Partnering with Fathers Perspectives on Engaging Fathers in Your Family Treatment Drug Court Monday 8:30-10:00 This workshop will explore the interpersonal, structural and environmental barriers that fathers face in child welfare, drug treatment, and family court systems and then offer principles and practical strategies on how to engage fathers as partners in the FDC process. Honorable Leonard Edwards will share his experience in engaging fathers in his FDCs, including implementation of a gender-specific family drug court. Drawing from child welfare and drug treatment perspectives, this session will meet the following learning objectives: (1) Identify the interpersonal, structural, and environmental barriers that men face in child welfare, drug treatment, and family court systems, including biases and presumptions; (2) Identify key components and practice principles of gender-responsive drug treatment, and (3) Learn practice skills and strategies to effectively engage with fathers from a cross-systems perspective, including use of a recovery support specialist. Judge Leonard P. Edwards (ret): Judge Edwards is a retired Superior Court Judge now working as a consultant and teacher. In his work he provides technical assistance to the courts of California and courts across the country, particularly in areas involving children and families. Judge Edwards served for 26 years as a Superior Court Judge in Santa Clara County, California. He sat as a domestic relations judge and as a juvenile court judge. He also served for six years as Judge-in- Residence with the Center for Families, Children & the Courts, a division of the California Administrative Office of the Courts. During his judicial career, Judge Edwards founded and was the first president of the Juvenile Court Judges of California, was founder of the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council, was founder of Kids In Common, and founder of the Child Advocates of Santa Clara County. Judge Edwards was the President of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 2002-2003. Judge Edwards has taught at the University of Santa Clara Law School, Stanford Law School, and the California Judicial College. He has provided judicial trainings in over 47 states and 11 foreign countries. Judge Edwards has written widely including a recent book entitled The Role of the Juvenile Court Judge: Practice and Ethics. Judge Edwards has received many awards. He was the recipient of the 2004 William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence. Many of his articles and videos can be seen on his website: judgeleonardedwards.com.
Early Experiences Matter: A Population Health Look at Early Brain and Child Development Monday 8:30-10:00 AND 1:45-3:15 This session will discuss early brain and child development, the impact of traumatic experiences and stress on this process, and the promising approaches for prevention of adverse childhood experiences and buffering the impact of toxic stress and trauma during the first three years of life. Specifically, the participants will learn: (1) the critical importance of development during the prenatal to age 3 timeframe; (2) what adverse childhood experiences mean; (3) how experiences in the earliest years influence lifelong health, education and success; and (4) the complexities of preventing and buffering the impact of toxic stress and trauma. Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He practices primary care pediatrics at Access Community Health Center. He is also the founder and director of the Pediatric Early Literacy Projects at the University of Wisconsin, and is the founding medical director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin. With respect to education, Dr Navsaria is the director of advocacy training for the pediatric residency and is frequently involved in medical student and physician assistant education from the clinical arena through myriad small group and lecture formats. He also serves as the faculty advisor for the Pediatric Interest Group. Most recently, he has been named the director of the MD-MPH program at the University of Wisconsin. Born in London, England and raised in New York City, Dr Navsaria attended the Bronx High School of Science. His undergraduate education was at Boston University, majoring in Biology and English Literature. He completed a Master s in Public Health at Boston University and Physician Assistant training at The George Washington University in the District of Columbia. He practiced as a pediatric physician assistant in East Central Illinois before attending medical school at the University of Illinois in Urbana. During his time there, he also completed a master s degree in library and information science at the University of Illinois, focusing on children s librarianship. He then completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his family. He has a lovely, supportive wife and two adorable children. They not only put up with his sense of humor, they encourage it!
