Workshops Descriptions:  Friday, October 24

Pre-Conference Workshop:  8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. - Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

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Please enter your selection (ex. 1A, 1B, 1C, etc.) for Workshop 1 on the line next to the number 1 at the bottom of the registration form.

1A:  Parenting Children Affected by Autism—Autism spectrum disorder causes interpersonal, relational and communication disruptive behavior.  This workshop will focus on identifying autism spectrum behavior and development as opposed to “normal” development, and the need to refer for a professional assessment.

1B:  Administrative Case Review (ACR)—This workshop will address the scope and purpose of the ACR process and help caregivers understand the importance of their role in this process.

1C:  Reunification Panel—The new reunification practice model convenes a team comprised of the parents, foster parents and caseworkers.  This discussion will address the roles and responsibilities of the new reunification team.

1D:  Trauma Workshop—This workshop will provide caregivers with an overview of the needs of youth in care that have experienced chronic exposure to trauma and adversity. It will provide them with specific skills to support youth with histories of exposure to chronic and/or multiple traumatic events, including family and community violence.  It will also address the caregiver’s need for support and cooperative work within the child welfare system as they meet the challenges of the youth in their care.

1E:  Common School Problems:  Strategies for Getting Services to Meet Your Child’s Needs, (Part I)—This two-part workshop will discuss services schools must provide to children having demonstrated education needs.  Caregivers must also register for 2-E, Part II.

1F:  Knowledge is Power:  Effectively Engaging Youth and Caregivers to Be Better Informed and Better Advocates—The ability to offer all the necessary resources and services for older youth to successfully transition out of foster care will always be a challenge.  Equally challenging is addressing how to successfully engage and educate caseworkers, caregivers, and youth so they know the programs currently offered by the system and make sure they are taken advantage of.  This workshop will educate participants on the programs available from the Office of Education and Transition Services as well as resources available to help youth and caregivers be better advocates so they can access the resources necessary to successfully transition to independence.

1G:  Food Allergies and Asthma—The frequency of food allergies and asthma has risen significantly among school-aged children.  This workshop will provide an overview of definitions of food allergies and asthma, symptoms, precautions and interventions for parents to use.

1H:  Transitioning Parents and Youth from the Adoption Assistance Program—This workshop will examine the relationship between youth and their families as youth are reaching the age of 18.  It will explore ways that families can assist youth as they transition to adult life and make the necessary community connections for themselves.

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Please enter your selection (ex. 2A, 2B, 2C, etc.) for Workshop 2 on the line next to the number 2 at the bottom of the registration form.

2A:  Screening Assessment and Support Services/ System of Care (SASS/SOC)—These services are an important part of the mental health and certain other services provided to children in care and the families who care for them.  This workshop will help caregivers understand what services are available, when it is appropriate to access them, and how to access them.

2B:  Trauma Workshop (Repeat of 1D)—This workshop will provide caregivers with an overview of the needs of youth in care that have experienced chronic exposure to trauma and adversity.  It will provide them with specific skills to support youth with histories of exposure to chronic and/or multiple traumatic events, including family and community violence.  It will also address the caregiver’s needs for support and cooperative work within the child welfare system as they meet the challenges of the youth in their care.

2C:  Compassion Fatigue—Is the wonderful work that you are doing weighing heavily on you?  Are you drained, tapped out, and have little energy for others?  You might be experiencing compassion fatigue.  This workshop will discuss some telltale signs of compassion fatigue and will help you develop your own action plan to promote healing and hope for the future.

2D:  Stress Relief—We all experience stress in our everyday lives.  However, caregiving can add additional stress to our lives.  This workshop will help caregivers recognize signs of stress, understand its causes, and gain knowledge about how to prevent stress and reduce it.

2E:  Common School Problems:  Strategies for Getting Services to Meet Your Child’s Needs (Part II)—This is the 2nd part of a two-part workshop which will help caregivers understand how to go about accessing the education services to which their children are entitled.  There will be special emphasis on accessing IEPs, 504 plans and classroom accommodations. Caregivers must also register for 1-E, Part I.

2F:  How to Talk About the Pink Elephant—The “pink elephant” is what everyone knows is happening but no one wants to talk about. Violence, neglect, abuse, drug use, chronic illness and verbal conflict are some of the issues families struggle with daily. Join us and learn how to start the difficult discussions. 

2G:  Abstinence Training for Youth:  How to Educate Teens—This workshop will discuss innovative methods of teaching and supporting young people in making a decision to abstain from sex until marriage, by providing an array of educational and supportive activities useful to youth and their parents.

2H:  Adult Guardianship—This workshop will help caregivers understand adult guardianship for children reaching adulthood who cannot manage their own daily life affairs.  Caregivers will learn when guardianship may be appropriate.  A presenter from the Office of State Guardian will outline the court petitioning process, when to contact the Office of State Guardian, and how to plan for a smooth transition into adulthood.

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Workshops Descriptions:  Saturday, October 25

Please enter your selection (ex. 3A, 3B, 3C, etc.) for Workshop 3 on the line next to the number 3 at the bottom of the registration form.

