Monday, April 26
Session A 1:15-2:45 pm
Session B 3:15-4:45 pm
Yoga 5-5:45 pm

Tuesday, April 27
Session C 10:45 am - 12:15 pm
Session D 1:45-3:15 pm
Yoga 4-4:45 pm
Screening and Discussion of the film Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood

Wednesday, April 28
Session E 10:30 am - 12 pm
Session F 1:30-3 pm

INSTITUTE Despite the prevalence of child sexual abuse, the significant life-long impact on its victims, and an annual estimated $23 billion dollar cost associated with its aftermath, most communities have not been mobilized for prevention, most adults are not protecting children from people who might abuse them, and most parents are not communicating to their children about a major health and safety risk. This institute will provide participants with an in-depth look at child sexual abuse, the factors that allow it to thrive, and how one state is implementing a comprehensive set of strategies to prevent it that are grounded in three recognized frameworks for social change. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Tracks: CATP, NFP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Youth Service Providers, Advocates

INSTITUTE As child welfare workers/supervisors plan for the safety of children in cases where child abuse and domestic violence intersect, it is beneficial to understand the challenges adult victims face when seeking help within their communities. Through the interactive simulation In Her Shoes, that opportunity is provided. Group discussion will build on the simulation as participants think creatively about ways to address safety for families through the promising practices Healthy Families New York and CPS/DV collaborations offer. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: DV. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Child Welfare Workers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

The topic of Infant Mental Health has been getting a great deal of attention, yet there hasn’t always been a clear definition of what this actually means. This has left many parents and professionals nodding about the importance, but with limited understanding. This workshop will offer a clear description of the important topics and issues included in defining and understanding Infant Mental Health. Participants will: Learn about all the areas of study that come together to determine what is most important in early development; Appreciate that despite the complexity of scientific research in this field, what is most important to the developing infant is relatively easy to understand and teach parents; Learn what the best prevention and treatment strategies are; Be able to understand and explain that what happens for children in their earliest years has a lifelong effect; Leave with accessible resources for continued knowledge seeking. Tracks: PES, CATP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Mental Health Professionals, Parents of Young Children.

This panel presentation will explore the important connection and relevance of parenting education to the fields of substance abuse and child welfare. Participants will learn about the effect of parental addiction and neglect on a child's development, examples of Evidenced Based Practices used by parenting educators to successfully address those co-occuring problems, and resources available to both providers and the children and families they serve. In addition, they will learn about the NYS Parenting Education Partnership and the exciting move towards the professionalism of parent educators in New York State. Tracks: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Mental Health Professionals, Child Welfare Workers.

The workshop will provide legal and practical information for caregivers and advocates for caregivers who are seeking custody, guardianship or adoption of their kin outside of the formal foster care system. We will discuss the legal rights of caregivers and will include information on authority to make medical and educational decisions and access to public benefits. We will provide updates in the existing law where applicable. Participants will learn how to effectively obtain rights over, and services for, children being cared for by kinship providers. Track: PES. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Child Welfare Workers, Advocates.

This will be an interactive workshop focusing on the nexus between strategic marketing and successful fund development, structured for nonprofits of all sizes and budgets. This workshop will focus on how to motivate a target audience and marketing and public relations strategies that work to build relationships that last. The presenter will share real life examples, concrete suggestions and leave the audience with ideas and strategies that can be implemented immediately with no to low cost. Track: NFP. Audiences: Managers/Administrators, Advocates.

In Nassau County, two well-respected victim’s services organizations have come together to help families in distress. This innovative partnership is the first of its kind in New York State, bringing together under one roof The Nassau Coalition Against Domestic Violence and The Coalition Against Child Abuse & Neglect. Not simply to take advantage of the sustaining nature and financial stability afforded by shared space, but to provide programs that will better serve battered women and abused children at the most vulnerable times in their lives. Learn how we've accomplished this union and discover how your organizations can move in the direction of co-location and collaboration. Tracks: NFP. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support.

