This website has three primary goals: To recruit, train, and support CASA Volunteers for children in Ravalli County, to strengthen family and community knowledge of child abuse prevention, to increase access to learning resources, and develop networks of support for parents and family members so they can meet the needs of their children.
Our CASA Program
For over 20 years Bitterroot CASA, Inc. has served the 21st Judicial District Court in Ravalli County, advocating for children in the foster care system. Bitterroot CASA Volunteers develop trustworthy, purposeful relationships with children and their families. We serve as the “eyes and ears” of the judge, ensuring the child participates in court ordered services, and gather relevant information about child well-being and best interest to the court. While their parents are working to create a safe home, our volunteers are a stable, consistent adult presence in a child’s life.
Parent & Family Information
Online Resource Center
The resources below focus on providing parents, families, and caregivers access to information resources gathered from trauma-informed, evidence-informed, and best practice programs across the country. We seek to develop this page as a resource to individuals seeking information that supports the well-being of children and families.
Online Resource Center
Montana Kinship Navigator Program
The Montana Kinship Navigator Program serves Kinship Caregivers for the entire state of Montana. The program offers kinship caregivers support, education and access to resources to assist caregivers in raising their children so they can live happier, healthier lives and can, in turn, raise children who know emotional and physical safety, excel in school and social situations and are prepared to take on the challenges of their new life.
Montana ACES & Resiliency Resources
Resources here focus on awareness, training, providing support and understanding to young people, and furthering education.
ICWA: The Montana Indian Child Welfare Act: Connection to community, family and culture. The nuts and bolts of ICW, Pre-hearing conferences, and active efforts. See ICWA E-Learning in More Info-UMT.
Resources for Teens in Foster Care
Chafee services are intended to help Montana foster youth get the life skills they need to make a successful transition into adulthood. By assisting youth in achieving self-sufficiency and obtaining future goals, the MCFCIP enables youth in the foster care system create a healthy lifestyle and a successful future.
Foster Club is a national network for youth in Foster Care.
Understanding Traumatic Stress
Note: This course is housed on the National Child Traumatic Stress Network site. Follow the link to sign up for a free account and take the course.
This course contains interactive online lessons that lead you through the 12 Core Concepts for Understanding Traumatic Stress Responses in Children and Families. The Core Concepts are conceptual lenses used to better understand childhood trauma, its causes, effects, and strength-based systems approaches to case conceptualization and intervention planning. These lessons can assist those who advocate for children to understand foundational principles of childhood trauma.
Resources for Teens
Chafee services are intended to help Montana foster youth get the life skills they need to make a successful transition into adulthood. By assisting youth in achieving self-sufficiency and obtaining future goals, the MCFCIP enables youth in the foster care system create a healthy lifestyle and a successful future.
Teen dating violence affects millions of youths in the United States every year. The information below discusses rates of victimization for physical, sexual, and psychological dating violence.
Foster Club is a national network for youth in Foster Care.
Connecting with Teens
“I Need To Ask You Something,” is a 10-part series that bridges the gap between the things we need to say and the words we’re afraid to hear.
Teen dating violence affects millions of young people in the United States every year. The information below discusses rates of victimization for physical, sexual, and psychological dating violence.
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
Child sexual abuse can happen anywhere, learn more
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90% child sexual abuse is committed by people in a position of trust: an adult family member, sibling, child’s peer, teacher, neighbor, coach, babysitter, clergy, or someone else you and / or your child already knows.
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Random or stranger sexual abuse accounts for about 10% of child sexual abuse.
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30% to 50% of all child sexual abuse is committed by youth.
Children who are sexually aggressive and have sexual behavior problems need special attention, care and supervision.
Drug Endangered Children
Children who are at risk of suffering physical or emotional harm as a result of drug use, possession, manufacturing, cultivation, or distribution. They may also be children whose caretaker’s substance misuse interferes with the caretaker’s ability to parent and provide a safe and nurturing environment
In this webinar, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s Dr. Lynne Smith discusses the effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure, including:
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effects on somatic growth and neurodevelopment
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prenatal and postnatal environmental factors that influence the effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure
Trust Based Relational Intervention
The Healing Families seven-video set explains the principles and concepts behind Trust-Based Relational Intervention®, a proven method for enriching the lives of at-risk, vulnerable children, adolescents, and their families.
The videos included are: "TBRI: An Overview" (37 min), "Attachment: Why It Matters," (2hrs, 30 min), "Children from Hard Places and the Brain" (1hr, 20 min), "Playful Interaction" (30 min), "Healthy Touch" (40 min), "A Sensory World" (1 hr), and "Trust-Based Parenting" (30 min). "Trust-Based Parenting" is also offered in a Spanish-language version. This training is stored with Texas CASA. Sign up to complete the series.
Learn to connect for lasting positive change!
NEX Distro
Stay Alive, Stay Safe
In 2020, there were 162 opioid overdose deaths in the state of Montana.
If you are a person who uses drugs or if you are around people who use drugs, please consider learning how to respond to an opioid overdose and carrying naloxone (intranasal brand name: Narcan). Naloxone is a medication designed to reverse an opioid overdose. Opioids slow down the activity of the central nervous system. This can cause slowed or stopped breathing which may lead to death. Naloxone displaces the opioids from the opioid receptors in the brain which allows the person who is experiencing an opioid overdose to begin breathing normally. We have a helpful FAQ and are constantly updating it with questions from our site visitors. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, let us know.