The Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health (TA Partnership), a collaboration between the American Institutes for Research and the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, is pleased to announce the Summer 2009 System of Care Community Training, Assembling the Pieces: Strategies for Implementing and Sustaining Systems of Care. The training will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 and will conclude at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, July 31, 2009. Participants are encouraged to arrive on Tuesday, July 28. Early registration will be available that evening from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
This required training will bring together 59 currently-funded system of care communities and will provide an opportunity for networking and technical assistance. The training will also include a youth leadership track for registered youth. The youth leadership track will allow youth that are active in their system of care communities to develop skills required for participation in system transformation. Please note that there is no childcare provided at this training.
The goals for the training are as follows:
- Identify key lessons for system of care implementation and sustainability.
- Provide concrete strategies that increase the financial sustainability of systems of care.
- Provide strategies to build and maintain culturally and linguistically competent community-based services.
- Provide strategies that enhance collaboration and coordination between behavioral health, other child service systems and residential treatment providers.
- Identify approaches for building services and supports that enhance resiliency for young children at risk of serious emotional disturbances and youth with mental health issues living in rural and urban areas.
- Provide strategies for building and sustaining youth and family involvement within governance, policy and service development, and evaluation.
- Identify effective strategies for using social marketing and evaluation in sustaining systems of care.
In addition to the focus on implementation and sustainability, the training will highlight the 20th anniversary of the seminal document Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care. The plenary session on July 29 will include the authors of the original monograph who will address advancement in the field and the continued challenges of eliminating mental health disparities.
When making your travel arrangements for the training, please keep in mind that there will be a number of pre-training sessions on Tuesday, July 28. These sessions will have limited space, so please register early to reserve a place. Pre-training sessions will focus on a variety of topics, including early childhood, cultural and linguistic competence, and empowerment evaluation. In addition, there will be meetings/trainings for the Statewide Family Networks, youth coordinators, and tribal grantees (through the National Indian Child Welfare Association). More information will follow regarding these pre-training sessions.
Each system of care community is required to bring a minimum of 10 people to the training; the maximum number is 15 (read the letter from Gary Blau and Diane Sondheimer [PDF]). The team is to include, but not limited to, the project director, principal investigator, evaluator, lead family contact, two youth/young adults, youth coordinator, communications manager, State Children’s Mental Health Director, and either the clinical director, technical assistance coordinator, or the cultural and linguistic competence coordinator and/or other stakeholders. In addition, it is also highly recommended that your community bring a Child State Infrastructure Grant representative, a key system-building partner from another child-serving system in the community (e.g., juvenile justice, education, substance abuse, primary health, or child welfare), and a budget/finance person. Please see the attached list for State Children’s Mental Health Directors’ contact information.
Please note that throughout the training, each community will have the opportunity to receive focused technical assistance. This TA support will be provided by the TA Partnership staff, national TA partners, and various consultants.
The TA Partnership is happy to announce that the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) will provide continuing education units (CEUs). These CEUs may be used by social workers to meet the continuing education requirement for social work licensure and/or certification renewal. In addition, CEUs will be provided to psychologists. More details on CEUs will be available in early July.
There is no registration fee for the training. Participants attending the Summer 2009 System of Care Community Training will be responsible for paying for their own lodging, transportation, and meals. However, the hotel will provide a complimentary full breakfast each morning. The hotel has a restaurant, and the TA Partnership will supply attendees with a list of local eateries in the vicinity of the hotel.
The registration deadline is Friday, June 5, 2009. It is very important that everyone register by the deadline to help with the planning process. If you do not register by the deadline, your contact information will not be included in the participant list. You can register for the training by accessing our online registration page. In order to log into the registration system, you will be asked to provide a password, which is Am7vpk09. Please do not register more than 15 people. Registration, hotel, and travel information can also be found on this Web site. As you are aware, attendance at these trainings has grown, so it is critical that you reserve your hotel room and register for the training as soon as possible. Please be reminded that this is a required training and that travel arrangements should be made to allow you to attend the entire training.
The TA Partnership is committed to assuring that all participants are effectively informed and participate in this training. When registering, remember to indicate if you have a specific language or sign language interpretation need. Also, please advise if you have any other needs requiring special accommodations of any kind. Please make sure to register as soon as possible so we can secure needed services.
We also encourage you to participate in the Training's Information Fair (access the submission form [PDF]).
If you have programmatic questions, please contact Sharon Hunt, Deputy Director of Operations of the TA Partnership, by telephone at (202) 403-6914, or by e-mail at shunt@air.org.
If you have logistical questions, please contact Ezra Bourne, Senior Conference Manager, by telephone at (202) 403-5221 or by e-mail at ebourne@air.org.
We look forward to your attendance and participation in this national training. See you in Anaheim!