Annual Conference Info

9.27.2019

CYSA 47th Annual Conference
"Adding to Your YSB Toolbox"

Friday, September 27, 2019
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Hartford Marriott Downtown
parking, CEUs, breakfast and lunch included
REGISTER

Featuring Keynote Speaker Kevin L. Booker, Jr.,
Founder Booker Empowerment

 

Kevin L. Booker, Jr. is the founder of Booker Empowerment, LLC and has been an educator for 20 years.  He is committed to uplifting and educating individuals.  Mr. Booker realized his passion for encouraging others who do not have a voice when he was 12 years old.  At that young age, he committed to fighting for young people, understood the importance of helping others see their full potential, and dedicated himself to a life of seeking social justice.

Mr. Booker went on to achieve various degrees through the support of his family and strong mentors.  He now teaches college and high school level classes, trains men and women who have been sexually assaulted, facilitates leadership and diversity workshops, and lectures.  He is a mentor and speaks publicly all over the country to encourage people to understand the power of education and using their voice to make positive change.  He also volunteers regularly in the local elementary school, supporting reading instruction, something he has done for the last five years.  Mr. Booker has a strong passion for encouraging others to stay positive through adversity and volunteers his time working with many individuals from various backgrounds.

Mr. Booker was recently recognized by the Windsor Human Relations Commission in receiving their 2019 Bridge Builders Award for his unifying work in leading workshops and circles for members of the community to discuss issues on race, inequalities, and the impact those issues have on the community.  He is releasing his first book this year, that will support schools in creating inclusive learning communities.  Mr. Booker serves on the Board of Directors at Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) in New London, CT, ISAAC School Board of Directors in New London, CT, and Hartford Job Corps Academy in Hartford, CT.  His mottos is “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”  

AGENDA

8:00 - 9:00 a.m. REGISTRATION, Breakfast, Networking & Exhibitor Visits
9:00 - 9:30 a.m. WELCOME & ANNUAL MEETING
9:30 - 9:45 a.m. AWARDS (Special Award, Youth Leadership Award, Program Award, Advocate for Youth Award)
9:45 – 10:30 a.m. KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Kevin Booker, Jr.
10:30 – 10:45 a.m. BREAK and Visit Exhibitors
10:45 -12:00 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSION I
12:00 - 12:55 p.m. LUNCH and Visit Exhibitors
12:55 - 1:10 AWARDS (Youth Services Employee Award, Laura T. Brown Career Achievement Award)
1:10 - 2:25 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSION II
2:25 - 2:30 BREAK and Visit Exhibitors
2:30 - 3:45  BREAKOUT SESSION IIIC
3:45 - 4:00 CLOSING & DOOR PRIZES
4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Happy Hour and Networking, Vivo Lounge

CONFERENCE SPONSORS
                    

 

BREAKOUT SESSIONS
BREAKOUT SESSION I (10:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon)
Autism Spectrum Unplugged
Cultural Humility: A Brave Space Conversation for Youth Workers
Dog Talk
Drug Trends in Connecticut
Implementing a Youth Mentoring Program for YSBs
BREAKOUT SESSION II (1:10 to 2:25 p.m.)
Children and Problem Sexual Behaviors
Coaching Boys to Men
Impact of Trauma and Aces on Child and Youth Development
Mental Health Matters
Signs of Suicide
BREAKOUT SESSION III (2:30 to 3:45 p.m.)
Helping the 1 in 5 Kids With Learning and Attention Issues
Prevention Podcasts
Serving LGBQ & Gender Nonconforming/Transgender Youth
Survive the Drive
Therapy With a Furry Friend
YSB Directors Roundtable

 