3A:  Health Fair—Caregivers will be provided with important information about healthy lifestyles, preventing disease, and they will receive basic medical screenings.  Note:  The Health Fair is also offered from 10:30 to 12:00 and 2:15 to 3:45.  Please attend only once.

3B:  Avoiding the Predators:  Internet Safety for Youth—Newspapers, local news, and national television are all talking about cyber predators.  Are your children at risk?  What do you need to know as a parent to protect your child while he or she is online?  This session will include information caregivers need to know in order to protect the online activities of youth.

3C:  Adolescence and Sanity:  What the Caregiver Needs to Know! —Adolescence is a time of much angst for young people and a search for sanity for the caregiver.  This workshop will focus on adolescent development, what to expect, how to respond or not, and survival skills.

3D:  Constant and Never Ending Improvement (CANEI):  Working with Children & Youth Who Use Aggression to Chart Their Course in Life—CANEI is an innovative program for adolescents with histories of aggressive, defiant or violent behavior.  CANEI’s holistic approach, focusing on the three pillars of CANEI—restorative justice, literacy, and spirituality—is a cost-effective alternative to group/residential care, incarceration and hospitalization.

3E:  Developing/Rejuvenating Parent Support Groups—This workshop will walk through how to start a parent support group/association, as well as how to rejuvenate your existing group, with discussion on the importance of building a leadership circle.  Participants will discuss recruitment methods and ways to keep people coming, looking at some models that are thriving throughout the country, and will close with a discussion of the importance of healthy group facilitation and the three “F’s”—fun, food, and family.

3F:  Knowledge is Power:  Effectively Engaging Youth and Caregivers to Be Better Informed and Better Advocates (Repeat of 1F)—The ability to offer all the necessary resources and services for older youth to successfully transition out of foster care will always be a challenge.  Equally challenging is addressing how to successfully engage and educate caseworkers, caregivers, and youth so they know about and can take advantage of the programs currently offered by the child welfare system.  This workshop will educate participants on the programs available from the DCFS Office of Education and Transition Services as well as resources available to help youth and caregivers be better advocates so they can access the resources necessary to successfully transition to independence.

3G:  Administrative Case Review (ACR) (Repeat of 1B)—In this workshop, presenters will review ACR and help caregivers understand the importance of their role in the ACR process.

3H:  Post-Adoption and Guardianship Services:  Seeking Support for Your Adopted Child—Families created through adoption or guardianship may experience unique challenges that require intensive services to help stabilize the family.  The Adoption and Guardianship Preservation and Respite Programs offer family-centered support and services and are available statewide.  This workshop will describe the array of services that are offered and provide contact information in your area.  This workshop will also explore the current structure of statewide post-adoption supports and services and define services provided through the subsidy agreement as well as through community service providers.

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Please enter your selection (ex. 4A, 4B, 4C, etc.) for Workshop 4 on the line next to the number 4 at the bottom of the registration form.

4A:  Health Fair—Caregivers will be provided with important information about healthy lifestyles, preventing disease, and they will receive basic medical screenings.

4B:  Back-Up Planning for Adoptive and Guardianship Families—Back-up planning is a crucial step in ensuring that children will be taken care of if a current adoptive parent or guardian becomes incapacitated or passes away.  Many children end up with uncertain futures because of the lack of planning.  Participants will learn why back-up planning is important for family security, as well as resources to get it done.

4C:  Reunification (Part I)—This two-part workshop will discuss the importance of the reunification model as a path to permanency.  Presenters will provide background information and the rationale behind the current IDCFS reunification model, specifically addressing critical components in the practice model that impact caregivers.  Caregivers must also register for 5-C, Part II.

4D:  Stress Relief (Repeat of 2D)—We all experience stress in our everyday lives.  However, caregiving can add additional stress to our lives.  This workshop will help caregivers recognize stress, understand its causes, and gain knowledge about how to prevent stress and reduce it.

4E:  Sexually Abusive Children & Youth—Positive Adolescent Sexuality Services (PASS)—Participants will learn an approach that is designed to change mental images, thought patterns, and sexual arousal patterns through the persistent management of each youth’s personality functioning.

4F:  Knowledge is Power:  Effectively Engaging Youth and Caregivers to Be Better Informed and Better Advocates (Repeat of 1F and 3F)— The ability to offer all the necessary resources and services for older youth to successfully transition out of foster care will always be a challenge.  Equally challenging is addressing how to successfully engage and educate caseworkers, caregivers, and youth so they know about and can take advantage of the programs currently offered by the child welfare system.  This workshop will educate participants on the programs available from the DCFS Office of Education and Transition Services as well as resources available to help youth and caregivers be better advocates so they can access the resources necessary to successfully transition to independence.

4G:  Family Teaching Model (Part I)—Caregivers will learn how to influence and change behavior of children and adolescents in three easy steps.  Experience this proven methodology through hands-on role-play and demonstrations.  Caregivers must also register for 5-G, Part II.

