Changemaker Summit: Annual Conference

CYSA's Annual Conference: Changemaker Summit
Friday, October 18, 2024
Hartford Marriott Downtown

Featuring Keynote Speakers: Chris Lyddy and Adhlere Coffy from Dalio Education

Registration/Breakfast: 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Program: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Includes: Breakfast, Lunch, CEUs

REGISTER TO ATTEND
SPONSOR/EXHIBITOR INFORMATION |SIGN UP FORM

The 2024 Annual Conference theme "Bridging the Gap: Forging Positive Youth Connections" will explore and enhance the strategies for building strong, supportive relationships with Connecticut's young people. Join us on October 18 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM for this inspiring and impactful event, where together, we can bridge the gap and forge positive connections that will shape the future for our youth.

The conference brings together more than 300 Youth Service Bureau professionals, including directors, staff, and volunteers. Become a sponsor and gain substantial visibility among this diverse audience and highlight your support of the important work done by YSBs throughout Connecticut.

AGENDA

REGISTER TO ATTEND
SPONSOR/EXHIBITOR INFORMATION |SIGN UP FORM

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

SESSION I

Changing School Culture through Student Voice, Grasso Tech High School
Ashley Camera School Psychologist, Jose Rios, Trade Instructor, with Grasso Tech students
Join us to discuss how to increase youth voice by creating opportunities and spaces for them to teach adults how they learn best. Students will provide ideas for adults to use in their day to day practices with youth. Through student-led professional development (SPL), which is an innovative way to improve teacher development and collaboration, students can share their perspectives with teachers. This approach can help teachers or any adults working with youth to understand their students’ experiences and build empathy; improve teaching practices by getting adults to reflect on their own approaches and make changes based on what students say they need i.e. creating equitable teaching practices; and SPL can help teachers understand the needs of all students and make lessons that work for everyone.

The Group Advantage: Building and Sustaining Healthy Youth Cohorts
Nicky Wood, Executive Director, Outside Perspectives
Lauren Humphrey, Community Outreach & Development Director
This workshop guides youth service professionals through the effective strategies for forming and maintaining dynamic youth groups. Participants will explore the benefits of cohort-based youth development, tackle common challenges, and discover how Outside Perspectives' tailored programs can enhance group dynamics and foster resilience, leadership, and teamwork. This session is essential for professionals seeking to leverage group work to achieve significant and lasting impacts in youth services.

Motivational Interviewing: Getting Clients Unstuck & Ready for Change
Sarah Soboleski, LCSW, South Windsor Human Services
Youth and their families can be hard to budge when it comes to meeting goals or making positive changes. In this informative session, participants will learn what Motivational Interviewing (MI) is and is not, details of the spirit of MI, the stages of change model, and how to elicit change talk. This workshop is helpful for folks new to MI and is a good refresher for those already using the approach in their work.

STEPS to Know More
Kristin Sandler, Outreach Coordinator
Megan Albanese, Youth Prevention Coordinator
Southington's Town-wide Effort to Promote Success (STEPS)
Similar to many other coalitions, STEPS recognized the difficulty of gathering people in a physical location for prevention programming. To meet our community where it is at, STEPS moved our content online using an interactive quiz method. These short quizzes are made to engage and educate the Southington community from the comfort of their own home at their own pace. Join this workshop to take a deep dive into the development of the STEPS ‘It’s not cheesy’ campaign from concept to implementation. An idea sparked by STEPS Youth Council members after reviewing student survey data, “It’s not cheesy” aims to educate parents on the best ways to communicate and connect with their high school aged kids. Youth Council members - all students at Southington High School - were involved in every step of the campaign, from developing questions and real-life scenarios for the quiz, to creating the pizza slice mascot Randy, to launching the campaign at seven local pizza shops. Learn from the adult advisors and student leaders of Youth Council their process for reviewing data, identifying risk factors and target populations, and engaging families using technology.

Working with Minors Experiencing Homelessness/Housing Instability
Stacey Violante Cote, MSW, JD, Deputy Director, Center for Children's Advocacy
Tim Maguire, MS, MSW, Executive Director, Center for Children’s Advocacy
This workshop will prepare providers to work with minors who are housing unstable and on their own or "unaccompanied." Information on the nuances of minors who are experiencing homelessness vs. those with their families, their rights and what to do if providers are working with an unaccompanied homeless minor, including where to refer, how to figure out the immediate housing issue, and mediation/crisis de-escalation strategies.

SESSION II

Innovative Youth Program: Pathfinders
Brandon Smith, Program Coordinator, Waterford Youth Services
Pathfinders is a preventative program focused on reducing the stigma surrounding mental health in young men. This program was designed as an at-risk preventative program in collaboration with Heavy Hitters LLC, which is a non-profit program through the Whaling City Athletic Club gym in New London, and Waterford Public Schools. The program was run for the first time this past winter using opioid funds to create a free program for High School aged boys who were identified to us by the school system as being at-risk or in need of social emotional mentoring, a category of young men not hard to find post pandemic. Using a combination of “The Council for Boys and Young Men” curriculum created by the One Circle Foundation, and hands on mentoring by some of the amazing coaches from heavy hitters, we aimed to teach these young men how to handle their emotions in a healthy way. We provided valuable life skills/tools to be confident and successful young men, got them doing physical activity like boxing, basketball, and weightlifting, and formed a bond as a group by creating an environment where it was okay to be vulnerable and encouraged to support one another both inside and outside of the program. This program was a success for the boys who stuck with it, and this year we are pushing it down to the middle school level to try and create a larger group that can run consecutively for multiple years.

