VIRTUAL CONFERENCE 2023 | REIMAGINING OUR SYSTEMS
AGENDA
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We are thrilled to share the following conference agenda which is being updated in real time. Please check back regularly to see new, exciting content!
April 12, 2023
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. PT
Welcome to Day 1 of the CARE TA Center’s 2023 Virtual Conference for County Staff!
We will begin with intention to create a trauma-informed virtual learning space that is grounded in appreciation and gratitude for the work that is done daily by those in service to our communities. We will review the goals for our day that include emphasis on how we can support local behavioral health departments through education and activities designed to build the capacity of teams tasked with the development, implementation, and expansion of MHSA programming.
Angela Brand (she/her)
CARE TA Center Project Director
9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. PT
Keynote: The Landscape of Behavioral Health in California
Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Stephanie Welch, will provide an overview of the current landscape of behavioral health care in California, including CalAIM, 988 Implementation, CARE Court, and the work of the Behavioral Health Task Force.
Stephanie Welch (she/her)
Deputy Secretary of Behavioral Health, California Health and Human Services (CalHHS)
10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. PT
The Evolution of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
This session will review development and implementation of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) including an overview of prominent changes with regard to roles and responsibilities, legislative policies, and regulations.
Debbie Innes-Gomberg (she/her)
Deputy Director, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT
The Era of 988
Session will provide an overview on the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline, including status of implementation in California.
Jamie Sellar (he/him)
Chief Strategy Officer, RI International
12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. PT
Community Program Planning Process
This session will provide an overview of the Community Program Planning (CPP) Process, including requirements and timeline as well as review the reported areas of need by counties with recommendations for next steps and supports.
Angela Brand (she/her)
CARE TA Center Project Director
1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. PT
Closing of Day 1
Join us for conference reflections of Day 1 and next steps for how we can show up in service to the workforce that is supporting California’s crisis continuum of care.
Angela Brand (she/her)
CARE TA Center Project Director
April 13, 2023
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. PT
Welcome to Day 2 of the CARE TA Center’s 2023 Virtual Conference!
We will begin with intention to create a trauma-informed virtual learning space that is grounded in appreciation and gratitude for the work that is done daily by those in service to our communities. We will review the goals for our day that include emphasis on creating awareness of how we can learn from one another in building responsive and recovery focused programming.
Angela Brand (she/her)
CARE TA Center Project Director
9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. PT
Reflecting on the Needs of the Behavioral Health Workforce Fireside Chat
Join us as we chat with Michelle Cabrera, Executive Director of the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, about the current challenges facing the behavioral health workforce. Building on the recent work at the state level to assess the needs of the workforce, Michelle will highlight strategies for change, growing and retaining a workforce that reflect the diversity of the state, and current efforts underway to transform our service delivery system. Our second featured speaker, Juan Acosta, will join us to talk about his experience as an international youth advocate and how he has used his lived experience to amplify the youth voice in behavioral health. We will also discuss how his experience has segued into a professional career path that has included work at all levels, including the White House, the United Nations, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, and as the Peer Run Warm Line Community Engagement Manager for Mental Health America San Francisco.
Michelle Doty Cabrera (she/her)
Executive Director, County Behavioral Health Directors Association (CBHDA)
Juan Acosta (he/him)
Mental Health Advocate, Activist and Warmline Community Engagement Lead, Mental Health Association of San Francisco
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. PT
Mental Health Under the Anti-Asian Hate
Learning Track 1: Crisis Continuum of Care
In this session we will discuss the Mental health challenges and coping methods of ethnic minorities under the epidemic.
Elaine Peng (she/her)
Executive Director and Founder, Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities
Rosaline Qi (she/her)
Project Manager and Support Specialist, Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities
Rachael Chan (she/her)
Program Coordinator, Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT
Crisis Services: Yesterday and Today
Learning Track 1: Crisis Continuum of Care
We are living in a golden age of crisis care service delivery. Not since Medicaid expansion have we seen such an opportunity to advance crisis care in the US. Come join, Jamie Sellar, MA, LPC. one of the writers of SAMSHA’s National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care (2020) to learn about how we got here and what the ideal crisis system should look like. An overview of the outcomes seen on Maricopa County Arizona will be highlighted. Maricopa County (pop. 4.47M) has highest fidelity to the National standards in the country.
Jamie Sellar (he/him)
Chief Strategy Officer, RI International
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT
Closest to the Solution
Learning Track 2: Justice Diversion
It is increasingly clear that those closest to the problem are often closest to the solution. In the past decade, movements for criminal and juvenile system reform have elevated the importance of centering solutions from the communities most impacted by mass incarceration – particularly communities of color. Decades of mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and tough on crime policies have decimated these same communities and have profound negative effects on the individuals within these communities. In this panel, we’ll discuss the research and importance of developing workforce initiatives that center and support systems-involved individuals.