4H:  Post-Adoption and Guardianship Services:  Seeking Support for Your Adopted Child (Repeat of 3H)—Families created through adoption or guardianship may experience unique challenges that require intensive services to help stabilize the family.  The Adoption and Guardianship Preservation and Respite Programs offer family-centered support and services and are available statewide.  This workshop will describe the array of services that are offered and provide contact information in your area.  This workshop will also explore the current structure of statewide post-adoption supports and services and define services provided through the subsidy agreement as well as through service providers.

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Please enter your selection (ex. 5A, 5B, 5C, etc.) for Workshop 5 on the line next to the number 5 at the bottom of the registration form.

5A: Health Fair—Caregivers will be provided with important information about healthy lifestyles, preventing disease, and they will receive basic medical screenings.

5B:  Resources for Children With Special Health Care Needs—Caregivers will learn about a variety of ways to access medical and other resources for children with special health care needs.

5C:  Reunification (Part II)—This two-part workshop will discuss the importance of the reunification model as a path to permanency.  Presenters will provide background information and the rationale behind the current IDCFS reunification model, specifically addressing critical components in the practice model that impact caregivers.  Caregivers must also register for 4-C Part I.

5D:  Reclaiming Our Children:  How to Meet the Needs of Our Kids—The workshop will address our ability to meet our children and youth’s basic needs through a reclaiming approach.  Participants will learn how the four aspects of the Circle of Courage™—belonging, mastery, independence and generosity—meet the needs of our children, how not meeting these needs on a consistent basis can prove disastrous, and how meeting these needs in a negative way can push our children and youth down paths of destruction.

5E:  40 Developmental Assets—Are you looking for ways to accentuate the positive things that youth have going for them in this challenging society?  We’ve identified 40 developmental assets (building blocks for healthy development) that help young people grow up as healthy, caring, and responsible people.  In this workshop you will learn basic information on these developmental assets and identify ways you can become an asset builder yourself.

5F:  Strengthening Families:  Six Protective Factors—Strengthening Families Illinois is a proven, cost-effective initiative to prevent child abuse and neglect that brings together early childhood center staff, parents, child welfare agencies, and others to strengthen families with young children.  This workshop will focus on the six Protective Factors that are crucial in order for parents to keep their families strong.

5G:  Family Teaching Model (Part II)—Caregivers will learn how to influence and change behavior of children and adolescents in three easy steps.  Watch this proven methodology through hands-on role-play and demonstrations.  Caregivers must also register for 4-G, Part I.

5H:  Parenting Challenges with Children Adopted Through DCFS—In this workshop, parents will increase awareness of what helps to build attachment and bonding with children, healthy adoption development and helpful resources.  Information will be presented via live demonstrations, role plays, lecture and Q & A by adoption therapists to educate parents on specific techniques that help build attachment and bonding in children.  Parents will learn about healthy development in adoption, signs for early intervention and where to go for help if needed.

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Workshops Descriptions:  Sunday, October 26

Workshop 6 – 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Please enter your selection (ex. 6A, 6B, 6C, etc.) for Workshop 6 on the line next to the number 6 at the bottom of the registration form.

Please enter your selection (ex. 7A, 7B, 7C, etc.) for Workshop 7 on the line next to the number 7 at the bottom of the registration form.

7A:  Preparation for Independence:  Everyone has a Role in Helping Youth Move Down the Road to Independence (Repeat of 6A)—Participants in this workshop will learn how vital life skills are in all phases of the life cycle when looking at such components as education, vocation, recreation, hygiene, health, spirituality, self-esteem, money/budgeting and parenting from a person who lived it.

7B:  Teen Suicide—This workshop will provide strategies to help caregivers recognize risks and learn how to intervene to prevent the immediate risk of suicide.

7C:  Strengthening Families Parent Café (Part II)—Caregivers will experience discussions of difficult family issues in small groups facilitated by trained parents. Caregivers must also register for 6-C, Part I.

7D:  Therapeutic Stabilization—This workshop will address the basic components of therapeutic stabilization services, time-limited clinical interventions designed to integrate young people into the community.

7E:  Psychiatric Services & Supports—This workshop will help caregivers understand the decision process behind a psychiatric referral and how to identify psychiatric providers.  It will address what information parents should take to the initial appointment, how to monitor the child’s progress and when to call the doctor.

7F:  Back-Up Planning for Adoptive and Guardianship Families (Repeat of 4B)—Back-up planning is a crucial step in ensuring that children will be taken care of if a current adoptive parent or guardian becomes incapacitated or passes away.  Many children end up with uncertain futures because of the lack of planning.  Participants will learn why backup planning is important for family security.

7G:  Unlocking Your Champion—Learn how to unlock the issues and situations that may be preventing you from moving to the “next steps” in your life.  Remove emotional, physical, psychological and all other barriers in your life – by unlocking your inner winner!

7H:  Communicating with Your Child:  The Generation Gap—When parents are in their golden years and their child is becoming a teenager, how do they bridge the generation gap and talk to each other and be understood?  Discover ways to tell your point of view, listen, interpret and respond to parent/child needs and expectations.

7I:  Advocating for Your Child in Juvenile Court—Juvenile Court is very important to caregivers and the children in their care.  This workshop will help caregivers understand the process and how to get the most out of it.  Caregivers will learn about the various types of hearings and how they can prepare to contribute in court.

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