Citizen Contributions | Culture & Community | Arts & Culture | Film & Video | Connecticut Casa | Flint Street Theater
Speakers Tawanna Brown and Christopher Scott. Josiah Brown Photo.
The following citizen contribution comes from Josiah Brown, executive director of CT CASA.
Last Thursday, Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates (CT CASA) held a "Voices of Experience" documentary film screening, discussion, and reception to benefit this New Haven-based nonprofit, which is now working statewide. The venue was the Flint Street Theater at the Friends Center for Children, where Keegan Sagnelli and Trey Moore graciously hosted the event on behalf of the Friends Center.
During Foster Care month, the occasion raised awareness about child abuse and neglect, and about the wide range of experiences young people have in child welfare systems. The featured speakers included Tawanna Brown, a policy advocate and youth empowerment consultant who is the inaugural Young Adult Trustee on the National CASA Board, and Christopher Scott, who founded and leads SUN Scholars, which supports young people in Connecticut who—like himself—have been in foster care.
Brown and Scott engaged in a thoughtful public conversation following a screening of the PBS film "Absence/Presence." That documentary spotlights two young women, one of whom, Charell Star, is an author who has long been affiliated with CASA of New York City and kindly sent a video message that was shown on screen.
It has been six years since Connecticut CASA opened in the New Haven juvenile court (child protection side) in 2020. Since then, the child welfare nonprofit has undergone a merger and expanded to Waterbury and Torrington in 2022; Willimantic, Hartford, Rockville, and New Britain in 2023; Middletown in 2025; and now in 2026 to Waterford—the program's ninth court statewide.
CT CASA volunteer Karen Bergin, who has served children in multiple courts after having earlier both fostered and adopted children, was among those recognized—and later interviewed by Eddy Martinez of CT Public, which published a related story.
CASA Board member Toni Ligon was one of several board colleagues who participated in the event. In addition, she invited a strong contingent of sorority sisters from the New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. to attend and to recognize Tawanna Brown, who was herself a Delta at Seton Hall University.
Others in attendance ranged from State Rep. Toni Walker, philanthropic leaders Darcey Cobbs-Lomax, Claire Criscuolo, LindyLee Gold, and Deborah Marenna to former DCF Commissioner Joette Katz and Yale Child Study Center Professor Dylan Gee (both CASA Advisors), CASA Ambassador Brandon Sherrod, and additional SUN Scholars, and students.
In opening remarks, I thanked everyone in attendance, along with the sponsors, and provided an overview as well as an introduction of the speakers. I noted that, as part of a national movement for children who have experienced abuse or neglect, Connecticut CASA's volunteer advocates do many things, in concert with professionals from social workers and attorneys to educators and health providers.
Among CASA's contributions are five "Rs." In order, they stand for: Reporting regularly to judges, to inform decisions about children's safe, permanent homes and best interests; Resources and services identified, from birth-to-three to special education, after-school, health, mental health, basic needs, summer jobs and camp; Relationship-building, through visits at least monthly and cases that can extend for years; Resilience promoted, to help children and youth overcome adversity; and Results that have seen this program grow rapidly, for children from birth to 18, whether in Foster Care or under Protective Supervision (when children are still with their families, as long as that's deemed safely possible).
Lead Sponsors were Yale University and Claire's Corner Copia, which donated food for the reception. Other sponsors included the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, NewAlliance Foundation, Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, and Better Rhodes. The Wine Thief donated wine.
Read more about Connecticut CASA in the Arts Paper here, here, and here.