Childhood Trauma and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study: Implications for Providers and Families Monday 10:15-11:30 AND 3:30-4:45 The ACE Study is one the first large-scale studies to empirically demonstrate that various types of trauma and household dysfunction in childhood significantly increase the risk for physical disease in adulthood. The study is an ongoing, collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente. A unique aspect of the study is that a broad range of adverse childhood experiences were studied. These included childhood abuse, neglect, and growing up in a seriously dysfunctional household (having a battered mother, substance abuse or mental illness in the home, having incarcerated household members, etc.). An ACE Score, compiled from the number of different types of adverse experiences reported, has repeatedly been shown to reflect an individual s risk for a wide range of health and behavioral health problems. This workshop will present information from the study and discuss its importance for providers and families. For providers, the workshop will offer recommendations for screening, for prevention, and for treatment of children and families. The workshop will also offer recommendations for helping families understand the impact of trauma, the likelihood that they may have experienced traumatic events, and the potential that exists for prevention and intervention. Vivian Brown, Ph.D: Dr. Brown is founder and former CEO of PROTOTYPES, Centers for Innovation in Health, Mental Health and Social Services, a multi-facility, multi-service non-profit agency with services located throughout Southern California. She has more than 40 years experience developing innovative, community-based services, including: community mental health centers; community health programs; substance abuse treatment services, including residential, day treatment/intensive outpatient, and specialized services for women, their children, and their families; mental health and specialized cooccurring disorders treatment; trauma-informed and trauma-specific services; domestic violence prevention and intervention services; HIV outreach, prevention, and treatment services; and services for incarcerated women and recently released men, women, and youth. In addition, she has conducted numerous treatment outcome research and evaluation studies, including the Women, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Violence Study. She has been a member of numerous Federal, State, and local advisory committees, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Advisory Council (Co-Chair), SAMHSA Women s Advisory Committee, California s Co- Occurring Disorders Joint Action Committee, and the Los Angeles County Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Commission. Dr. Brown is now providing consultation services to a number of organizations, including state and local agencies, focused upon trauma-informed systems change.
Not Just Another Parenting Class: How Evidence-based Parenting is a Critical Strategy for All Drug Courts in Meeting the Needs of Families Monday 10:15-11:30 Research has shown that drug courts that provided parenting classes had improved outcomes in recidivism and cost savings (Marlow and Carey, 2012). In the family drug court model, a comprehensive and coordinated approach is essential in serving children and families participating in FDCs. The need for interventions, strategies and approaches that have proven to be effective in producing desired positive results, particularly in the areas of parenting, is crucial to assisting with timely and successful reunification and to ensure child s safety and well-being. This workshop will explore the processes of selecting, implementing, integrating and evaluating an evidence-based parenting curriculum. The discussion will include a national perspective and practical solutions, including resources for implementing an evidence-based parenting program in your Family Drug Court Program. Objectives of this session are: (1) understand the key processes of selection, implementation, integration, evaluation and the costs associated with the use of evidence-based parenting FDCs; (2) understand the importance of cross-system collaboration and partnerships in delivering high-quality and effective interventions to meet the needs of parents and children in recovery; and, (3) understand importance of system coordination, including how parent education component was integrated and coordinated with child welfare cases. s Erin Hall, MSOT: Erin Hall has 22 years of professional experience in health and human services as a facilitator of systems change and cross systems integration, technical assistance provider, consultant, lobbyist, project director, program developer, teacher and direct service provider. She has experience in the fields of child welfare, substance abuse, problem solving courts, mental health, Systems of Care for children s mental health, juvenile justice, public health, education, developmental disabilities and occupational therapy. Ms. Hall has been recognized for her ability to quickly build relationships and effectively facilitate groups with a range of stakeholders including adults and youth with substance use disorders and mental illness, parents and caregivers of children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders, judges, legislators, administrators, county commissioners, physicians, law enforcement officers, case workers, counselors and advocates. Ms. Hall is an experienced project coordinator who is equally comfortable engaging with customers and clients on the front end and creating effective work plans and budgets behind the scenes. She is a skilled writer, trainer and presenter. Alexis Balkey, BA, RAS: Ms. Balkey currently serves as a Program Associate for the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) and the National Family Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance Program at Children and Family Futures, Inc. (CFF). She assists with project management and reporting tasks to compile and synthesize information on the lessons, results and policy and practice innovations of the FDC TTA Program. Previous to her employment with CFF, Alexis Balkey was the Program Manager for Riverside County Family Preservation Court, located in Indio, CA. Ms. Balkey successfully managed a Family Drug Court
with multiple funding streams including the most recent SAMHSA Children Affected by Methamphetamine (CAM) Federal grant. She is a Registered Addiction Specialist with robust knowledge of alcohol and other drug treatment programs, services for women, trauma, co-occurring disorders and recovery support services. Ms. Balkey is an instructor for the William R. Mead Academy located in San Diego, CA with a teaching emphasis on Case Management, Criminal Justice, Ethics, Gender Studies and Co-Occurring. Ms. Balkey is a certified addictive disorder counselor by the Breining Institute, College for the Advanced Study of Addictive Disorders. Ms. Balkey received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Temple University. Ms. Balkey is currently attending California State University, San Bernardino to obtain a Masters of Public Administration.