The home environment is the best place to plant the seeds of violence prevention. Children begin to develop constructs of gender roles, social expectations and problem solving techniques in the early years. Parents and caregivers can influence the development of the next generation by creating an environment of peace and cooperation. In this workshop, parenting educators and family workers will explore tools, resources and activities to use with families to encourage the development of non-violent family relationships. Track: PES. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers.

INSTITUTE Despite the prevalence of child sexual abuse, the significant life-long impact on its victims, and an annual estimated $23 billion dollar cost associated with its aftermath, most communities have not been mobilized for prevention, most adults are not protecting children from people who might abuse them, and most parents are not communicating to their children about a major health and safety risk. This institute will provide participants with an in-depth look at child sexual abuse, the factors that allow it to thrive, and how one state is implementing a comprehensive set of strategies to prevent it that are grounded in three recognized frameworks for social change. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Tracks: CATP, NFP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Youth Service Providers, Advocates.

INSTITUTE As child welfare workers/supervisors plan for the safety of children in cases where child abuse and domestic violence intersect, it is beneficial to understand the challenges adult victims face when seeking help within their communities. Through the interactive simulation In Her Shoes, that opportunity is provided. Group discussion will build on the simulation as participants think creatively about ways to address safety for families through the promising practices Healthy Families New York and CPS/DV collaborations offer. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: DV. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Child Welfare Workers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

The Raising A Thinking Child (RATC) program at the Adelphi University Institute for Parenting teaches parents, teachers and professionals a more effective way of communicating with children. During this introductory session, professionals will learn to help parents teach their children to: Dialog by using a method of discussing challenging situations; Identify and think through problem situations and everyday conflicts; Find positive solutions to problems; Exhibit more pro-social behaviors; Increase capacity to cope with frustration and anger; Care about and understand their own as well as others’ feelings; Realize there is more than one way to solve a problem; Learn essential language skills in a fun-filled way; Focus on how to think, not what to think. Track: PES, CATP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providors, Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Mental Health Professionals.

The Skip Generations program at Family Resource Centers of Crestwood Children’s Center in Rochester provides essential supports and advocacy for grandparents raising their grandchildren. There are many grandparents raising their grandchildren within our community who are unable to attend group sessions and otherwise access these valuable services. Our mentoring program provides a new dimension and added reach to the services through Skip. Outcomes of the mentoring program include: Providing information and support to grandparents in the community to alleviate isolation and decrease incidence of depression among this population; and providing a source of empathy, information, counsel, education, and support to empower grandparents to properly care for their children. Tracks: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Advocates.

Nourishment comes from food, but also from the work we do, our relationships with others, our spiritual practices and how we care for ourselves. In this workshop, you will learn: 1) How processed food versus real foods can affect one's overall well being; 2) How to make the best choices of foods that will provide us with pure energy and optimum health; 3) Other essential sources of nourishment for achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle; 4) What choices we have when selecting foods that give us the most energy and the best health; and 5) What other sources of nourishment are essential for achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Track: PES. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Parents of Young Children, Youth Service Providers, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

PANEL DISCUSSION New York State has joined 14 other states in implementing an alternative response to the investigation of certain child protective service reports. In New York this model is called Family Assessment Response (FAR) and it offers families the alternative of participating in a family-led assessment rather than receive a traditional child protective services investigation. With support from OCFS and its training partner American Humane, fourteen (14) local social service districts have chosen to implement Family Assessment Response (FAR) to date. This interactive workshop includes a brief overview of the FAR model and a panel discussion with representatives from several participating local social service districts and American Humane. Track: CW. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Child Welfare Workers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

B7 Brief Review of the Role of Mandated Reporters and the Impact of Recent Legislation
Patrick Tooman, Research Foundation – BSC

This hour and half presentation will focus on the role of the Mandated Reporter in NYS and the impact of Chapter 193 of the 2007 Laws. This specific legislation has had significant impact on how mandated reporters within certain settings must now report when there is a reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected. Tracks: CATP, CW. Audiences: School-based Program Providers, Mental Health Professionals, Managers/Administrators.

