Annual Conference

Concurrent Workshops – Saturday 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Saturday, November 19, 2011

3:00 pm -4:30 pm

Youth Track
Circus – VIVA VOX – Session II

Circus Harmony, St. Louis, MO

We teach the art of life through circus education. We work to build character and expand community for youth of all ages, cultures, abilities and backgrounds. Through teaching and performance of circus skills, we help people defy gravity, soar with confidence, and leap over social barriers, all at the same time.
~ Jessica Hentoff, founder of Circus Day Foundation ~

Participants will be invited to learn and perform circus skills packed with tumbling, flying, flipping, juggling and magic thereby forming their own circus!

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Critical Strategies to Develop and Sustain Family Organizations

Peggy Nikkel, UPLIFT,  Casper WY; Sue Smith, Ed. D., Georgia Parent Support Network, Atlanta GA

This session will present proven strategies to successfully develop and sustain family organizations including: keeping the family voice central; fostering collaborative partnerships; letting your mission drive your work; rooting activities in fiscal and business integrity; choosing an organizational model that meets your unique needs; communicating organizational success through marketing, evaluation, data collection, and reporting; and diversifying funding. Group activities will enhance peer learning. Sample documents available.

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Youth Track
Sustaining Youth Voice Beyond  System of Care Youth Groups

Brianne Masselli, THRIVE; Ryun Anderson, MSW; Chesari Tempesta, Youth MOVE Maine, Lewiston ME

Youth MOVE Maine will explain the journey they have taken in become Maine’s first youth run organization. This presentation will show how youth voice was started in Maine as a youth group of a System of Care, how youth collectively organized and partnered with adults to develop a logic model and ultimately became a fully sustained statewide Youth MOVE Chapter. This workshop aims to show how applying a theory of change or logic model can improve and ease implementation to sustain youth voice beyond systems of care.  The theory of change planning process will be explained and illustrated on three levels state, regional and local youth voice.

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Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

Alison Hendricks; Pamela Toohey, Chadwick Center of Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego CA

This workshop will provide an overview of a training curriculum that teaches resource parents about the effects of trauma on children and gives them skills to better manage trauma-related behaviors. The presenters have co-facilitated this workshop for parents and will provide training tips as well as real-life case examples and an interactive exercise.

The curriculum is a product of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

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Trauma Informed Care when Working with Children in Military Families and Children in the Foster Care System

Deana Salter, BS, MIKID, Yuma AZ;  Kristen Howard, AA, MIKID, Phoenix AZ

Everyday there is a child experiencing a source of trauma. As unfortunate as that is, it is reality. Trauma should be an experience, not a diagnostic category. When discussing trauma, the one word best captures the experience is “terror.” Terror is defined as a feeling: totally unsafe and powerless to do anything about one’s situation. Intervention must be directed at the restoration of this sense of safety and power if the primary experience is Trauma. Family-run organizations can assist in this restoration through educating youth, families and staff.

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Mentorship: A sustaining force in crisis (mentoring is a two-way street)

Judi Turpen, Indiana Federation FCMH, Anderson IN

The old wives’ tale of “Trauma coming in Threes,” seems to play out in our families. Tiffanie and I began to share about our personal challenges and coping skills. I suggested that she journal, and she suggested I make a stronger commitment to my own writing. Soon Tiffanie had a answer that responded to her Doctors wish, “If I only knew how your brain works!” In her writings, Tiffanie discloses what happens when she deals with personal loss, educational neglect and constant struggle to find the right medication and diagnoses.  Judi will talk about the impact Tiffanie has had on her techniques.

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Child and Adolescent Trauma

Dan Karlow, MSI, Youth Advocate Programs, Lancaster PA

This training is geared toward direct care staff, social services, teachers, parents and others wanting to learn about trauma and its impact on children and adolescents.  The training will explore the impact trauma has on the brain, and will educate staff on prevention and interventions strategies for different developmental groups. This training will also explore strengthening relationships, using CBT strategies, connecting to the future, working through labels, expressing emotions and working through traumatic memories and dissociations.

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Supporting positive development for emerging adults

Janet Walker, PhD; Richard DeMarko Brown, Portland State University, Portland OR

This interactive session focuses on the period of late adolescence and early adulthood, a period now being described a distinct stage of life called “emerging adulthood.” The session highlights trends in social, economic, health, lifestyle and demographic data that demonstrate how radically this life stage has changed for all young people in the last few decades, and promotes discussion of what this implies for effectively supporting (both interpersonally and through developmentally appropriate services) young people in this life stage who have serious mental health conditions and/or who are coping with histories of trauma.

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Short-Term Intervention: Long on Outcomes!

