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  • Child Abuse Prevention – Outreach Toolkit 2024 - National Child Abuse Prevention Month: April 2024 Whether by proclamation, through social media, with graphics, or through other means, spreading the word about child abuse prevention lets your community know they can take action to strengthen families and help them … Read More
  • Child Welfare Law Specialist Certification - Child Welfare Law Specialist (CWLS) certification is a professional achievement that signifies an attorney’s specialized knowledge, skill, and verified expertise in the field of child welfare law. The specialization area is defined as “the practice of law representing children, parents … Read More
  • LA Benchbook Louisiana CINC Benchbook - The Court Improvement Program of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Louisiana Judicial College, and Pelican Center for Children and Families is delighted to announce the publication of the Louisiana Child in Need of Care Benchbook for Juvenile Judges. The Benchbook project is a … Read More

Upcoming Events

Nov
12
Tue
Sustained Recovery: Don’t Make Aftercare an Afterthought
Nov 12 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Sustained Recovery: Don’t Make Aftercare an Afterthought

Recovery is a process, and FTCs are a time-limited acute intervention in a family’s life. FTCs must blend aftercare planning into its program design to best support parents and their children after case closure. Aftercare plans, also known as “continuing care plans,” can provide parents with structure, accountability, and needed ongoing services to both parents and children after child welfare, treatment services, and the FTC no longer remain a central part of their lives. This Practice Academy shares the “do’s and don’ts” of aftercare planning, highlights innovative approaches to continuing care, and offers strategies and examples that FTC teams use to support sustained family recovery.   

Learning Objectives: 

  • Identify the purpose and process of aftercare planning. 
  • Establish do’s and don’ts of aftercare planning. 
  • Apply lessons about aftercare planning successes and challenges from FTC alumni in sustained recovery. 
  • Adopt strategies from recovery research and innovative FTCs focused on sustained recovery. may not appropriately identify and treat parents with co-occurring disorders.  

REGISTER HERE

Conversations on Race, Equity, and Inclusion Training Series: Session 4 – Intersectionality: A Rationale for Cultural Humility
Nov 12 @ 1:30 pm – Nov 14 @ 2:00 pm
Conversations on Race, Equity, and Inclusion Training Series: Session 4 – Intersectionality: A Rationale for Cultural Humility

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s prompted educators and health and human services professionals to develop cultural competence. The belief was, if the mostly white practitioners increased their knowledge of diverse racial and ethnic groups’ values and customs, they could improve the delivery of services to diverse populations. While cultural competence was a step in the right direction, it inadvertently reinforced and created stereotypes about cultural practices and experiences that fell short of achieving its goal of supporting culturally sensitive service delivery.

 

In this two-part training session, participants will learn the importance of cultural humility: suspending cultural assumptions and, instead, embracing individuals’ personal definitions and expressions of culture. Participants will explore cultural humility by defining their own personal culture using a myriad of identity factors (e.g., skin color, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and ability) and determining whether those identity factors place them in privileged or marginalized groups, or both. They will learn how the intersections of various identity factors create a unique cultural experience for every individual and how these intersections result in systemic power differentials and complex experiences of oppression. Finally, they will apply their cultural identity to the framework of the Cage of Oppression and, using the example of lookism, evaluate how existing power structures impact their lives and the lives of those they serve. By recognizing the societal effects of intersectionality, participants will be challenged to incorporate cultural humility in their personal and professional interactions.

REGISTER HERE

Nov
13
Wed
When Parents & Schools Disagree
Nov 13 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
When Parents & Schools Disagree

This training session will delve into Louisiana’s Special Education dispute resolution options and what to do when you disagree with the school regarding your child’s special education services. We will discuss:

  • Frequently used acronyms
  • Different informal and formal dispute resolutions options offered by the Louisiana Department of Education
  • How to request a dispute resolution option.

REGISTER HERE

TBRI Connecting Principles Virtual Training Module 4: Building Trust by Giving Voice
Nov 13 @ 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
TBRI Connecting Principles Virtual Training Module 4: Building Trust by Giving Voice

Parenting is challenging, particularly when you are parenting a child from a hard place. TBRI® Connecting Principles will provide and in-depth look at connection and attachment and will give you strategies and skills for helping children and families heal. This multi-disciplinary training is designed to give caregivers, volunteers, and professionals who serve children and families the knowledge and practical skills they need to bring hope and healing.

