Henry Sage, Courthouse Dog, Asks For Your Help

Dear Friend;

Woof! (Hi!)

I am Henry Sage, the new kid on the CASA block.

CASA Dogs Emma, Mousse, Zia, Ben and Hamlet are old pros at this. They are teaching me the best behavior.

This is an exciting place to work.  I get to be with kids all day and try to make them feel better. 

Yesterday I sat on a couch for a long time with a little girl who was so sad because she had been hurt.  She kept petting my soft ears and she smiled after a while.  Thank you for helping CASA to have Courthouse Dogs.  We have a lot of work to do and need all the help we can get to keep this great program going. You can donate here.

           

Love,

Henry Sage

CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS RALLY

April 26th 2017

4:00pm-6:00pm

Chaves County Courthouse Lawn

Hosted By: Children, Youth & Families Department 

& Chaves County CASA

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month!

ALL AGE EVENT

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO COME TAKE A STAND

FREE Entertainment, Free Refreshments, 

Child Abuse Prevention Walk, Mayoral Proclamation 

and NM Youth Challenge Presentation of the Colors.

Connect with community agencies and learn more about available services for families!

Neurobiology of Trauma

In this video Dr. David Lisak explains the effect of trauma 

on the brain and how it affects behaviors.

Mark Your Calendar!

IT’S REALLY THAT BAD — SECRET OF THE HIDDEN CHILDREN

So, you’ve heard it before, on the news, Facebook, or conversations with friends.

It seems bad, or, at least, it should seem bad. The numbers are enormous; it’s talked about with such urgency and you can’t deny it’s a problem. And yet… it’s just not convincing.

You glance at the image again and the phrases run through your mind.

“There’s such a need for foster parents.”

“Our county is in a crisis.”

“Children are being placed 4 hours away because there aren’t enough foster homes to take them.”

So why doesn’t it feel real? Urgent? As desperate as they make it out to be?

Read more HERE.

Surviving Foster Care: 2 Brothers, 2 Different Paths

For the brothers Terrick and Joseph Bakhit, childhood in Southern California was a precarious and often brutal experience: a mother addicted to crack and often in jail, a grandmother who beat them. In 2007, when Terrick was 12 and Joseph was 11, they ran away to an older sister’s home but eventually landed in foster care, where a good outcome was anything but certain.

Although child-care officials had promised to keep them together, they were separated and ended up in a series of foster families or group homes. At 17, Terrick, demoralized and unruly, “made the stupid decision of stealing a group home car,” was arrested and sentenced to juvenile detention for 11 months. Adrift upon release and without financial or personal support, he ended up homeless and addicted to crystal meth.

Read More HERE.

TO THE HEROES ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF CHILDREN

Dear Child Advocate,

I remember him as if we met yesterday. Johnny, not even six months old, sat on my lap and giggled as I finished getting together my court documents. I was a young attorney for Florida’s Department of Children and Families, learning how to navigate the complexities of child welfare. Johnny had bruises on his body, his runny nose had crusted over, and he was filthy. I wanted to drop everything and scrub away his despair.

Read More HERE.