Brandon Miller (he/him)
Research Analyst II, Impact Justice
Ana Ramirez Zarate (she/her)
Research Analyst I, Impact Justice
Dani Soto, Ph.D. (they/them)
Interim Director, Research & Action Center, Impact Justice
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT
Trauma Informed Corrections Care
Learning Track 2: Justice Diversion
This session will focus on corrections providers and both peer and non-peer re-entry support staff who engage with incarcerated individuals participating in rapidly growing jail-based recovery programs housed within county jails. It will define and describe types of trauma and will examine the short and long-term impact of secondary trauma occurring to all individuals within the facility as a result of their repeated exposure to traumatic events.
Steven Samra (he/him)
Senior Associate, C4 Innovations
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT
2nd Story Peer Respite: A Peer Workforce
Learning Track 3: Workforce Development
2nd Story is a 12-year old, hybrid peer respite house that works in alliance with the behavioral health system as a whole. In this workshop, we will discuss how to hire, develop, and cultivate a peer workforce able to excel in multiple programs; how to cooperate as a team of peers, with lessons in diplomacy and democratic processes; the impact that organizing a peer workforce can have on its community and multiple stakeholders; how 2nd Story teammates work together to walk alongside guests toward their wants, needs, dreams, and showing that recovery is possible; and mistakes we’ve made, mistakes we’ve learned from. This is a workshop that wants to bring your wisdom to the table, so that together we can build a Peer Workforce into the future.
Adrian Bernard (he/him)
Peer Respite Manager, Encompass Community Services/2nd Story Peer Respite House
Phoenix MacKinnon (she/her)
Peer Support Worker, 2nd Story Respite House
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT
Resisting White Supremacy in the Workplace: Creating a Culture of Health for Sustainable Clinician Wellbeing
Learning Track 3: Workforce Development
While both community and county-based organizations are charged with providing trauma-informed support for community members, these structures are often informed by white supremacist values that incur harm on their own clinicians. While there have been attempts to support mental health providers’ own care, these efforts have often been futile as focusing on provider “burn out” does not adequately capture how systemic harm is occurring and upheld within mental health organizations themselves. In recognition that organizations have often been ill-equipped to provide anti-racist leadership, administration and care for their employees, this webinar will aid the audience in identifying tenants of white supremacy (Jones and Okun, 2001) and how to subsequently create alternative that help mental health organizations to create a culture of health in their organizations. Presenter will share from her own lived as experience as a queer, gender expansive, Latinx, and 26 year formerly undocumented immigrant who is now a licensed psychologist. She will engage participants in identifying concrete recommendations for valuing of mental health clinician who are at the forefront of life saving work.
Laura Minero, Ph.D. (she/her)
Licensed Psychologist and Founder, Yolotl Libre Therapy
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT
California Community Behavioral Health Funding
Learning Track 4: County-focused MHSA Programming and Administration
Mike Geiss will provide an overview of the history and process of California Community Mental Health Funding with an emphasis on the Mental Health Services Act funding.
Michael Geiss (he/him)
President, Geiss Consulting
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PT
Unconscious Bias
Learning Track 4: County-focused MHSA Programming and Administration
This session will provide an overview of Unconscious Bias, how to identify its impact on the service delivery system, and how to identify strategies to address bias in the planning and development of services and supports.
Carole McKindley-Alvarez (she/her)
Consultant, California Association of Local Behavioral Health Boards and Commissions (CALBHB/C)
12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. PT
Perspectives from the Field Panel
This panel will highlight the importance of peer and youth engagement, peer support as a viable career path for young people, and how peers fill a critical gap in our workforce.
Matthew Diep (he/him)
Program Manager, California Youth Empowerment Network (CAYEN)
Rowan Willis-Powell (she/they)
Project Coordinator, C4 Innovations
Rebecca Kim (she/her)
Peer Workforce Manager, NAMI CA
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. PT
School-Based Mobile Crisis: An Equitable and Trauma Focus Approach to Supporting Students During Mental Health Crisis
Learning Track 1: Crisis Continuum of Care
Solano County Office of Education, Clinical Service team piloted School-Based Mobile Crisis (SBMC) during the 2021-2022 school year, as schools were re-opening after extended school closure caused by the Covid 19 Pandemic. During the initial year of service, SBMC was projected to serve 45 to 50 students, yet by the end of the year served over 250 students. SBMC has provided opportunities for students to have equitable access to mental health evaluation amid a mental health crisis, regardless of barriers that previously prevented mental health access. Participation in this workshop will provide insight into the developmental stage of establishing a School-Based Mobile Crisis, day-to-day operations, lessons learned during the initial pilot year, and changes implemented to expand services to the community of Solano County. Facilitators will highlight how SBMC responders provide services through a trauma-focused lens while maintaining cultural humility as they serve children and families during a mental health crisis. The intended audience is anyone interested in learning about the implementation and day-to-day operations of an SBMC.