  • Autism Spectrum Unplugged
    A panel from the FOCUS Center for Autism.  Moderated by Donna Swanson, MSN, CS, APRN, Executive Director
    Breakout Session I
    Spend a morning with the “creatively wired and the socially challenged”.   FOCUS Center for Autism and The Fresh Start School are proud to present their panel of experts of the  They are open and honest about their journey.  This presentation will move you. Gain new insights on what is becoming today’s epidemic.
    • Walk a day in their shoes and experience what their world is like for them
    • Find out what works & what doesn’t with this special population
    • Learn the importance of relationships
    • Learn what interventions work when they are in crisis
    • Understand better their sensory issues & the Circle of Anxiety ™

    Donna Swanson MSN, CS, APRN is the founder and executive director for FOCUS Center for Autism as well as the Chief Administrator of the Fresh Start School. Donna has over 45 years of experience in nursing and human services and has a RN from Hartford School of Nursing, a BS in Psychology from Southern Connecticut State University and a MSN in Psychiatric Nursing from the University of Saint Joseph. She received her APRN certification from Hartford Hospital and is a member of the American Nurses’ Association and certified by that organization as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing.  As founder and executive director of FOCUS Center for Autism, Donna manages all residential, clinical and educational programs. She is also the creator and moderator for the FOCUS Autism Spectrum Unplugged Panel, which through its presentations provides hope and inspiration to individuals, families and service providers of the autism community. 

  • Children & Problem Sexual Behaviors
    Presenter: Eileen Redden, MS - CATSO President and founder of Fair and Just Agency, LLC
    Breakout Session II
    This workshop will start with an overview of human sexuality through the lifespan and continue on to discuss the continuum of appropriate to problem sexual behaviors.  This base of understanding for appropriate and problem behaviors will lead into a discussion of how to talk with kids about sex (without blushing) and solutions/clinical interventions for clients with problem sexual behaviors.  Finally the floor will open to general discussion and questions. 

    Eileen Redden has worked in Connecticut's criminal justice system for 25 years.  Working with people convicted for crimes with a sexual component, including women and children.  Her career in Connecticut's Department of Correction included working directly with people incarcerated for sex crimes and directing the program in the prisons for 12 years.  As an advocate for fair reforms, Eileen pursued changes in the way people were labeled and treated by our criminal justice system and continues to push for sensible research-based reforms.  She was the co-Chair on the Symposium for sex offender registry reforms along with The Sentencing Commission at UConn Law School in December 2018 as part of a state-wide effect to improve the Sex Offender Registry and minimize the deleterious effects of the Registry.  Currently, she is working with programs to enhance staff's understanding of problem sexual behaviors and increase their ability to work with clients.  She wrote the book Consent, What you need to know about sexual consent - which is an ebook formatted for smart phones so that people can access the simple and straight forward information when they need it most!

  • Coaching Boys into Men
    Presenters:  Robert Kuhn and Linda Blozie
    Breakout Session II
    Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) is a violence prevention program to teach young males about the importance of respect for themselves, others, and particularly women and girls. CBIM mentors lead their teams of boys through brief weekly activities that address themes such as personal responsibility, respectful behavior, and relationship abuse.  In this workshop you will learn how to teach respectful behavior among youth and help prevent relationship abuse, harassment, and sexual assault.

    Robert Kuhn is the Community Education and Outreach Coordinator at Women’s Support Services (WSS), located in Sharon. His work focuses on engaging and educating health providers, businesses, civic and community organizations, and faith communities. He also spearheads the agency’s Boys + Men Initiative. Robert’s extensive experience in connecting diverse audiences helps guide WSS’s programming for historically-underserved communities. Robert earned his B.A. in Psychology at Wesleyan University and his J.D. at Georgetown University.”
    Linda Blozie is the Director of Training and Prevention for the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  There she is responsible for the overall operation of the Coalition’s Training Institute and the implementation of Connecticut’s Plan for the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence.    She has been with the Coalition since 2001 and served in a variety of capacities including public policy advocacy, communication and fatality review. Previous to joining this staff, Linda served for fifteen years as the executive director of the Prudence Crandall Center, the domestic violence agency located in New Britain.  Linda has trained nationally on such topics as domestic violence and substance abuse, domestic violence fatality review, communicating for change and the risks and benefits of technology for victims/survivors of domestic violence.