Intro to Restorative Practices
Joe Brummer, Joe Brummer Consulting
In this presentation, we will introduce trauma-informed restorative justice and discuss the goals of diversion programs for youth. We will explore the different types of diversion and how trauma-informed restorative justice principles play a crucial role in handling cases in a developmentally informed manner. Also, we will examine the significance of viewing behavior through the lens of neuroscience and attachment rather than outdated models such as behaviorism. Additionally, we will compare traditional models of justice against more trauma-informed and restorative models. This presentation aims to inspire change in how we address the behavioral challenges of today’s youth.

LGBTQ+ Youth (and How to Support Them)
Mel Cordner, Executive Director, Q Plus CT
Learn more about the experiences and challenges of queer youth today, and how you can best support them as an adult. This training covers the basics of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, including vocabulary and a tiny bit of history and culture, before delving into why these identities are so important to queer youth today. We will explore youth experiences of queerphobias, risk factors and related statistics, and the long-term impacts of growing up queer and unsupported; then, we will discuss ways to reduce these risks, including protective factors and best practices for everything from policies to day-to-day interactions. This training includes a brief overview of relevant federal and Connecticut anti-discrimination laws.

Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Violence
Lindsey Jones, Volunteer Program and Advocacy Manager, YWCA New Britain Sexual Assault Crisis Service
This training explores the dynamics of child sexual abuse, including the grooming process often used by offenders, and discusses the impacts of trauma on mental, physical, emotional, and social health. Participants will also learn how to respond to disclosures of sexual violence and what local resources exist for youth and families.

Vaping 101: A Guide to E-cigarettes in Youth
Tricia Dahl, Senior Research Assistant, Yale University School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry
E-cigarette use among adolescents remains a public health concern nationwide, including here in Connecticut. Tricia Dahl from Yale University, School of Medicine will present an overview of adolescents' use of e-cigarettes ("vapes") including rates from national data and data collected from Connecticut high schools in 2024. Additional information provided will include considerations of negative consequences of youth e-cigarette use (e.g., risk for developing dependence, use of other tobacco products), suggestions for parents/administrators, and information about quitting resources.

Zentangle 101
Heather McNeil, LMFT, LADC, Director, Old Saybrook Youth & Family Services
The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. We call these patterns, tangles. Laura and Heather are excited to bring a design especially created for use by CYSA attendees! Attendees will learn about the creation of Zentangle and we will ask you to imagine the ways you can use it in your work with youth to increase mindfulness and encourage creative outlets. The benefits to our mental health of developing a creative and mindfulness practice are many! All supplies will be provided, and attendees will have their own to take home. Limited spots available.

SESSION III

Let's WOOP It Up!
Wendy Mill, Program Manager, Communities & Youth, The Governor's Prevention Partnership
Recent research shows that daily practices (or intentional activities) can increase our happiness. This youth-led session focuses on what the research shows about happiness and outlines achievable activities we all can engage in to substantially increase our happiness over time.

Why We Didn't Tell You: Learning from Lived Experience of Those With Suicidal Thoughts
Grace Grinnell, Program Associate, Suicide Education and Support, NAMI CT
Steve MacHattie, LCSW, Registered Play Therapist, Charter Oak Family Center LLC
Valerie Lepoutre, Director of Peer Initiatives, Education and training NAMI CT
After a suicide, survivors often grapple with questions of “why didn’t they tell me that they were struggling? Why didn’t they tell me they were thinking about suicide? Why didn’t they get help?” This workshop will present results from a survey of suicide attempt survivors regarding their reasons for not telling loved ones, clinicians, and others that they were thinking about or planning to make a suicide attempt. The survey and this workshop were designed collaboratively by members of the Connecticut Suicide Advisory Board’s Attempt Survivors and Lived Experience Committee, an independent, peer-led interdisciplinary committee of persons with lived experience of suicidal thoughts from all walks of life and throughout the lifespan. Committee members include clinicians with lived experience as well as peer support specialists, research professionals, educators, activists, and community volunteers. This workshop will describe the work of the CT Suicide Advisory Board’s growing Lived Experience Committee and its partnerships with other agencies and organizations in the community.

Youth Promise: A Holistic Approach to Mental Health and Life Skills Development
Joe Trelli, Program Coordinator, Waterford Youth & Family Services
This workshop empowers professionals to develop their own youth programs, offering tools and strategies to create supportive, mentally healthy environments tailored to their communities. We'll explore how the Youth Promise program integrates essential life skills with modern challenges, all centered on mental health, and highlight its approach to fostering resilience and healthy relationships among youth.

YSB Directors Roundtable
Seasoned YSB directors will answer your questions and lead a discussion about YSB needs and challenges. This is an invaluable opportunity for brainstorming and problem solving from the experts.

Changemaker Summit: Annual Conference

CYSA's Annual Conference: Changemaker SummitFriday, October 18, 2024Hartford Marriott Downtown

Featuring Keynote Speakers: Chris Lyddy and Adhlere Coffy from Dalio Education

Registration/Breakfast: 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Program: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.Includes: Breakfast, Lunch, CEUs

REGISTER TO ATTENDSPONSOR/EXHIBITOR INFORMATION |SIGN UP FORM

AGENDA

REGISTER TO ATTENDSPONSOR/EXHIBITOR INFORMATION |SIGN UP FORM

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

SESSION I

SESSION II

SESSION III

CYSA's Annual Conference: Changemaker Summit
Friday, October 18, 2024
Hartford Marriott Downtown

Registration/Breakfast: 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Program: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Includes: Breakfast, Lunch, CEUs

REGISTER TO ATTEND
SPONSOR/EXHIBITOR INFORMATION |SIGN UP FORM

REGISTER TO ATTEND
SPONSOR/EXHIBITOR INFORMATION |SIGN UP FORM