When's the last time you went to a presentation and walked away feeling like it was a complete waste of time? The speaker was obviously knowledgeable, the organization's work was commendable, but the workshop was bland, dull, uninspired, and you can't remember much of what was said. When's the last time you had to give a professional presentation and you were sure you weren't falling into the same trap? We'll guide you through the basics of improving your speaking and presentation style so you can create workshops with impact. Track: NFP. Audiences: Managers/Administrators, Advocates.

ADVANCED INSTITUTE Motivational Interviewing is a way of being with someone that invites collaborative exploring, reflective self-direction and offers a genuine interest in the other person’s experience and perspective. These skills can help reduce supervisor’s stress, increase the ability to recognize and effectively respond to resistance and invite more collaboration in the work. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: NFP. Audiences: School-based Program Providers, Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Managers/Administrators.

INSTITUTE Parenting seriously difficult children requires a reverse set of skills required for normally developing children. Parents often rely on a set of rewards and punishments in the face of seriously difficult children who reject both. The alternative is to abandon traditional but ineffective parenting. In this institute, parents will learn to detach themselves from the unworkable in the expectation that if they persevere, they can reap substantial change in their seemingly angry, incorrigible and out-of-control child. This institute is also appropriate for professionals and practitioners working with parents. The skills learned in this institute can be applied to children of any age. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: PES. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Managers/Administrators, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

INSTITUTE & PANEL DISCUSSION This session will address the significant co-occurrence of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence and offer strategies for effective collaboration among domestic violence agencies, organizations seeking to prevent or intervene in child abuse, and other community service-providers. The workshop will begin with a brief overview of domestic violence facts and figures, as well as the relationship between domestic violence and child welfare systems in New York State. Then a panel of representatives from some of the various systems that interact with families impacted by domestic violence will conduct an interactive discussion of a specific case fact pattern with questions and answers from the audience. Finally, participants will receive training on the use of tools for screening family members for domestic violence, how to respond to a “positive” screen, and recommendations for adapting these screening tools for use in their own organizations. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Tracks: DV, CW. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

ADVANCED WORKSHOP This workshop will discuss Improved Outcomes for Children (IOC) and Family Team Conference (FTC), two strategies designed to strengthen preventive services while enhancing children’s safety and expediting their progress towards permanency. The presentation explores how this approach promotes a paradigm shift from a standardized model focused on deficits to an individualized approach that empowers families and promotes their strengths. Participants will leave with an understanding of how to integrate the six stages of family team conferencing into their work, as well as an understanding of the importance of a team decision to engage families, community partners and family support systems. Tracks: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Managers/Administrators.

Presenters will demonstrate and explore with the audience art therapy and yoga. These disciplines naturally complement and support a variety of therapeutic and educational goals. Presenters will discuss a variety of ways in which creative arts can promote physical, intellectual, social and emotional growth in young children and offer alternative opportunities for healing. Participants will engage in yoga and art therapy activities throughout the duration of the workshop. Track: CATP. Audiences: School-based Program Providers, Mental Health Professionals.

Adolescence can be a time of turbulence with rapidly changing bodies, emotional swings, social anxiety and sexual confusion. However, it also offers “tweens” opportunities to develop abstract thinking, explore personal values, strive for independence and set educational goals. The path through a successful adolescence counts on significant adults to support, inform and guide along the way. Join us to learn how to set boundaries develop protective factors and deal with these ‘wonderful’ early adolescent years. Track: PES. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

Participants will learn about how a rural county in the Fingerlakes Region of NYS developed a communications plan to promote usage of parenting education and other family support services. Facilitators will share research findings about the prevailing parental perceptions regarding these services, results of a specific instructional approach to parenting education based on research findings and the objectives messages and tools connected with the communications plan. Track: PES, NFP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Researchers.