Pat Hunt, Magellan Health Services, Turner ME; John Lees, Magellan Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania Inc, Bethlehem PA; Jeff Friedman, Ph.D.,  MCC Warwick House, Warminster PA

Outcomes from Magellan Health’s new approach to residential care in Pennsylvania speak for themselves. With significantly reduced lengths of stay and no re-admissions during the first 12 months, youth are spending less time separated from their families, friends and communities.  What makes it work?  Join the discussion to learn more about this successful model – PLEASE DO TRY THIS AT HOME!

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Take Control – SEL as a personal tool to manage challenges and respond to stress and trauma

Trina Osher, MA, Huff Osher Consulting, Inc.; Takoma Park MD, Shannon Crossbear; Strongheart Resource Development, Grand Portage, MN; David Osher, Ph.D., American Institutes for Research, Washington D.C.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is about understanding and managing our own emotions and relationships and applying these skills throughout life.  Families where one or more children or adults have a behavioral health disorder can be very emotionally charged.  This workshop will explain how developing our own social and emotional capacity and teaching these skills to others in our families can help defuse this stress and empower us to improve relationships within our families.

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Trauma-Informed Care in Juvenile Justice and Foster Care Improves Communication, Collaboration and Outcomes

Joyce Burrell, M.S., Principal Researcher and Director of the Juvenile Justice Program, American Institutes for Research; Kim Helfgott, Principal Researcher, Co-Director of the Western and Pacific Island Technical Assistance Center

Our team will do a 90-minute workshop on trauma and the impact for youth in the juvenile justice system and in child welfare, especially foster care. The presentation team will discuss issues families face and barriers agencies face when trauma and other behavioral health issues impact the communications between the two.  Each of us will present strategies to improve engagement with each other and tips conference attendees can take away to improve communication and collaboration when families, children, youth and systems learn to deal with trauma as a normal part of everyday life. References will be made to the impact of using strategies used in the statewide roll-out of a trauma-informed philosophy of care in NY State called Sanctuary and how it improved communication and the environment for youth and staff.  Participants will answer the questions in the Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey and discuss results and the importance of knowing when we are exposed to trauma, how it is initially handled, how it could impact us in the future, and how best to manage it and still actively move toward a fulfilling future.

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Family Bridge: Advance Empowerment and Boost Communication

Kristen Anderson, Oregon Family Support Network; Zaak Anderson-Klem, Youth MOVE Oregon; Peter Henrie, Family Bridge, Salem OR

Team communication a challenge? The Family Bridge technology empowers families in sharing information and facilitating team communication.  Family Bridge provides a highly secure (meets/exceeds federal privacy standards) webpage similar to a Facebook page.  The only people who have access are those who you invite to join.  Members can post photos, announce triumphs, post blogs, schedule meetings, post messages, etc.  Outpatient and inpatient providers can remain current. Young people can also use as they lead their own teams.

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Your Trauma doesn’t have to be your drama:  Healing through peer to peer work, advocacy and partnerships

Kay Connors, MSW, FITT Center-NCTSN; Gladys Fonfield-Aniyla, NCTSN’s Partnering with Youth and Families Committee; Tricialouise Gurley, Youth MOVE-MD; Angela Vaughn-Lee, Maryland Coalition of Families, Baltimore MD

Trauma shatters the protective shield that families and children need to be resilient and meet their full potential.  Trauma-informed, family-centered strategies that focus on social support are essential to recovery and promoting resiliency. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn about innovative peer-to-peer, advocacy and partnership approaches to improve trauma services in your community.

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Youth Track
“YOUR POINT IS”

Leah Holmes-Bonilla, Vanguard Communications, Washington DC; Brittany Smith, National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, Rockville MD

Often times youth need to speak out to gain buy-in and action from various decision makers and the media. They need to be able to effectively tell their story.

To help youth voices be heard, they need to be comfortable and strategic in telling their story. During this workshop, participants will learn to persuade through storytelling with an eye toward more effective communications.

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The Power of Family Support in NYC: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Bernadine Meeks, Wanda Greene, Lorraine Jacobs, Marie Carrion, Ashley Carrion, Shamar Sowell, Families Together of New York State, New York, NY

This workshop will cover the growth and success of family support from 1993 through the present and provide a vision for the future. It will give participants insight into how powerful the movement has become and how it is supporting the development of the youth voice for tomorrow.

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IDEA Consultation Room
Dixie Jordan, Cora, WY

Got a question about IDEA? Come to the IDEA Resource Room to get answers! Dixie Jordan will be available throughout the conference to answer your questions, share information, and offer workable strategies tailored to your specific situation.

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