2026 Conference Save the Date + Call for Presenters and Vendors

The Texas CASA Conference returns to San Marcos on September 9 – 11, 2026, marking its first time back in over a decade. Attendees will gather at the city’s newly renovated convention center while enjoying the growth and recognition San Marcos has achieved, including its recent designation as a Bird City Texas community. This year’s theme, Advocacy in Motion: Moving with Purpose and Heart, draws inspiration from the hummingbird while also honoring the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. The hummingbird — a small yet fiercely determined bird that travels great distances against all odds — is an important symbol in Mexican traditions, representing hope, courage, and resilience.

Texas CASA is excited to invite you to two upcoming virtual opportunities to support your engagement in the CASA Story — our unified storytelling campaign for all 74 local CASA programs that will set us up for a successful 2027 Legislative Session. We created the CASA Story to elevate your local impact stories, increase legislative engagement at the local level, and build confidence across the CASA network. These sessions are designed to help you feel prepared and supported as you share your CASA Story and connect with your legislators. 

Texas CASA’s Public Policy Team invites all local CASA program staff, volunteers, and board members across Texas to take part in our Legislative Priorities Survey. As we begin preparing for the 90th Legislative Session in January 2027, we’re gathering ideas, feedback, and proposals to help shape Texas CASA’s legislative priorities. Your perspective is important to this process. This survey is an opportunity for those working directly with children and families to share insights about the policies and issues that matter most to the CASA community. 

Texas CASA is thrilled to announce the graduates of our recent Art of Facilitation for Pre-Service Training Workshop. The participants of this workshop sharpened their learning-centered facilitation skills, discussed fresh ways to make classroom conversations dynamic and engaging, shared powerful stories, and practiced leading activities from the pre-service training curriculum. Please join us in celebrating the following Art of Facilitation graduates:

• Hope Allsup, CASA of Southeast Texas
• Lana Butler, CASA for Kids of East Texas
• Rachel Drake, CASA of Walker County
• Amanda Jenkins, CASA of Trinity Valley
• Vance Kaup, Child Advocates San Antonio
• Patricia Love, CASA of the Coastal Bend
• Jennifer Martin, CASA of Galveston County
• Mary Martinez, Child Advocates San Antonio

• Maci Read, CASA In the Heart of Texas
• Megan Roberts, CASA of Johnson County
• Kristen Salazar, Golden Crescent CASA
• Maxi Schultz, CASA of Wise and Jack Counties
• Carlen Stacy, CASA For the Cross Timbers Area
• Ashley Stutes, Child Advocates San Antonio
• Phelicia Williams, CASA of Southeast Texas

Our next facilitator training will be held this summer, and registration will be announced in Inside CASA. Please contact Margaret Halpin at mhalpin@texascasa.org with any questions.

Advocate Supervisors are invited to join us on Monday, March 30, from 12:00-1:00 p.m., for a special virtual panel celebrating 10 years of Collaborative Family Engagement. This session will provide practical strategies to strengthen collaboration between CASA programs, CPS, and SSCC partners. Meet our panelists.

STAR in-person Strengths-Based Supervision for Volunteer Retention Training will be held on April 16 -17 in Dallas. Space is limited, and the last day to register is April 8.   

Spring STAR Monthly Webinars have some new dates and times! Check out our blog post for all the details.

We can’t talk about 10 years of Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE) without talking about engagement. The “Top 10 Child and Family Engagement Strategies” poster illustrates how we build trust and partnership with those at the center of our work. CFE has taught us that authentic engagement goes beyond checklists. It’s about listening, showing gratitude, being curious, and meeting people where they are — whether through a conversation, a drawing, or a simple moment of validation. These are the foundations of real relationships.

Join or organize an Earth Day event in your community. Earth Day is April 22 and has several commonalities with the work CASA does. Both share an overarching goal of building a brighter future for current and future generations while empowering people to do the best they can for the world they are in. There are many ways CASA programs can get involved in Earth Day – attend an Earth Day festival, volunteer at a park and get others to join you, have an eco-friendly corporation give a tour to the youth you serve, have CASA volunteers spend time in nature with the children they serve, share sustainability tips on social media, and more.

Check out these examples from CASA programs across Texas and the U.S. on ways they recognize and celebrate Earth Day.

We want to hear from you! The Texas CASA Communications team wants to tell stories of your success.

Have an inspiring volunteer or staff story to share? Send us the story, or even just the idea, and we will help shape it for the network and the wider community.

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