Pre-Institutes Training Programs
Bundled Discount! Register for both the Training Institutes AND Pre-Institutes Training Program to receive a discounted registration of $1,220 ($200 savings!).
Seven intensive Pre-Institutes Training Programs, described below, are being offered. The optional Pre-Institutes Training Program 1.5-day registration covers:
- Attendance to one Pre-Institute
- All materials
- Daily breakfast, lunch, and refreshments
Continuing education units will be offered for Pre-Institutes Training Programs.
Space is limited for all Pre-Institute programs.
Click the Pre-Institutes below to learn more about each.
Pre-Institute #1: Adaptive Leadership & the Coach Approach
Pre-Institute #4: Successfully Implementing Residential Best Practices: Why, What & How
Pre-Institute #5: Introduction to Restorative Practices & Using Circles Effectively
Pre-Institute #6: The RockStar Blueprint: The Tools You Need to Rock the Leadership Game
Pre-Institute #1: Adaptive Leadership & the Coach Approach
Presenters:
- Ellen B. Kagen, Founder and Director, Georgetown Leadership Program, Georgetown University and Founding Partner, Coach Approach Partners, President, Georgetown Leadership Associates
- Valarie Oulds, JD Family member, Philadelphia Dept. of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services
- Gary Blau, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Hackett Center of Mental Health, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
- Shannon Crossbear, Senior Family Faculty, Georgetown Leadership Academy, Independent Consultant, Strongheart Resource Development
Leadership has long been viewed as solely the job of the person at the top but in order for systems to change, leadership must be undertaken by everyone. What does that really mean? And what skills are needed to support our effectiveness as a leaders?
This Pre-Institute opens the conversation with “What is Leadership?” and clarifies its distinction from Management and Advocacy. It also outlines the practical neuroscience behind many of the triggers and conflicts within programs and departments as well as across agencies. The program is designed to explore these topics as a full group. Participants also select one of two tracks: Adaptive Leadership or the Coach Approach. Review the information on each track to make the best selection for you. Participants in the two tracks regroup for a closing session to share learning and explore implications for the application of adaptive leadership and leadership coaching in their states and communities.
Selecting your Track
When you register, please select your preferred track. You may only enroll in the Coach Approach track if you are involved in developing Systems of Care (system partners, families and youth) who are in collaborative relationships and want to change the conversation. Those who are previous graduates of the Georgetown Leadership Academy, or another leadership-training program such as the Leadership Pre-Institute hosted by the University of Maryland Baltimore Training Institutes in 2018 are strongly encouraged to attend.
Track #A: Adaptive Leadership for Systems Change
This track, based on the Georgetown Leadership Academy, addresses the framework, skills, and tools necessary to support system partners, young professionals, and families in their roles as leaders in systems change. Together we define the adaptive leadership skills and change processes needed to overcome resistance and complacency and successfully navigate the process of change. What each leader needs to learn is nuanced, and this track is designed to touch the heart as well as stimulate the mind.
The role of leadership in building Systems of Care is to create a safe space for individuals to learn, adapt, and absorb important new ideas, new values, and new behaviors over time. This framework requires that leaders be strategic and focused in their role as change agents and that they differentiate their leadership behavior between adaptive work, which helps align perspectives, creates energy and fosters implementation, and technical work where perspectives are already aligned and management skills such as delegation, planning, tracking, reporting, and determining corrective actions are needed.
The interactive curriculum is designed to look at leadership from the inside out, provide an opportunity to reflect on who you are as an agent of change, and bravely engage in a dynamic and honest conversation about the challenging nature and role of leadership in often complex and difficult environments.
Participants emerge from this track with new ways of seeing their roles with and without authority, adaptive leadership skills and practices, the ability to apply those skills with confidence and intention within a rational and strategic change management framework, and a commitment to shift longstanding habits that may no longer serve you in your change leadership role.
Learning Objectives:
- Gain a deeper understanding of adaptive leadership
- Identify personal values, habits, and behaviors that may need to reset
- Identify and apply leadership skills in adaptive work
- Gain the confidence to effectively move the implementation forward
Participants are encouraged to come as small teams to understand the nature of this important role where everyone has a responsibility to lead.
Track #B: The Coach Approach to Adaptive Leadership
Leadership Coaching is a powerful tool for improving leadership, supervision, and practice in Systems of Care. As states and communities work toward expansion and sustainability, Leadership Coaching may be the missing skill set to anchor progress.
In this highly engaging, experiential, and skill-based track you experience coaching and are coached on real-life issues to enhance workforce effectiveness. This interactive track focuses on the adaptive skills of aligning actions to values and helps build the critical thinking skills needed to support change and innovation in Systems of Care. It is especially designed to flow from any prior leadership training you have experienced.
This track is specifically designed for administrators, supervisors, managers, and program staff who are in collaborative relationships and who want to change the conversation. System partners, family leaders, and youth leaders are encouraged to attend.