  • Cultural Humility: A Brave Space Conversation for Youth Workers
    Kamora Herrington, Kamora’s Cultural Corner
    Breakout Session I
    American attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community have and continue to shift, as has language around sexuality and gender. New words have been born; other words have changed meanings and usages, and depending on age, race, gender, socio-economic status, region etc., what is acceptable for one demographic may be insulting to others. Add to this the important concept of intersectionality and many of us are feeling left out of these conversations; a conversation that we may feel that we may not have the vocabulary for. As we shift away from “cultural competence” to the more culturally aware practice of becoming culturally humble citizens, it is time to examine how our own upbringing and beliefs affect how we work with and interact with those who are different from us and our families.  In this session participants will be asked to share their own experiences working with “difference”, leading into a facilitated conversation which will allow participants to begin identifying and developing strategies that they will be able to use when interpersonal or intercultural conflicts arise. The goal of this session is to help participants identify ways that they are already ‘doing the work’ as well as how to navigate their personal beliefs while committing to their responsibilities as a member of a larger supportive youth serving community.  Collaboration and networking are built into this session.

    Kamora Le'Ella Herrington is a mother first, in all of the ways that a mother is. She is the owner and operator or Kamora’s Cultural Corner and is an active Cultural Humility presenter and educator who began her formal career as a teacher for the City of Hartford’s Early Learning Centers in the early 90’s.  Through the years she has worked with numerous organizations and groups committed to marginalized communities, most recently as the Director of Youth Programming and Mentoring at True Colors. Inc. where she ran a mentoring program for Queer youth in out of home care for 15 years and is a proud and vocal advocate for Queer youth. Kamora is a member of the National Black Justice Coalition's (NBJC) Leadership Advisory Council, a founding member of CT Black Women and the Chair of the City of Hartford’s LGBTQ+ Commission.

    Over the years Kamora has been honored as a person committed to supporting and nurturing humans, most recently as a 2019 recipient of the 100 Women of Color Award;  she is also very proud to have been awarded the 2016 Association for Experiential Education Person in Charge of Unlocking Potential (PICCOUP) award. Her personal life mission includes, “creating spaces where families are free to love their children” which is the guiding principal of all of her work.

  •  Dog Talk: Using Dogs to Connect
    Derek Cornwell, Youth Development Coordinator, Madison Youth & Family Services and Christine Pitotti, LPC, Clinician, University of New Haven Counseling Center
    Breakout Session I
    This breakout session will be all about Therapy Dogs! Two professionals (& their dog) with different backgrounds (one in Prevention and the other in Counseling) will discuss the different ways they have used therapy dogs in their work! The session will cover everything from Therapy Dog 101, how to get in touch with a therapy animal team, Animal Assisted Therapy, and a special experiential* activity!

    Derek Cornwell is a Youth Development Coordinator at Madison Youth and Family Services where he works with youth, developing leadership skills and prevention tactics through group work. Derek believes that building a connection with students is vital in making an impact in their lives. He uses his Therapy Dog to assist in his group work as well as in the classroom when discussion stress. Derek was awarded the CYSA Employee of the Year in 2018 and is a Certified Prevention Specialist.  Derek received  a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia Tech university and a Masters in Community Psychology with an emphasis on Program development from The University of New Haven.

    Christine Pitotti is a Licensed Professional Counselor at The University of New Haven where she works as a Clinician at the Counseling Center. She has experience working with substance abuse, personality disorders, eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. Christine believes in fostering a warm and empathic environment for all of her clients and has a passion for utilizing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Christine and her Therapy Dog have also practiced Animal Assisted Therapy in individual sessions and in therapeutic groups.  Christine received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Radford University, and a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis on counseling, from Roosevelt University.