These difficult economic times have made one lesson very clear: non-profits need a diverse array of funding sources to survive. Relying too heavily one source—foundations or government or major donors—alone is risky, because it puts all your eggs in one basket. However, individual giving is one of the few types of fundraising that has actually increased during the recession! An annual giving program should be the foundation for everything else. This session will use real-world examples and data to discuss how to launch and maintain such a program. For those just starting out, we will review strategies, plans and schedules and how to set goals, budget and project long-term value. For those further along in their programs, we will compare members to donors; how to deal with ‘transactional’ vs. ‘mission-oriented’ supporters and different approaches to creative. All participants in this lively exchange will come away with real-world examples and action items they can take back to their organizations, including how to make the case to start your own program—even in this economy. Track: NFP. Audiences: Managers/Administrators, Advocates.

ADVANCED INSTITUTE Motivational Interviewing is a way of being with someone that invites collaborative exploring, reflective self-direction and offers a genuine interest in the other person’s experience and perspective. These skills can help reduce supervisor’s stress, increase the ability to recognize and effectively respond to resistance and invite more collaboration in the work. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: NFP. Audiences: School-based Program Providers, Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Managers/Administrators.

INSTITUTE Parenting seriously difficult children requires a reverse set of skills required for normally developing children. Parents often rely on a set of rewards and punishments in the face of seriously difficult children who reject both. The alternative is to abandon traditional but ineffective parenting. In this institute, parents will learn to detach themselves from the unworkable in the expectation that if they persevere, they can reap substantial change in their seemingly angry, incorrigible and out-of-control child. This institute is also appropriate for professionals and practitioners working with parents. The skills learned in this institute can be applied to children of any age. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: PES. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Managers/Administrators, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

INSTITUTE & PANEL DISCUSSION This session will address the significant co-occurrence of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence and offer strategies for effective collaboration among domestic violence agencies, organizations seeking to prevent or intervene in child abuse, and other community service-providers. The workshop will begin with a brief overview of domestic violence facts and figures, as well as the relationship between domestic violence and child welfare systems in New York State. Then a panel of representatives from some of the various systems that interact with families impacted by domestic violence will conduct an interactive discussion of a specific case fact pattern with questions and answers from the audience. Finally, participants will receive training on the use of tools for screening family members for domestic violence, how to respond to a “positive” screen, and recommendations for adapting these screening tools for use in their own organizations. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Tracks: DV, CW. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Child Welfare Workers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

The presentation will focus on the ever-growing problem of gang culture, the lure to our youth and how to deal with this epidemic. This graphic, fast-paced presentation will expose the real challenges that lie ahead in combating this violent culture. Identification, prevention, intervention and suppression methods will be discussed. Tracks: PES, CWEL. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Youth Service Providers.

Zealous advocacy for children can burn the very bridges you need. This training utilizes mediation concepts—active listening, problem solving and communication—to help advocates move beyond their opinions to the expressed needs of others and help develop the collaborative (not “clobberative”) relationships that assist in permanency. This workshop is designed for those who are in a position of having to advocate for children they're connected with and was originally designed to assist Court Appointed Special Advocate Volunteers learn how to serve their appointed children more effectively. The skills learned in the workshop can be applied to any type of advocacy of a child. Track: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Advocates.

