Lesson series
Session 3: Best-Interest Advocacy Considerations
Estimated Completion Time: 3 hours
This session builds CASA volunteers’ capacity to support best-interest advocacy in permanency planning by deepening understanding of permanency options, the child’s developmental needs and sense of time, Minimum Sufficient Level (MSL) of care, and the distinction between poverty and neglect. Participants examine how disproportionality, bias, and system factors influence permanency outcomes and practice documenting and communicating observations in a strengths-based, culturally respective manner. The focus is on analysis, interpretation, and advocacy—not decision-making or legal determination.
This session builds CASA volunteers’ capacity to support best-interest advocacy in permanency planning by deepening understanding of permanency options, the child’s developmental needs and sense of time, Minimum Sufficient Level (MSL) of care, and the distinction between poverty and neglect. Participants examine how disproportionality, bias, and system factors influence permanency outcomes and practice documenting and communicating observations in a strengths-based, culturally respective manner. The focus is on analysis, interpretation, and advocacy—not decision-making or legal determination.