The CARE TA Center provides trainings on critical topics to advance California’s support system for people in crisis. Please note continuing education hours are offered by the Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARS). CARS is an approved provider for the CA Board of Registered Nurses (#CEP16303), California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (#131736), and the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (#4N-08-923-0722). Certificates are available for the following credentials: ASW, BRN, LCSW, LEP, LMFT, LPCC, PPS, CADC, CPRS, and CCPS. If you have a question about a credential not listed here, please contact the CARE TA Center at caremhsainfo@cars-rp.org.
Cafecitos Webinar
Thursday, September 9, 1-3 p.m. PT
Recovery-oriented Approaches to Reentry Supports and Justice Diversion: Supporting Communities, Systems, and Individuals
Friday, August 27, 1:00-2:30 p.m. PT
This session, part one of a two-part series, will focus on the three-legged stool of reentry and justice diversion: strengthening the role of communities, systems, and individuals. Each one plays a critical role and all must work together for successful reentry to be possible. We will discuss identifying, engaging, and supporting justice-involved individuals across a broad spectrum of needs, challenges, and opportunities, including crisis continuum services. Our speakers bring their own lived experience of the criminal justice system to share strategies and approaches to understanding the needs, providing support, and assisting the returning citizen.
Meet the Trainer
In 2010, Daryl McGraw was released from prison with a GED and six composition notebooks filled with his own personal blueprint for reentry. Within six years, he became Founder and President of Formerly Inc., Connecticut’s first criminal justice consultant agency, which primarily employs formerly incarcerated individuals. Mr. McGraw has over 10 years of personal and professional experience in urban trauma, addiction recovery, and community reintegration and is an expert in criminal justice reform. He is a Senior Manager, Racial Justice and Equity at C4 Innovations and is part of the Crisis and Recovery Enhancement (CARE) technical assistance team. He also serves as Senior Reentry Analyst for the Institute for Municipal Policy and Research at Central Connecticut State University.
Previously, Mr. McGraw served as Program Director for the Yale University Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Office of Recovery Community Affairs for the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. He holds a B.A. in Human Services and a M.A. in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College, as well as state certifications as an Addictions Counselor, a Recovery Support Specialist, and a Criminal Justice Professional.
Mr. McGraw regularly speaks nationally and internationally at university campuses, correctional facilities, behavioral health organizations, and national conferences. Daryl’s personal journey through addiction and incarceration has prepared him to be a voice and an advocate for those who still find themselves caught in the vicious cycles of addiction and recidivism. When he is not trying to make the world a better place, Daryl is a devoted father of three and a youth basketball coach.
Understanding the Impact of Collateral Consequences for Justice-involved Individuals
Wednesday, September 1, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. PT
As justice-involved individuals prepare to reenter communities, they face a variety of challenges and collateral consequences that can prevent successful reentry. Collateral consequences include the regulatory and legal hurdles that limit or block access to employment, housing, voting, education, and other rights – and can be the root causes of crisis situations. To effectively engage and serve justice-involved people, it is critical to understand the range of barriers and collateral consequences. Our speakers bring their own lived experience of the criminal justice system to discuss strategies to understand, identify, and support justice-involved individuals facing collateral consequences.
Meet the Trainer
In 2010, Daryl McGraw was released from prison with a GED and six composition notebooks filled with his own personal blueprint for reentry. Within six years, he became Founder and President of Formerly Inc., Connecticut’s first criminal justice consultant agency, which primarily employs formerly incarcerated individuals. Mr. McGraw has over 10 years of personal and professional experience in urban trauma, addiction recovery, and community reintegration and is an expert in criminal justice reform. He is a Senior Manager, Racial Justice and Equity at C4 Innovations and is part of the Crisis and Recovery Enhancement (CARE) technical assistance team. He also serves as Senior Reentry Analyst for the Institute for Municipal Policy and Research at Central Connecticut State University.
Previously, Mr. McGraw served as Program Director for the Yale University Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Office of Recovery Community Affairs for the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. He holds a B.A. in Human Services and a M.A. in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College, as well as state certifications as an Addictions Counselor, a Recovery Support Specialist, and a Criminal Justice Professional.
Mr. McGraw regularly speaks nationally and internationally at university campuses, correctional facilities, behavioral health organizations, and national conferences. Daryl’s personal journey through addiction and incarceration has prepared him to be a voice and an advocate for those who still find themselves caught in the vicious cycles of addiction and recidivism. When he is not trying to make the world a better place, Daryl is a devoted father of three and a youth basketball coach.
Cafecitos Webinar
Thursday, September 9, 1-3 p.m. PT
Join the CARE TA Center for a Cafecito screening party! We will view brief recordings of 10- to 40-minute informational conversations about hot topics in crisis care and justice diversion. This is a great opportunity to network and learn about new offerings from the CARE TA Center.
Meet the Trainer
Heliana Ramirez, PhD, LISW (she/her) is the CARE TA Center Project Director and a licensed social worker with a personal and professional commitment to suicide prevention and intersectional anti-racist behavioral healthcare. Dr. Ramirez has provided clinical suicide prevention and postvention to women who are incarcerated, LGBTQ+ populations, Veterans, college students, people who use injection drugs, people assigned the diagnoses of serious mental illness, people experiencing homelessness, and diverse youth (e.g., Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and Samoan youth). This work includes individual, group, and community level interventions such as psychotherapy and case management, leading focus groups and facilitating clinical group-level interventions, teaching a peer support class to college students, organizing a regional Suicide Prevention Conference for interdisciplinary staff, writing suicide prevention and postvention policies and practices, and publishing peer-reviewed journal articles. Her diversity, equity, and inclusion work at Veterans Affairs includes LGBT Veteran patient care and employee relations for the Hispanic Special Emphasis Program and LGBT Staff and Allies Special Emphasis Program, which combined, garnered awards from the VA Secretary in Washington D.C. and the national VA Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This work included co-authoring the Veterans Affairs Transition at Work Policy for transgender and gender diverse employees, developing local and national LGBT Veteran Care Programs, and producing the film The Camouflage Closet about trauma and recovery among LGBT Veterans. Most recently, as Associate Project Director for the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, she designed and led “Discussions that Matter in 2020” a multiethnic, multicultural, and multidisciplinary seminar discussion series where mental health staff discussed 2020’s challenges (e.g., systemic racism, COVID-19 pandemic, radical self-care) on their work and lives. Dr. Ramirez’s work also includes training behavioral health providers in Socially Distanced and Culturally Responsive Suicide Prevention and authoring the resource Clinical Considerations for Telehealth Practice, which includes suicide prevention over telehealth. As a Queer Chicana, Heliana’s suicide prevention work is informed by her academic training, professional career, and lived experience in communities disproportionately impacted by suicide.
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