  • Drug Trends in Connecticut
    Robert F. Lawlor, Jr., Connecticut Drug Intelligence Officer, Office of National Drug control Policy
    Breakout Session I
    Using the latest data Robert Lawlor will highlight current drug trends affecting Connecticut’s youth, families, and communities.  New strategies and tactics are needed to address all drugs particularly synthetic drugs, pressed pills, and drugs coming into our state from across the world.  Learn the facts, the latest lingo, and drugs that are entering our state and our communities.

    Robert F Lawlor Jr. is the Connecticut Drug Intelligence Officer for the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking) program as well as the Connecticut Public Safety Liaison for the  HIDTA/CDC Overdose Response Strategy, an unprecedented public health/public safety collaboration. Robert’s expertise is in all aspects of the illicit drug market in Connecticut, New England and the Tristate area as well as its implications on the health and safety of our communities. Robert’s passion is creating and facilitating innovative ideas on how to address substance use issues in our communities through Public Health/Public Safety partnerships. Robert holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and prior to this position, Robert was a supervisor with the New Haven Police Department for over twenty years where he held such positions as a member with the Connecticut State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force, Shift Commander, Commander of the Robbery/Burglary Unit, and Commander of the Homicide/Cold Case Unit.

  • Helping the 1 in 5 kids with Learning & Attention Issues Reach Their Full Potential
    Alexis Bivens, Program Director, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation
    Breakout Session III
    1 in 5 youth have a learning or attention issue and this statistic rises to 50% of youth in juvenile detention.  We have the brain science, practices and supports to stop these pipelines and contribute to learning and literacy outcomes that can help all youth reach their full potential.  And the system disruptions don’t have to come as add-ons to current educational or child developmental systems.  “What’s oxygen in the classroom for kids with learning differences is actually best practice for all kids” – grantee of the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, a pioneering funder in the field of learning and attention issues.  Join this session to explore the educational, social-emotional and health determinants of learning and attention issues and your role in applying the latest knowledge, skills and practices to upend the status quo.

    Alexis Bivens is currently serving as Program Director at the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.  She is responsible for grantmaking in the Foundation’s environment and learning differences programs.  In this role, Ms. Bivens leverages her deep experience in youth development, collective action, philanthropy, and nonprofit management.  Prior to joining the Tremaine Foundation, she served as the Director of Thrive by 25 at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.  Throughout her career, Ms. Bivens has remained committed to addressing the root causes and systemic challenges affecting the daily experience of young people. Ms. Bivens received her graduate degree from Fairfield University and her undergraduate degree from Eastern CT State University.
     
  • The Impact of Trauma and ACES on Child and Youth Development
    Melissa L. Whitson, Ph.D., Associate Professor Psychology, University of New Haven
    Breakout Session II
    This workshop focused on understanding child and youth brain development and how exposure to potentially traumatic events (e.g., adverse childhood experiences) impacts brain development and, subsequently, youth behavior. Participants will learn what constitutes a traumatic experience or adverse childhood experience. Participants will also gain an understanding for how children's brains develop and traumatic events in childhood can alter how the brain functions. Finally, participants will learn about the negative outcomes on children and youth behavior as a result of these traumatic experiences.

    Melissa L. Whitson, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Haven and a licensed Clinical Psychologist. Her research is focused on risk and protective factors, as well as prevention and intervention programs, for low-income children and families, particularly children exposed to trauma. She also conducts program evaluations for several youth-serving non-profit organizations in Connecticut. At the university, she is the Coordinator of the Community Psychology M.A. program and the Clinical Mental Health Counseling M.A. program.

