Tuesday, November 28

Strategic Partnerships for Mission Success (CEU: 1.75)

​Scott Cotenoff, Partner, La Piana Consulting

​Unlock the keys to strategic partnerships in this comprehensive session. Delve deep into the world of mergers and alliances, and equip yourself with practical information and the essential skills for assessing, negotiating and seamlessly integrating powerful collaborations. Discover how these partnerships can not only expand your organization's horizons but also supercharge program effectiveness, propelling your mission to new heights. 

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​Promoting Resilience and Emotional Health: SAMHSA's Vision for Children, Youth and Families (CEU: 1)

Dr. Gary Blau, ​Senior Advisor for Children, Youth and Families, Substance Abuse Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA)

​In this engaging session, you will gain valuable insights into SAMHSA's response to the evolving landscape of child, youth and family behavioral health. Dr. Blau will explore key components of SAMHSA's 2023–2026 Strategic Plan, and will provide an overview of SAMHSA's priorities, which include: expanding mental health promotion and primary prevention of substance use; increasing access to equitable behavioral health programs by integrating services and expanding capacity; and reducing health disparities and promoting culturally appropriate services. Dr. Blau will also discuss the role of technology to support the behavioral health of children, youth and families. 

Wednesday, November 29

​Partnering for Success: Achieving Community Impact through Strategic Collaboration (CEU: 1.25)

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​Maximizing Program Impact: How Quality Assurance Coaching Helps Increase Model Fidelity and Improves ​Staff Performance (CEU: 1)

​Kimberly Selvaggi, Chief Strategy Officer, Community Solutions, Inc.

​Judith McCusker, MS, Director of the Learning Institute, Community Solutions, Inc.

​For 20 years, The Learning Institute @ CSI has worked to develop Quality Assurance Support Coaching, which is a cost-effective, and innovative way to achieve positive outcomes by elevating staff performance. Providing routine and accurate performance feedback to staff is associated with improved productivity, profit, and other outcomes (for staff). While the original goal of QA Support Coaching was to ensure model fidelity, the method used by The Learning Institute @ CSI is individualized, relational and strengths-based, resulting in effective staff development. This unique approach can increase job satisfaction and, as performance improves, increase effectiveness with clients.

​QA Coaching is a customizable set of processes that works towards enhancing staff performance in the delivery of client services. This presentation will go over the steps in this process, the feedback received to date and the research conducted in collaboration with the University of New Haven to verify the outcomes and advantages of this approach in ensuring better results for clients.

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• Access The Learning Institute's Training Hub

​No Money, No Mission: How Diversified Funding Strengthens and Sustains (CEU: 1)

Moderator: Lisette Burton, Association of Children's Residential & Community services

​Panelists:

• ​Sandy Dillon-Dick, Risk Officer, George Junior Republic
• ​Tonya Hotchkin LMFT, RPT, CTRP-C, VP of Clinical Services, Tanager
• Schuyler Siefker, ​Executive Director, St. Augustine Youth Services
• Dr. Caelan Soma, Chief Clinical Officer, Starr Commonwealth

​​In the wake of the global pandemic, you may have developed an aversion to the word “pivot,” but successful organizations and leaders have managed to do just that again and again. These organizations are not just reacting to changing times. Keeping their mission as their north star, they anticipate what’s next and what’s needed. They create opportunity and fulfill community demand. Whether you adjust or expand who you serve, how you serve or what service you provide, diversification can build on your organization’s expertise, reduce reliance on a single partnership or contract and spur innovation to everyone’s benefit. This engaging panel includes leaders from Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida who are tapping into new funding streams to strengthen and sustain organizational impact. Panelists will share how their organizations embraced creative thinking and transformed ideas into financial realities. Together, panelists and participants will identify key considerations for successful diversification efforts. 

Change and Adaptation – Mission-Driven Risk Taking (CEU: 1)

​Moderator: Alyssa Goduti, MPA, ​President and CEO, ​Adelbrook Behavioral and Developmental Services

​Panelists:

• Sabrina Demsky-Cameron, DSW, LCSW, ​Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, ​Adelbrook Behavioral and Developmental Services
• ​Monica Carras, MS, BCBA, LBA, Director of Behavioral Services for Residential Programs and Training, Adelbrook Behavioral and Developmental Services
• ​Brian Heslin, MA, MBA, BCBA, LBA, Director of Behavioral Services and Quality Assurance, Adelbrook Behavioral and Developmental Services