This multi-disciplinary training is designed to give caregivers, volunteers, and professionals who serve children and families the knowledge and practical skills they need to bring hope and healing. This live, online training has 4 video-conferencing modules, giving participants the opportunity learn in an interactive environment.

Please Note: Participants must attend TBRI Introduction and Overview prior to attending this training.

Module 1: Introduction and Insight
Learning objectives:
1. Gain knowledge & insight about infant attachment that will build a foundation for awareness of your own attachment history as well as how to build secure connections with children.

Module 2: Attachment (when things go wrong) and Mindfulness Strategies ( May 15)
Learning objectives:
1. Gain knowledge regarding the effects of insecure attachment on the ability to regulate behavior.
2. Gain insight on how our own attachment styles and histories influence the relationships we have with others.

Module 3: Engagement Strategies
Learning objective:
1. Gain strategies and techniques that make it easier to relate to children in the ways they communicate best – non verbally and through playful interaction.

Module 4: Building Trust by Giving Voice
Learning objectives:
1. Gain understanding and compassion regarding the fact that children from hard places often crave control of their environments, which is a product of having no control over their past.
2. Gain strategies that teach children that their words have power and safe adults will listen to their needs.

REGISTER HERE

Nov
14
Thu
Preventing the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Adolescent Girls: Facilitating the My Life My Choice Curriculum
Nov 14 @ 10:00 am – Nov 15 @ 4:00 pm
Preventing the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Adolescent Girls: Facilitating the My Life My Choice Curriculum

Become a Certified Facilitator for the My Life My Choice Prevention Curriculum, an evaluated and nationally‐acclaimed exploitation prevention curriculum aimed at changing adolescent girls’ perceptions of the commercial sex industry, building self-esteem and personal empowerment. Participants learn to run psycho-educational groups with vulnerable girls in a variety of settings to prevent exploitation and/or re-victimization. It is the first comprehensive, survivor-led curriculum in the US and has been used in 36 states. It is both gender specific and gender responsive.

Participants will:

  • Understand the research behind the My Life My Choice Curriculum

  • Learn how to use the Curriculum to run psycho-educational groups with vulnerable girls in a variety of settings to prevent exploitation and/or re-victimization

  • Learn best practices for facilitating a prevention group and explore potential challenges

  • Practice facilitation skills and receive feedback in small and large group settings

  • Receive a copy of the My Life My Choice Curriculum and membership to our prevention-focused Online Community

REGISTER HERE

Nov
15
Fri
TBRI® Empowering Principles Module 2: Empowering
Nov 15 @ 9:00 pm – 12:00 am
TBRI® Empowering Principles Module 2: Empowering

Parenting is challenging, particularly when you are parenting a child from a hard place. TBRI ® Empowering Principles will provide an in-depth look at ways to empower your children by meeting their unique physical needs and creating an environment in which they can succeed. This session includes information on sensory processing and practical tools and skills to help children regulate their emotions and behaviors. This multi-disciplinary training is designed to give caregivers, volunteers, and professionals who serve children and families the knowledge and practical skills they need to bring hope and healing.

This multi-disciplinary training is designed to give caregivers, volunteers, and professionals who serve children and families the knowledge and practical skills they need to bring hope and healing. This live, online training has 4 video-conferencing modules, giving participants the opportunity learn in an interactive environment.

Please Note: Participants must attend TBRI Introduction and Overview prior to attending this training.

Module 1: Empowering
Learning objectives:
1. Understanding regarding how to help teach children self-regulation through internal (physiological) and external (environmental) strategies
2. Understanding the importance of felt safety and how it enables learning and growth in children
3. Understanding the effects of dehydration and fluctuations in blood glucose and how to proactively avoid such fluctuations.
4. Mindset shift surrounding the question, “What is the need behind this behavior?”
5. Understanding regarding the functions of the external and internal senses
6. Understanding how trauma has affected the sensory systems of children and how these deficits are often mistaken as willful misbehavior.