  • Implementing a Youth Mentoring Program: Power, Benefits and Outcomes for Youth Service Bureaus
    Dr. Susan Weinberger
    Breakout Session I
    This workshop will present the quality assurance standards that govern the design, implementation and evaluation of youth mentoring programs. Youth Service Bureaus throughout Connecticut and the United States are partnering with their local school districts to recruit mentors to work one hour each week with a youth who could benefit. The power and benefits of such an initiative are remarkable. Students of all ages improve their self-esteem, attitudes and peer relationships. Chronic absenteeism is a critical issue in our state. One of the most successful benefits of mentoring is the improvement in school attendance. The good news is that mentoring is two directional. Mentors get as much if not more out of mentoring as the youth with whom they are working. The role of Youth Service Bureaus to carry out a mentoring initiative will be discussed.  Examples of successful mentoring efforts with Youth Service Bureaus in Lyme/Old Lyme and East Lyme will be highlighted. Attendees will be encouraged to ask questions.

    Dr. Susan G. Weinberger, a leading authority on mentoring is the founder and President of the Mentor Consulting Group based in Norwalk, Connecticut.  Susan was a pioneer in the creation of site-based mentoring in America. Today she consults to federal agencies including the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; MENTOR, National Mentoring Partnership and schools and communities on the need to provide mentors for youth of all ages. As a consultant to the Governor’s Prevention Partnership in CT, she works with many communities in the state that partner with their Youth Service Bureaus. Susan received her B.S. degree in Modern Languages from Carnegie-Mellon University, PA; Master’s degree in Elementary and Bilingual Education from Manhattanville College, NY and her doctorate from the College of Business and Public Management at the University of Bridgeport, CT.  Dr. Weinberger has published many articles and received many awards for her work including President Clinton’s coveted Volunteer Action Award at the White House for her work in mentoring in 1993.  She has recently traveled to Honduras and Mexico at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy to lecture to business leaders, educators, Fulbright Scholars, government officials and investigative journalists on beginning a mentoring program.   Among her greatest joys is mentoring a young woman since age 7 that is now 32 years old.

  • Mental Health Matters:  Proof that our Struggles Can Lead to Our Purpose
    Shawn Elizabeth George
    Breakout Session II
    Sit with encouraging author and speaker Shawn Elizabeth George and learn how her struggles with anxiety, depression and cancer have given her deeper purpose in life, to be a bridge to hope and help.  You will walk away encouraged that you too can use your struggles as stepping stones to rise up into your best self, and help others do the same.

    Shawn Elizabeth George is an encouraging author and speaker.  She is also the starter of the Mental Health Matters community conversation in her hometown of Avon, where she and her husband Stephen, are raising their three children.  As an anxiety, depression, and rare cancer survivor, Shawn walks every day with invisible wounds and seeks to bridge hearts with others to let others know they are not alone, and to offer encouragement, inspiration and hope.  In her three books, My Journey to Live from the Inside Out, A Place for Sam (a children's book), and Our Struggles Have Purpose, 50+ Life Lessons from my Walk with Cancer, Shawn's messages speak to the importance of being well within. To be encouraged for your journey connect with Shawn at www.shawnelizabethgeorge.com or on Facebook and Instagram at @shawnelizabethgeorge.

  • Prevention Podcasts:  Thinking Outside the Box to Solve Program Challenges
     AnnMarie Cox, MS, CPS, Director, Granby Youth Services
    Thinking outside the box in a community where there is little access to students through the school system.    In this workshop you will learn how Granby YSB turned a failing program into a successful community service project that has engaged high school students and opened the door to several exciting prevention projects. (also known as: “keep throwing stuff at the walls until you find out what sticks!”)  A focus group of middle school and high school students worked with our YSB to identify ten prevention topics they felt were relevant to our youth.  We attempted to take this focus group and the topics they identified and develop a Peer Education Program we called T2T (Teen to Teen).  Despite initial enthusiasm, the group failed to come together.  Rather than drop the idea, we worked to find other ways to engage students in the peer education process.   We began pulling in students looking for community service.  We also identified a core group of LGBT youth that were interested in addressing topics of concern as both peer educator s and as advocates for the LGBT community.  Now in our second year, we are working with youth to develop a series of prevention podcasts that we hope will broaden the reach of our angency’s prevention programming.   We will open the discussion for those in attendance to “trouble shoot” program challenges. 