​This session will tell the story of successful change management through innovation, adaptation, resilience and communication all rooted in mission. As the priorities of funders, state policies, regulatory structures, and the market are constantly changing, keeping a focus on its 123-year-old core mission has helped Adelbrook Behavioral and Developmental Services not just survive, but thrive as it shifted from supporting children involved in the juvenile justice system to becoming a leader in services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This successful conversion rested in the ability to understand the organization’s strengths and opportunities, willingness to take risks, ability to engage and garner the support of stakeholders, and capacity to creatively adapt clinical and service models to meet the needs of those with ASD and their families. This focus on innovation led to rapid expansion of residential and educational programs, growing the organization by nearly 500 employees in 10 years. This culture of change and innovation continues to support the growth and development of new one-of-a-kind service models such as a new behaviorally-focused children's weekend respite program and a Children's Step-Up/Step-Down program to prevent youth with ASD from lingering in hospital emergency departments. The panel will share their experiences in leading change from a leadership/governance perspective, clinical/ therapeutic view, educational services lens, and human resources perspective.

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​How AI Can Assist Behavioral Health Professionals (CEU: 0.75)

​Peggy Larkin Kelly, M.S. LPC (GA) & (AR), Chief Clinical Officer, Youth Home

​Nisheeta Setlur, Vice President, Customer Success, Eleos Health

​Explore how an AI platform can assist therapists with clinical documentation, provide key analytics, and contribute to happier employees. The residential therapists at Youth Home were overwhelmed by the extensive documentation requirements, leading to after-hours and weekend work that affected morale and productivity. This session will delve into Youth Home's experience with the start-up Eleos Health and the remarkable results achieved within the first six months of use.

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Thursday, November 30

Session

Scaling Hope (CEU: 1.5)

John Damon, PhD, CEO, Canopy Children’s Solutions

Michael O’Neil, JD, MBA, CEO, Get Well Network

Dale Cook, Co-Founder and CEO, Learn to Live

As our children and families face the most vexing mental health challenge of our lifetime, we must reimagine the current system of care. The current ecosystem is confusing and inaccessible for kids in need, inefficient for providers and costly for those paying for care. Inspired and supported by the larger Aspen Institutes community, this presentation will share the work of three Aspen Fellows who are developing a technology-enabled service network to transform care management and deliver personalized, holistic youth mental health and well-being at scale. This promising solution brings youth and families a comprehensive portfolio of resources from wellness to self-guided digital programs or direct access to critical crisis resources when needed and offers a blueprint for innovating in this mental health crisis through strategic partnerships.

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Integrating Child Welfare and Behavioral Health to Improve Outcomes (CEU: 1.25)

Jenny Cooper, Chief Research & Development Officer, Benchmarks

Integrating child welfare and behavioral health can improve outcomes for children and families involved in both systems. This presentation will review a trauma-informed community approach that standardized a trauma screening and behavioral health assessment. This approach leads to improved mental health, reduced trauma, and increased system integration. By leveraging system resources, a community's trauma responsiveness is increased and the workforce is stabilized.

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Harnessing Tax Credit Opportunities (CEU: 0.75)

Moderator: Steve Girelli, President and CEO, Klingberg Family Centers

Panelists:

• Heidi Noel, Sr. Director of Advancement, Canopy Children’s Solutions
• Christina Lennon, Chief Strategy and Implementation Officer, Wellroot Family Services

Explore real-world success stories from organizations that have harnessed tax credits to bolster their children's behavioral health initiatives. This engaging panel session offers varying perspectives on the potential benefits and challenges associated with the utilization of tax credits.

• View Canopy's Presentation
• View Wellroot Family Services' Presentation

The Intersection of Vicarious Trauma and Social Justice (CEU: 0.75)

Patricia Wilcox, LCSW, Vice President for Strategic Development, Klingberg Family Centers

Aminah Ali, LMSW, Therapeutic Foster Care Clinical Coordinator, Klingberg Family Centers

In today's climate of staff shortages and difficulty hiring, it is even more important that agencies pay attention to the effect of the difficult work on our employees’ vicarious trauma. Yet we rarely examine the ways in which the impact of the work and the remedies available differ for our staff of color. As we design workforce development we must explore how multi-generational trauma, current experiences of racism at home and at work, myths about and lack of access to some forms of support result in uneven equity for our employees of color. The voice of our employees can help us tailor our improvements to provide access to all our employees to thrive within our workplaces.

• Access the session handout