Breakout session 1 options
Option 1: Restorative Justice, tMHFA, and YMHFA: The Intersections and Connections
Speaker: Soumya Palreddy, PhD and Ian Lowe, MA (Pal Reddy-Lowe)
Training Description:
This session will focus on how restorative practices can amplify Youth Mental Health First Aid and teen Mental Health First Aid implementation to create sustainable and deep change in school communities.
Learning Objectives:
1.Identify the restorative justice in education framework.
2.Identify different types of restorative practices that are utilized in schools.
3.Explore how restorative practices can support staff and student wellbeing.
4.Explore how restorative practices can support tMHFA and YMHFA implementation.
Option 2: Empowerment Through Facilitation: Creating Safe and Culturally Inclusive Learning Spaces
Speaker: Suzanne Pearlman, MA (De Pearl & Assoc)
Training Description: In this interactive session, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how cultural experiences and trauma histories can shape individual experiences and group dynamics within the YMHFA and tMHFA classroom.
Learning Objectives:
1.Explore practical strategies for effectively facilitating YMHFA while prioritizing the safety and engagement of culturally diverse learners. Emphasis will be placed on acknowledging and addressing histories of harm, and fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
2.Develop skills to effectively respond to emotional distress and prioritize psychological safety within the learning environment.
3.Develop a comprehensive toolbox tailored for facilitating audiences from diverse experiences and communities. This toolbox will include considerations for respecting and honoring community cultures, as well as protocols for engaging when we are not of-community.
Option 3: Trauma-Informed Leadership Teams: A Model for Helping Schools Respond Effectively to Stress and Trauma
Speaker: Felicia Gibson
Training Description: Participants will define how toxic stress can impact both students and staff well-being. Participants will be introduced to the concept of “trauma-informed leadership teams” and how it positively impacts levels of stress.
Learning Objectives:
1.Explore a brief intro to trauma and stress
2.Discuss how trauma and stress impacts learning and behavior
3.Discuss Trauma-Informed Leadership Teams (TILT) and our approach to trauma-informed practices in schools
Breakout session 2 options
Option 1: Social Emotional Learning in NC Schools: Where are we and where are we going?
Speaker: Gianna Seminara
Training Description: Participants will be introduced to Social Emotional Learning and its impact on North Carolina students and school staff.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe what Social Emotional Learning looks like in schools and the need for SEL in North Carolina Schools.
- Examine how NC Schools are responding to the social and emotional needs of their students and staff, including the resources available, needs, and barriers to programming.
Option 2: What Lessons have We Learned? – Using Data to Inform YMHFA Program Sustainability (focus group)
Speaker: Sarah Reives-Houston
Training Description: Effective youth and teen MHFA program sustainability will require an in-depth assessment of the successes, challenges and opportunities experienced by participating stakeholders. This session will provide an opportunity for youth and teen MHFA instructors to support the collection of implementation and impact data that will be used to inform the initiative's sustainability plan.
Learning Objectives:
1.Discuss the Youth and Teen MHFA Initiative’s successes, challenges, barriers and opportunities
2.Provide opportunities to explore resolutions to implementation barriers that promote program sustainability.
Option 3: Working Smarter, Not Harder: Creating Overlap in Sustainable Work
Speaker: Amaris Sampson
Training Description: Participants will gain an understanding of how DPS approached this initiative while offering insight on how to create sustainable practices when working with district administrators on bringing Teen MHFA to their school.
Learning Objectives:
1.Describe how Teen MHFA supports restorative practices, culture frameworks, and trauma informed practices within schools.
2.Discuss special considerations for Teen MHFA implementation for district level and school-based administrators.
Breakout session 3 options
Option 1: What Lessons have We Learned? – Using Data to Inform YMHFA Program Sustainability (focus group)
Speaker: Sarah Reives-Houston
Training Description: Effective youth and teen MHFA program sustainability will require an in-depth assessment of the successes, challenges and opportunities experienced by participating stakeholders. This session will provide an opportunity for youth and teen MHFA instructors to support the collection of implementation and impact data that will be used to inform the initiative's sustainability plan.
Learning Objectives:
1.Discuss the Youth and Teen MHFA Initiative’s successes, challenges, barriers and opportunities
2.Provide opportunities to explore resolutions to implementation barriers that promote program sustainability.
Option 2: Understanding NC School Behavioral Health Systems
Speaker: Nina Miller
Training Description: Implementation of the NC School Behavioral Health Action plan requires a unique collaboration between several different arms of NC's behavioral health and public education systems. This session will provide a high-level overview of the various initiatives concerning SBH services and programs that are currently being implemented by NC's governing systems.
Learning Objectives:
1.Discuss statewide school behavioral health initiatives
2.Explore opportunities for YMHFA instructors to support these efforts in their local school communities.
Option 3: Supporting the Well-being of Youth and Teen MHFA Instructors
Speaker: Felicia Gibson
Training Description: This session will discuss the stressors experienced by youth and teen mental health first aid instructors while providing high quality interaction with youth and teen training participants. Session attendees will engage in group discussion about empathic strain and explore strategies that support resilience and wellbeing for instructors as well as their training participants.
Learning Objectives:
1.Discuss the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue and burnout for members of the helping profession.
2.Explore self-care strategies that reduce the impact of burnout and promote high-quality engagement for YMHFA and Teen MHFA Instructors
Breakout session 4 options
Option 1:Restorative Justice, tMHFA, and YMHFA: The Intersections and Connections
Speaker: Soumya Palreddy, PhD and Ian Lowe (Pal Reddy-Lowe)
Training Description: This session will focus on how restorative practices can amplify Youth Mental Health First Aid and teen Mental Health First Aid implementation to create sustainable and deep change in school communities.
Learning Objectives:
1.Identify the restorative justice in education framework.
2.Identify different types of restorative practices that are utilized in schools.
3.Explore how restorative practices can support staff and student wellbeing.
4.Explore how restorative practices can support tMHFA and YMHFA implementation.
Option 2: Empowerment Through Facilitation: Creating Safe and Culturally Inclusive Learning Spaces
Speaker: Suzanne Pearlman, MA (De Pearl & Assoc)
Training Description: In this interactive session, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how cultural experiences and trauma histories can shape individual experiences and group dynamics within the YMHFA and tMHFA classroom.
Learning Objectives:
1.Explore practical strategies for effectively facilitating YMHFA while prioritizing the safety and engagement of culturally diverse learners. Emphasis will be placed on acknowledging and addressing histories of harm, and fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
2.Develop skills to effectively respond to emotional distress and prioritize psychological safety within the learning environment.
3.Develop a comprehensive toolbox tailored for facilitating audiences from diverse experiences and communities. This toolbox will include considerations for respecting and honoring community cultures, as well as protocols for engaging when we are not of-community.
Option 3: Change- It Can Be Your Friend!
Speaker: Dr. Corliss Thompson-Drew
Training Description: This session will provide participants with an overview of one district's prioritization of behavioral health in its strategic plan. This session will explore the district's journey to implementation, including alignment of its rationale to strategic aims and goals and state mandates. Participants will see how collaboration, communication, and action planning were used as foundation for implementation.
Learning Objectives:
1.Discuss how to leverage systems change for engagement and implementation.
2.Explore an action plan, protocols, and tools for implementation.