    AnneMarie Cox MS, CPS has 18 years in public schools as a School Psychologist and eight years as a YSB Counselor and Prevention Specialist.  AnneMarie has been an advocate for LGBT youth since before you could call a group a GSA and instead had to call it a “Diversity Club”.  A human rights advocate and animal welfare activist she lives with her human and furred and feathered family in a home where rabbits run under foot and the pit bulls live in hopes that the door to the cat side of the house will be left open for “just a minute”. 

  • Serving LGBQ & Gender Non-conforming/Transgender Youth
    Nicole Kowal, Court Planner, CT Judicial Branch, Juvenile Residential Services
    Breakout Session III
    This session will provide an introduction and overview of some of the definitions & pronouns providers working with youth who identify on the LGBTQ/GNCT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Questioning or Gender Non-Conforming, Transgender) spectrums may use. Focus will be given to the discussion of the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression) Data Collection initiative CT participates in, which will include an explanation of the data collected within the state and nationwide. An overview of risk factors bringing LGBQ/GNCT folks into the juvenile system will be outlined. Best practices to increase inclusivity within CT Juvenile Justice System, along with CT resources available, will also be discussed.

    Nicole Kowal is a Court Planner and has been with the Judicial Branch’s Juvenile Residential Services division for 8 years; started her career as a Juvenile Detention Officer. She is the Project Coordinator for the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (SOGIE) Data Collection Initiative and is passionate about her work towards ensuring LGBTQI+ youth are served fairly within the juvenile justice system in Connecticut. Nicole has attended many trainings and conventions that focuses on the topics of LGBTQI+ youth during her career and she is part of the LGBTQI+ community. Nicole also works on other various projects that include bringing Restorative Justice practices into the juvenile detention facilities and is always looking to reform and make changes to further help youth in the system. Nicole has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science in National Security and Public Safety from the University of New Haven. She graduated from the Tow Youth Justice Institute’s Transforming Youth Justice: A Leadership Development Program in 2017 and has been awarded the HART Shining Star Award in 2019 for her work on combating Child Trafficking in the state of Connecticut.

  • Signs of Suicide® Prevention Program (SOS)
    Breakout Session II
    The Signs of Suicide® prevention program is a universal school-based prevention program that teaches students to recognize the warning signs of depression and suicidality in themselves and their peers and to seek help from a trusted adult. The program includes materials to train school professionals, parents, and community members in their role as trusted adults to identify at-risk students and take appropriate action. The SOS Program is the only youth suicide prevention program that has demonstrated an improvement in students’ knowledge and adaptive attitudes about suicide risk and depression, as well as a reduction in self-reported suicide attempts by 64% in a 2016 randomized controlled study (Schilling et al.)

  • Survive the Drive
    Bob Green, founder, Survive the Drive
    Breakout Session III
    Join us for an engaging presentation to further understand the task of your own daily commute, to lessen the likelihood of harm. Audiences totaling over 140,000 new drivers, adults, community groups and businesses have benefited from Bob Green's Survive the Drive presentation since 1996.  The kids are the most vulnerable. Car crashes continue to be the leading cause of violence; injury and death, in our communities, our country and around the world, epidemic. Youthful, inexperienced drivers are the most vulnerable, although no one driving at any age is immune. Since the 1960’s, we are accepting of this level of tragedy as inevitable, the price for our daily independent mobility.  Not big news. Kids getting their driver’s license now is virtually the same as back in the 1960’s, when they first started to put seatbelts in cars.  ‘Be careful’, is how parents admonish their kids . . . there’s more. The Survive the Drive program offers an important extra step to the understanding of the cause and prevention of car crashes on a personal level.  Our descriptions and analogies offer a practical analysis of the science and behaviors that cause crashes, the results and consequences.  Survive the Drive delivers and demonstrates an upbeat but deadly serious message without the traditional ponderous statistics and gruesome crash fatality photos.   ‘all-of-a sudden’ are dangerous words.  We know the iceberg did not sink the Titanic and understand the consequences. Why, how, what happened and the consequences are all ‘predictable phenomena’, that is no ‘accident’.  The presentation incorporates humor, real life stories, and downright seriousness, and has resonated loudly with drivers throughout the Northeast.

