria Bryan
Michigan CASA staff, volunteers, board members, and child-welfare partners are often asked to hold difficult stories. Some are shared in courtrooms, homes, meetings, training sessions, fundraising conversations, and in moments of trust. This morning's keynote will offer a grounding, accessible introduction to what it means to bear witness in a trauma-informed way.We’ll explore what it means to be trauma-informed, and how we can listen with care without taking on the role of carrying what is not ours to carry. Participants will reflect on how they listen to others’ stories, how they tell their own stories, and how they share stories about children, families, and communities with dignity and care.This session will be interactive, reflective, and welcoming to learners of all levels. Participants will leave with a stronger understanding of how to hold space, honor boundaries, recognize the emotional weight of this work, and remain connected to the shared purpose behind CASA’s mission.
Plenary - Trauma-Informed Advocacy Skills
Presented by Dr. Apryl Pooley
Childhood trauma is common and can have lasting impacts on brain development and behavior, but with the right supports children can exhibit significant resilience to trauma. However, many children experience re-traumatization when seeking help or engaging with the justice system when those systems are not operating in a trauma-informed way. When working with children and families who have experienced child abuse and neglect, it is critically important to use a trauma-informed approach to promote resilience and reduce the risk of re-traumatization. Every program and service system that impacts the lives of children can operate in a trauma-informed way, and trauma-informed advocacy works to restore a survivor’s sense of safety, power, and worth.This 75 minute training session will discuss what it means to be trauma-informed and why it is critically important for promoting resilience and reducing re-traumatization. Then, we will review the six principles of a trauma-informed approach and examples of how individual advocates can practice each, including how to talk with children and caregivers about trauma, how to respond to trauma reactions, and measures advocates can take to prevent re-traumatization.
Breakouts
Rights of Youth Experiencing Foster Care
Presented by Sarah Goad & Brina Williams
Youth experiencing foster care have rights that policy requires case managers share with them and their caregivers when they enter care, annually, and when changing caregivers. It is important that youth are aware of their rights and what they can do if they feel that their rights are not being observed. The Children’s Services Administration has been working on updating the rights documents, most notably removing responsibilities, in collaboration with a team of lived experts. In this session we will review the rights, policy regarding timeframes and responsibilities of case managers for sharing with youth, and the process we’ve engaged in to update the documents and develop dissemination plans.
Nature's Symphony
About Sarah Goad
Sarah Goad has worked in the child welfare field for over 30 years through direct service provision and supervision, advocacy, training, consultation, and administration; both in the public and private sector. She received her Bachelor of Social Work from Saginaw Valley State University and her Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan. Sarah has presented nationally and internationally on various child welfare topics. Currently, Sarah is the State Administrative Manager for Foster Care, Older Youth, and Education Programs at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Nature's Symphony
About Brina Williams
Brina Williams is a nationally recognized child welfare advocate, consultant, and social worker. They are a two-time alumna of Western Michigan University, where they earned their Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Social Work, with a minor in Political Science and a concentration in policy, planning, and administration. Brina has been a devoted advocate for the last decade, committed to changing the systems and perceptions of foster care, mental health, LGBTQIA2S+, and many others. Brina has been the President of Ingham County's Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative since 2019 and previously served on the Continuous Quality Improvement Focus Group for Foster Care in Ingham County. They served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Children's Mental Health from 2019 to 2023, are a member of Michigan's Statewide Youth Advisory Board for foster care, and are a member of the Leadership Corps for the National Foster Youth Institute Michigan Chapter. They have also served previously as an FSM Ambassador. Most recently, Brina joined the Fostering Success Coaching Institute (FSCI) Advisory Council as a Youth Representative and is working towards their Level 1 Coaching Certification through the FSCI. Brina is also an alum of FosterClub’s AllStar Internship, where they focused on further developing their relationship-building and leadership skills in the summer of 2023, and continues to partner with FosterClub, the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), and Youth Villages as a Lived Experience Leader. They hope to use their lived experience to develop emerging leaders and advocates who are passionate about helping people and creating change.
Bridging the Gap between CACs and CASA: Supporting Children After Sexual Abuse
Presented by Adrienne Bailey
This training provides participants with a foundational understanding of child sexual abuse and the critical role Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) play in supporting children and families throughout the investigation, treatment, and healing process. Participants will explore the landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study and examine the long-term impact that childhood sexual abuse can have on physical health, mental health, and overall well-being. The training will conclude with three practical, trauma-informed tools that professionals can immediately incorporate into their work with children who have experienced sexual abuse, helping to foster safety, regulation, and resilience.
Nature's Symphony
About Adrienne Bailey
Adrienne Bailey is the Clinical Manager at the Ottawa Children's Advocacy Center. She has over 20 years of experience in the Victim Services field. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has worked with both adult and child survivors of domestic and sexual violence, both as an advocate and therapist. She is trained in many evidence-based clinical treatment models, including EMDR and TF-CBT, along with other expressive treatments. Adrienne loves working with people one-on-one and getting to witness their healing from trauma.
Where Do You Belong? Building Belonging for Teens in Foster Care
Presented by Isabel Stasa
Belonging is not a feeling that happens automatically. For teenagers in foster care, it is something the system often makes harder through placement changes, school transitions, family separations, and a daily experience of being in a home that is not quite yours. And yet belonging, the sense that you have a place, a people, and a self that is recognized, is one of the most powerful predictors of long-term wellbeing for young people aging through care.
This workshop will help CASA volunteers understand what belonging actually looks like for teens in foster care and what they can do to build it. This is an interactive activity based session with lots of fun incorporated alongside meaningful dialogue and learning.
Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of what belonging means to the teens they serve, practical strategies for building belonging in each of its dimensions, and tools for advocating within the child welfare system for placement and practice decisions that protect rather than erode a teenager's sense of home.
Nature's Symphony
About Isabel Stasa
Isabel Stasa, MPA, co-founding member and Director of Programs at the National Network for Fostering Sibling Connections is a radically empathetic leader who translates her lived experience in foster care into systemic reform and cross-sector social justice. Separated from her siblings when she entered foster care at 13, Isabel began advocating locally on the importance of sibling relationships. Her time working in the United States Senate saw her draft pivotal legislation protecting sibling relationships as a direct outcome of her personal experience. Her commitment to embedding lived expertise in governance is further demonstrated through her leadership with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute and her service on the National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council.
Where Do You Belong? Building Belonging for Teens in Foster Care
Presented by Isabel Stasa
Belonging is not a feeling that happens automatically. For teenagers in foster care, it is something the system often makes harder through placement changes, school transitions, family separations, and a daily experience of being in a home that is not quite yours. And yet belonging, the sense that you have a place, a people, and a self that is recognized, is one of the most powerful predictors of long-term wellbeing for young people aging through care.
This workshop will help CASA volunteers understand what belonging actually looks like for teens in foster care and what they can do to build it. This is an interactive activity based session with lots of fun incorporated alongside meaningful dialogue and learning.
Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of what belonging means to the teens they serve, practical strategies for building belonging in each of its dimensions, and tools for advocating within the child welfare system for placement and practice decisions that protect rather than erode a teenager's sense of home.