Kristian Skillman (she/her)
Clinical Services Supervisor, Solano County Office of Education- Clinical Services
Camden Webb (he/him)
Clinical Services Director, Solano County Office of Education
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. PT
There’s Nothing like Home: The Youth Acceptance Project
Learning Track 1: Crisis Continuum of Care
This presentation will highlight research that suggests the importance of family affirmation in the health and mental health of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. Mental health providers can play an important role in helping parents be able to be the informed, affirming and advocating parents that their LGBTQ+ children need them to be. Clinical experience suggests that there are patterns in the way that both initially accepting, and initially non-accepting, families move to places of greater acceptance and affirmation of their children. This plenary will describe the Youth Acceptance Project (YAP); developed by Family Builders, as an intervention to assist families who are struggling with the sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression of their child. YAP clinicians use a trauma-informed, psycho-educational model to address the misinformation, resistance, fear, and grief that families often struggle with. The intervention reduces the time that children spend in foster care, reunites children with their families, and in many cases, prevents separation in the first place.
Vida Khavar (she/her)
Clinical Director, Family Builders by Adoption
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. PT
Juvenile Justice Reform – Historical Context and Lessons
Learning Track 2: Justice Diversion
This presentation will give a general overview and background to California’s juvenile justice system, its history and many reforms throughout the years.
Dani Soto, Ph.D. (they/them)
Interim Director, Research & Action Center, Impact Justice
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. PT
Youth of Color and Criminalization: A Plática for Helpers
Learning Track 2: Justice Diversion
This interactive workshop weaves together story telling, experience, educational content, and pláticas (conversations) regarding the criminalization of racialized youth. This discussion based session will center the experiential knowledge of both facilitators and participants who work with youth. Further, this session will look at the overlapping identities that make youth of color especially vulnerable to criminalization. Facilitated by Ali Guajardo (he/him) and Isabella Restrepo (she/they), this session will center the ways that youth of color deal with criminalization in various aspects of their lives from schools, to mental health services, to their home environments. Learn strategies to identify and minimize the criminalization of youth in your work and personal communities.
Ali Guajardo (he/him)
Clinician, Community Health Centers
Isabella Restrepo (she/they)
Researcher, doctoral candidate
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. PT
Supporting Workforce Recruitment & Retention
Learning Track 3: Workforce Development
This workshop will present listening session information that provided insight on current workforce challenges facing organizations regarding recruitment, hiring, and retention practices. In an increasingly competitive job market, higher value is placed on a workforce culture that promotes a positive, supportive, and flexible work environment. This workshop will elevate strategies in addressing psychological and physical safety, work-life balance, emotional well-being, opportunities for professional growth, and strategies that further support diversity, equity and inclusion.
Ebony Chambers McClinton (she/her)
Chief Equity and Partnership Officer, Stanford Sierra Youth and Families
1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. PT
Behavioral Healthcare Workforce Challenges & Solutions
Learning Track 3: Workforce Development
Dr. Lindstrom, former Director of the Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD) for the State of New Mexico and co-author and editor of the “National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care – A Best Practice Toolkit Knowledge Informing Transformation” defining national guidelines in crisis care, discusses healthcare capacity needs and historical, and present, barriers to a consistent workforce. Dr. Lindstrom will be offering examples of how to quickly impact the crisis care workforce availability and retention through advocacy and systemic change.
Wayne W. Lindstrom, Ph.D. (he/him)
Vice President of Consulting and Business Development, RI International
1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. PT
Project ECHO and Ekstasis: Innovative Models to Increase Workforce Capacity and Prevent Burnout Among Community Behavioral Health Providers Serving Systems-Impacted Youth and Families
Learning Track 3: Workforce Development
Behavioral health providers in California face numerous challenges in caring for systems-impacted youth and families, including a lack of resources, culturally responsive services, quality clinical supervision, and sufficient training in empirically-supported practices. Over the past two years, the University of California San Francisco Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health (JJBH) lab has used the Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) model to provide community behavioral health providers throughout California with best-practice strategies and support for working with systems-impacted youth with co-occurring mental health disorders, substance use, and complex trauma. Ekstasis is a peer consultation model that provides a learner-centric, interactive, emotionally-engaged, and non-judgmental environment for professional support. This workshop aims to describe the JJBH ECHO program for community providers serving system-impacted youth with behavioral health needs and their families, present preliminary program outcomes, and provide an overview of the Ekstasis model.
Juliet Yonek, Ph.D. (she/her)
Assistant Professional Researcher in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Lauren M. Haack, Ph.D. (she/her)
Associate Professor and Licensed Clinical Psychologist
1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. PT
Innovative Tech Implementations
Learning Track 4: County-focused MHSA Programming and Administration
This session will provide an overview of the implementation of the Help@Hand MHSA Innovation (INN) Project , a statewide, multi-county collaborative project focused on integrating technology-based mental health applications (“apps”) into the public behavioral health system as a strategy to increase access to mental health services.
Flor Yousefian Tehrani, Psy.D., LMFT (she/her)
Program Manager, Orange County Innovation Projects
2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. PT
Closing of the 2023 CARE Conference
Join us for conference reflections and next steps for how we can show up in support of the workforce that is supporting California’s crisis continuum of care.
Angela Brand (she/her)
CARE TA Center Project Director