    Bob Green is an over-educated, hyper-active, nearly-adult senior citizen who, at 17 years old, on a snowy night in Bridgewater, crawled out of the crushed wreckage of his father’s car unscathed. Tough lesson, lucky kid. During his high school years at NMHS, four other kids were not as lucky. Later, as a public high school teacher, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Bob saw that the story was happening the same for even more unwary kids/drivers.  Bob has a Masters Degree in Teaching from Rochester Institute of Technology, taught a decade in a public school, was director of a program for dysfunctional adolescents, owner of GreenWorks Building and construction company and professional racecar driver/instructor.  In 1996, bob started Survive the Drive as a not-for-profit, educational service providing ‘crash preventive’ high school class and auditorium presentations, by now to audiences of over 140,000. Bob has made presentations, developed curricula and done demonstration driving for major car manufacturers, The society of Automotive Engineers, at MIT, Wesleyan University, and Oakland University, in Austria, Dubai and Canada for thousands more on a professional and training basis.

  • Therapy with a Furry Friend
    Lauren Crowley, LCSW
    Breakout Session III
    This workshop will teach participants about the difference between Animal Assisted Activities and Animal Assisted Therapy.  In addition, the history of Animal Assisted Therapy will be discussed.  Different skills and activities in Animal Assisted Therapy will be discussed.  Areas to be aware of including animal welfare, allergies, fear of dogs, and liability will also be covered.  In addition, clinical examples of clients working with a therapy dog in individual and family sessions will shared.

    Lauren Crowley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has a Masters in Education.  She is also a Certified Human Animal Intervention Specialist.  She has been in the field of social work for over 10 years. For the past 6 years she has incorporated her therapy dogs into her clinical practice.  She worked at a School Based Health Center in an urban middle school for 11 years.  She currently has a private practice, Pawsitive Therapy, LLC in Middletown where she works with children, teens, and adults.  She has been involved in volunteer therapy dog work for 10 years.  She has been part of a therapy dog crisis team in which team members respond to communities after tragedies and losses.   She was part of a team that helped pass a bill that set up therapy animal crisis teams in the state of CT, An Act Concerning Animal Therapy. She oversees “AAT Wellness Professionals of CT” and “Therapy Animals in CT” Facebook pages to connect volunteers and professionals.

  • YSB Director Roundtable
    Breakout Session III
    Seasoned YSB directors will be available to meet with you one-on-one to discuss your YSB needs and challenges.  This is an invaluable opportunity for brainstorming and problem solving from the experts
    Moderated by Cephus Nolen, Director, East Hartford Youth Services.

REGISTER

 

BREAKOUT SESSION I (10:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon)
Autism Spectrum Unplugged
Cultural Humility: A Brave Space Conversation for Youth Workers
Dog Talk
Drug Trends in Connecticut
Implementing a Youth Mentoring Program for YSBs
BREAKOUT SESSION II (1:10 to 2:25 p.m.)
Children and Problem Sexual Behaviors
Coaching Boys to Men
Impact of Trauma and Aces on Child and Youth Development
Mental Health Matters
Signs of Suicide
BREAKOUT SESSION III (2:30 to 3:45 p.m.)
Helping the 1 in 5 Kids With Learning and Attention Issues
Prevention Podcasts
Serving LGBQ & Gender Nonconforming/Transgender Youth
Survive the Drive
Therapy With a Furry Friend
YSB Directors Roundtable


9/26/2019
Annual Conference Sponsorship and Exhibitor Information
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