Children utilizing supervised visitation programs have often experienced a wide range of trauma that lead to challenging behaviors. Difficulty managing these behaviors in a visitation setting becomes a challenge for both the parents that are visiting as well as the professionals who supervise the visits. This workshop will enable participants to enhance the visitation process by understanding children’s behaviors through a trauma lens. The workshop will share techniques—for example, the decision dialogue and creating a collaborative relationship—that will help to empower marginalized and disempowered parents and families. Tracks: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Child WElfare Workers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

This workshop will highlight two NYS Office of Children and Families Services interventions directed at teen parents, specifically teen fathers, both in the community and in facility placement. Healthy Families New York Home Visiting Program staff will discuss how they engage and provide intensive services directed at teen fathers and their children. The second part of the workshop will discuss efforts on the part of OCFS Division of Juvenile Justice and Opportunities for Youth to engage juvenile offenders and juvenile delinquents in becoming responsible fathers. Presenters will offer examples of how to engage teen dads, identify issues and strengths, and how to provide services to the dads and families. The workshop will include the perspective of front line workers, researchers, and administrators. Tracks: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Youth Service Providers, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

Research conducted by Prevent Child Abuse America shows that a majority of Americans is willing to become involved in helping to prevent child abuse and neglect. However, these respondents feel uncomfortable because they lack the knowledge and skills that would enable them to intervene safely and effectively. That’s where The Front Porch Project® comes in. The American Humane Association will discuss the impact of its primary prevention, community-based initiative, The Front Porch Project, in preventing child maltreatment and creating caring communities across the country. We will highlight The Parent Child Center of Tulsa’s implementation of the initiative. Track: CATP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Managers/Administrators, Child Welfare Workers.

ADVANCED INSTITUTE This institute will introduce and discuss implementation of a practical program evaluation hierarchy suitable for deployment in program development, CQI initiatives, continuing funding applications and response to changing regulatory/fiscal climates in not-for-profit agencies. The use of literature review, program and implementation theory, process evaluation, standardized outcome measures, impact analysis and efficiency assessment is discussed with a focus on design and utility for all stakeholders in the targeted service. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: NFP. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Managers/Administrators, Researchers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

Participants will learn about the homeless services available to children and families in NYS, as well as discuss the signs, symptoms and stressors on children and parents experiencing homelessness. Participants will discuss and brainstorm strategies for interacting with school-aged children, and parents with children of all ages. This interactive workshop is especially designed for staff working directly with families, but will give a helpful overview of the issue of family homelessness for a general audience. Track: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, School-based Program Providers, Youth Service Providers.

This workshop will focus on ways neuroscience has contributed to our understanding of early brain development and how that understanding has implications to everyday interactions with infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Track: PES. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Parents of Young Children.

ROUND TABLE In this round-table discussion, participants will learn about the NYS Parenting Education Partnership (NYSPEP) initiative to develop a tiered Parenting Education Credential program. Panelists will engage participants in a conversation about directions for this activity. Tracks: PES, NFP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Managers/Administrators.

Anyone who works with children and youth knows that there is much more to the job description than just providing basic needs. The job demands that you be a teacher of basic life skills, a compassionate listener, a mentor about life’s lessons and much more! This session will prepare participants to provide these services to children and youth and to help them secure permanent supportive connections and assist children and youth as they grow and develop. Youth themselves may be our best resource in identifying individuals in their life or from their past that can serve as a permanent family connection. Tracks: PES, CW. Audiences: Youth Service Providers, Child Welfare Workers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

E6 Understanding the Impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders on Children in the Child Welfare System
Dianne O’Connor, NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services FASD Prevention Project; Jasmine O’Connor

Undiagnosed and under-diagnosed Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) affect many families in the Child Welfare System, including foster and adoptive families. Those who choose to become a parent or caregiver to a child with FASD experience great joy along with challenges. Ultimately, they can change the outlook for these children, one day at a time, when there is an accurate diagnosis and improved understanding of what the children need to be successful. The presenters, adoptive mother to six children with varying degrees of FASD and one of her daughters, will offer a brief overview of FASD, understanding what behaviors children may present, some intervention strategies, and how to support families dealing with an FASD. Tracks: PES, CW. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Mental Health Providers, Child Welfare Workers.