Module 2: Empowering
Learning objectives:
1. Watching empowering principles put into practice in behavioral episodes
2. Recognizing the importance of felt safety, connection, and setting the behavioral bar appropriately in relationship with a child’s ability to self-regulate.
3. Understanding the need for support during transitions for children who have experienced trauma and how to implement those needed supports.
4. Understanding the progression from external regulation to self-regulation and how to mentor children’s capacity to self-regulate.

REGISTER HERE

Nov
18
Mon
2024 Families Learning Conference @ Louisville Marriott Downtown
Nov 18 – Nov 20 all-day

About this Event

The Families Learning Conference is for passionate people looking for innovative learning strategies and resources to support families in reaching their academic and economic goals. Attendees will discover practices and ideas to create equitable and relevant family learning experiences; gain access to a national network of family-facing professionals, researchers, policymakers, and funders; and find inspiration and renewed energy for their work.

REGISTER HERE

The Color of Surveillance: Surveillance / Resistance @ Georgetown University Law Center
Nov 18 @ 9:00 am – 5:30 pm
The Color of Surveillance: Surveillance / Resistance @ Georgetown University Law Center
The 2024 Color of Surveillance conference will be co-hosted by the Center on Privacy & Technology, the UCLA Center on Race & Digital Justice and the Distributed AI Research Institute, and will take place at the Georgetown University Law Center campus in Washington D.C. on November 18. This year, we’ll look at the intersection of surveillance and resistance, explore how technologies of surveillance have long been resisted, how surveillance has been employed as a strategy of resistance, and changing interpretations of resistance in an age of ubiquitous surveillance.

More program and speaker information can be found at: www.colorofsurveillance.org. In-person attendees will be asked to test on-site for COVID and wear a mask. Contact privacy@georgetown.edu with any questions.

REGISTER HERE

Conversations on Race, Equity, and Inclusion Training Series: Session 5 – The Intersection of Race And Trauma
Nov 18 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Conversations on Race, Equity, and Inclusion Training Series: Session 5 – The Intersection of Race And Trauma

Although race is merely a social construct, it has fractured American society for centuries. Race has been the impetus for war, both historically on the battlefield and, in more recent times, on the streets of America and around the globe. Do we really understand the power race holds while being only an illusion? Moreover, what trauma is caused by race and its influence on laws, policies and individual behaviors? This three-hour training session begins the critical conversation about the intersection between race and trauma, and its impact on us as individuals and collectively.

REGISTER HERE

Nov
20
Wed
Mandated Reporting: Understanding Laws, Responsibilities, and Best Practices for Reporting Suspected Abuse and Neglect
Nov 20 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Mandated Reporting: Understanding Laws, Responsibilities, and Best Practices for Reporting Suspected Abuse and Neglect

Join us for an essential session on “Mandated Reporting” presented by the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund. This virtual event is designed for professionals, attorneys, caregivers, educators, and community members who have a legal and ethical obligation to protect children from abuse and neglect. Our speaker will provide a comprehensive overview of mandated reporting laws, the responsibilities of reporters, adn the best practices for handling suspected cases of abuse and neglect. Participants will gain the knowledge and confidence needed to fulfill their mandated reporting duties effectively and safeguard the well-being of children in their care.

SPEAKER:

Sherrard Crespo is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) who obtained her Masters Degree in Social Work from Louisiana State University in 2017. Her professional background is highlighted by her work with suicide education, prevention, intervention, and postvention. Sherrard is currently employed with VIA LINK in the position of Director of Outreach and PCAL where her current duties include: clinical oversight of VIA LINK’s 24/7 contact center, VIA LINK internal training on suicide risk assessment, community outreach and education on VIA LINK services as well as specialized skills and information on suicide, crisis intervention, and trauma. She also facilitates VIA LINK’s two support groups: Survivors of Suicide Loss and “Real Talk” a support group for teens with suicide ideation. She is also the Director for Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana (PCAL), the Louisiana state affiliate for Prevent Child Abuse America, which is operated by VIA LINK, in which her current focus includes education and advocacy for the community to support Louisiana families and prevent child abuse. Her professional clinical skills also include seeing individual clients who are bereaved by suicide loss as well as providing consultation for clients who are assessed for suicide risk.

REGISTER HERE