Faith Leaders Brunch

By Lindsey Castellanos

There are so many threads that connect our community in Fort Bend County Faith Leaders Brunch was just another example of the unity that binds us These leaders are called by our faith, convictions, or values to take care of children and to keep our community safe for everyone

On February 21, we hosted 12 different congregation leaders and leaders of influence from the Christian, Islamic, Jewish, and Hindu community to learn more about the work of Child Advocates of Fort Bend We spoke candidly about the issues of child abuse and shared facts about abuse that cause us to look at those places of worship differently We talked about why families need to know that Child Advocates of Fort Bend exists and what their congregations can do to support children and youth in foster care

Our message was well received One leader passionately stated, “Our community needs this information We know that there are dangers We want to learn how to make the world safer We want parents to know what to say or do because our generation didn’t talk openly about these things We want to be sure that any child that needs help gets the expertise that Child Advocates of Fort Bend offers”

In addition to offering opportunities to support our mission, we provided networking opportunities for adoption agencies, Department of Family and Protective Services, and partner organizations like Cultivating Families and The Riverside Project

If you are part of a faith community and you want to know what you can do, let’s chat! There are some great opportunities coming up to learn more about the needs of abused and neglected children here in Fort Bend County Those are listed below

Upcoming events:

March 23, 2023: 9AM to 1PM

Church Leader Training with The Riverside Project

March 31, 2023: 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Light of Hope with City of Richmond

April 30, 2023

Blue Sunday- Pray for Children

For more information, contact Lindsey at LCastellanos@cafborg

Training Tid Bits

By Dana Mersiovsky

Learning is a treasure that follows its owner everywhere. Learning is a treasure that follows its owner everywhere.

~Chinese Proverb ~Chinese Proverb

The training calendar is off to a great start in 2023. January brought in the first session of our Healthy Boundaries Series - How to Interact with Children in the Playroom. We had a great turnout of CAC volunteers who spent time in the CAC learning and role playing with children. In February, our Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE) Team hosted an interactive training Emphasizing Connection and Community for Children and Volunteers. The training introduced volunteers to the purpose of CFE, and provided step by step tool facilitation on how to document this work in Optima The volunteers who attended left exited about CFE!

Volunteer Pre-Service Training will take place March 20-31. We have a wonderful group of individuals ready to learn and give back to our Children’s Advocacy Center, CASA Program, Community Outreach and Events.

Be on the lookout for our Trauma Informed Care Conference and other continuing education details coming to our website soon. And if you have a topic you would like continuing education on or are interested in facilitating for one of our trainings, please let Dana know at DMersiovsky@cafb.org..

Our mission and our values are central to the work that we do and every one of our staff members has a role in how we meet our mission This month, meet some of our social workers and hear in their own words why they are a part of our team.

Joshua Meribole Shares His Why

I became a social worker because I wanted to work with people and find the best way to help them. We all face challenges at different points in our lives and at times we are able to respond appropriately, and at times we find it difficult to respond. We panic, we get angry, and we can withdraw. As a Clinical Family Advocate (CFA), I help families process what has happened and offer help at a time when it is difficult for them to think about what to do next.

One of the reasons I chose to work at Child Advocates of Fort Bend was because of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach here. When I was a student, we talked about the complexity of different systems and the difficulties for families navigating those systems. I wanted to work with an agency that worked closely with different agencies and institutions.

I love meeting with families and offering services as well as seeing caregivers who, despite their own personal struggle, are dedicated to the wellbeing and healing of their children who have experienced something traumatic.

I also love the people I work with at Child Advocates of Fort Bend and the friendliness of the working environment here. It is great to work with a group of people who are passionate about the work that they do. Some of the cases we see are difficult for one CFA to navigate, and it is encouraging to see the different elements of the Children's Advocacy Center come together to help. As someone who is new to this field, I appreciate it when co-workers help me further understand the dynamics of the different elements of my role.

Louanne Munden Shares Her Why

As a Courtesy CASA, I visit children placed in other states, as well as those in several counties in Northeast Texas. I was originally hired at the beginning of the Courtesy CASA program in February of 2017 after retiring from CPS where I was employed as a Child Safety Specialist. I was laid off at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic in March of 2020 and asked to return to my present position in September of 2022. I have an MSW from the University of Texas at Arlington and am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. My education, and primarily my experience and training at CPS for 37 years, has enabled me to gather and analyze information that is important to each case and to better understand human behavior. I was recruited to CAFB primarily to visit out of state children in various placements (relatives, foster parents, adoptive parents and residential treatment centers.)

I love being able to be of service to children at risk and to their caregivers. I appreciate my part-time contract job at CAFB, as it allows me to travel out of the Dallas area where I live and is flexible enough to allow me to fulfill responsibilities to my family, friends and other organizations. I am inspired by all the children I have worked with over the past four decades and their ability to be resilient in the face of chaos and trauma. The most important thing I do in my work for CASA is honoring children and their caregivers by trying to meet their individual needs, rather than having to take a “cookie cutter” approach to cases.