ADVANCED WORKSHOP People, groups and countries who are traumatized often become stuck in their desire for retribution, repetitively acting out aggressive solutions to everyday problems. This workshop explores the quest for revenge as it plays out in the clinical space by traumatized children and adolescents. It will explore such issues as repetition, compulsion, identification with the aggressor, the containment and transformation of post-traumatic play, and therapist countertransference. Finally, the workshop will discuss the contribution the creative arts therapies can make in assisting traumatized people in working through their revenge fantasies. Tracks: DV, CATP. Audiences: School-based Program Providers, Youth Service Providers.

Child sex abuse is one of parent's greatest fears. The media play into those fears, often to the detriment of protecting children. Shows like "Predator" focus on stranger-danger and vilify molesters, while celebrities like Michael Jackson and Roman Polanski are defended by fans and performers alike. Misinformation trickles down into messages we give our kids and even affects public policy regarding sex offenders, proving Mark Twain's quote "What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know—it's what we know for sure that just ain't so.” Track: CATP. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Parents of Young Children, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

ADVANCED INSTITUTE This institute will introduce and discuss implementation of a practical program evaluation hierarchy suitable for deployment in program development, CQI initiatives, continuing funding applications and response to changing regulatory/fiscal climates in not-for-profit agencies. The use of literature review, program and implementation theory, process evaluation, standardized outcome measures, impact analysis and efficiency assessment is discussed with a focus on design and utility for all stakeholders in the targeted service. Attendance at Part I is required in order to attend Part II. Track: NFP. Audiences: Supervisors: Prevention/Family Support, Managers/Administrators, Researchers, Supervisors: Child Welfare.

Resilience can be defined as the process of “bouncing back” or recovering from adversity. In spite of difficult, challenging and even dangerous situations, many foster care youth clearly overcome the odds and become caring, competent and successful young adults. These youth are described as resilient because they exceed expectations and cope effectively in spite of the difficulties and trauma they have experienced. Workers can help promote resiliency in youth by supporting the factors and qualities that contribute to resiliency. After participating in this workshop, adults who work with foster care youth will be able to recognize, BOOST, and support the internal and external assets the youth in their care possess. Track: CW. Audiences: School-based Program Providers, Youth Service Providers, Child Welfare Workers.

As New York State’s budget spending declines and as the atmosphere remains reactive, programs are forced to advocate for adequate and increased funding, as well as for legislation that’s critical to the health, safety and welfare of their families. This workshop will help explain the difference between advocacy and lobbying, discuss the overall budgetary and legislative process, and invite participants to discuss new and innovative ideas in advocating during tough economic and political times. Presented by a former employee of the New York State Senate, participants will have a real insider’s view on our state’s Capitol. Track: NFP. Audiences: Managers/Administrators, Advocates.

This session will provide an overview of sex offender management in New York State. Participants will learn: (1) what is/is not known about sex offenders and sexual assault; (2)what steps have been taken thus far to promote community safety (i.e. laws); and (3)what parents/the public can do to protect children. Track: PES, CATP. Audiences: Parents of Young Children, Advocates, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

Research shows that children do better in school when parents talk often with teachers and become involved in the school, but do you ever feel like schools and families are not listening to each other? Families and Communities Together with Schools (FACTS) is a parental information and resource center funded by the United States Department of Education. FACTS will present a workshop to increase participants’ knowledge of the how’s and why’s of communicating with school. Participants will learn what the latest research tells us about communication and walk away with communication strategies. Track: PES. Audiences: Parenting Education and Family Support Providers, Parents of Young Children, Parents of Preteens and Teens.

ROUND TABLE This special session will provide an opportunity for people who attended the morning session to share concerns and issues and reflect on effective practices. Dr. Perry believes the elements successful interventions must be guided by the core principles of brain development. It is hoped his visit will be a catalyst for unfolding a collective response for children, especially children at risk of poor outcomes. The session will be moderated by Cindy Pierce Lee from SCOPE Education Services.