Learning Objectives:
- Enhance your ability to implement Systems of Care by “changing the conversation,” increasing trust, and supporting the work of adaptive leadership
- Learn to support and sustain cross-agency collaboration
- Enhance skills needed to drive stronger partnerships between family, youth, and system leaders
- Increase your capacity for cross-cultural communication to build cultural and linguistic competence
- Increase your critical thinking skills within teams
The track will include the Coach Approach Mindset and Skillset, including:
- Becoming and staying present, even in the midst of chaos and conflict
- Identifying an engaged listener and how to become one
- Asking powerful questions that unlock deeper responses to leadership challenges
- Using communication and feedback to support adaptive work
- Building personal and collaborative accountability within teams
- Using leadership coaching skills in daily interactions
- Creating ongoing opportunities for internal and cross-system collaborations
- Increasing interpersonal effectiveness with the Coach Approach at work and at home
Pre-Institute #2: There's a Frame for That! Evidence-Based Strategies for Communicating Effectively about Children's Mental Health
Presenters:
- Marisa Gerstein Pineau, PhD, Principal Researcher and Strategist, FrameWorks Institute
- Clara Gibbons, Associate, Research Interpretation and Application, FrameWorks Institute
Ever think you’ve developed the perfect message and then watched as your audience understood it differently than intended? Or didn’t understand it at all? Communicating effectively is not just an art – it is also a science! In this dynamic Pre-Institute, participants delve into the FrameWorks Institute’s extensive portfolio of research-tested strategies for communicating with the public, media, and policymakers about child development and wellbeing. There is a mix of classroom-style lecture, discussion, and hands-on exercises.
This Pre-Institute is designed for those involved in communicating about Systems of Care and children’s mental health in written and verbal format to legislators, decisionmakers, funders, families, colleagues, professionals across systems, and the public.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn more about the fundamentals of framing
- Gain insights into why some messages work better than others
- Learn what to say, and what to avoid saying, for better communications results
- Enhance your understanding about framing strategies modeled in real advocacy communications
- Practice using rigorously tested communications tools in your own messages, and get answers to all of your framing questions
- Jenn Nichols, Assistant Director of Research Interpretation and Application, FrameWorks Institute
- Clara Gibbons, Associate, Research Interpretation and Application, FrameWorks Institute
Ever think you’ve developed the perfect message and then watched as your audience understood it differently than intended? Or didn’t understand it at all? Communicating effectively is not just an art – it is also a science! In this dynamic Pre-Institute, participants delve into the FrameWorks Institute’s extensive portfolio of research-tested strategies for communicating with the public, media, and policymakers about child development and wellbeing. There is a mix of classroom-style lecture, discussion, and hands-on exercises.
This Pre-Institute is designed for those involved in communicating about Systems of Care and children’s mental health in written and verbal format to legislators, decision makers, funders, families, colleagues, professionals across systems, and the public.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn more about the fundamentals of framing
- Gain insights into why some messages work better than others
- Learn what to say, and what to avoid saying, for better communications results
- Enhance your understanding about framing strategies modeled in real advocacy communications
- Practice using rigorously tested communications tools in your own messages, and get answers to all of your framing questions
Pre-Institute #3: Assess & Improve your Comprehensive School Mental Health System using National Best Practices
Presenters:
- Sharon Hoover, PhD, Co-Director, National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Samantha Reaves, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
This Pre-Institute equips participants with the tools needed to support states, districts, and schools in advancing school mental health. Participants learn how to access and navigate a free, online platform and corresponding national curriculum to support school mental health quality. This program explores:
- Teaming
- Needs Assessment and Resource Mapping
- Mental Health Screening
- Mental Health Promotion (Tier 1)
- Early Intervention and Treatment (Tiers 2 and 3)
- Funding and Sustainability
- Documenting Impact
Participants also receive guidance on using a free, online system for measuring and improving trauma-responsiveness of schools. Finally, participants learn about state and local strategies to advance school mental health in the context of school safety efforts.
This Pre-Institute is designed for those working with states, districts, and schools to support the integration of trauma-responsive, mental health supports and services into schools, including in the context of school safety efforts.
Learning Objectives:
- Utilize a free, online platform and corresponding national curriculum to guide schools, districts, and states through a systematic quality improvement process to advance school mental health.
- Utilize a free, online platform for assessing and improving trauma-responsiveness of schools.
- Identify at least three strategies for integrating school mental health into state and local school safety planning.
Pre-Institute #4: Successfully Implementing Residential Best Practices: Why, What & How
Presenters:
- Mark Nickell, M.Div., Director, Building Bridges Initiative
- Sherri Adair Hammack, BS, National Coordinator, Building Bridges Initiative
- Trish Cocoros, BS, Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder, Youth Development Institute
- Angel Knapp, MSW, CSAY-C, Clinical Director, Damar Services
- Ebony Chambers, BA, Chief Family & Youth Officer, Stanford Sierra Youth and Families
- Laura Tate, Youth Advocate & founding board member of the Youth Advisory Board, Seneca Family of Agencies
This Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Pre-Institute provides participants with the why, what, and how for successfully implementing residential best practices. The information provided meets requirements set forth by increasing numbers of oversight agencies, managed care companies, and federal legislation (i.e. the 2018 federal law, Families First Prevention Services Act for Qualified Residential Treatment Programs), and addresses issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Attendees leave the Pre-Institute with an action plan of practical strategies to improve policies and practices in their programs (residential and/or community), agencies (oversight/funding), and/or Systems of Care communities.
Whether you work for an oversight agency or managed care company, or are a leader in a residential program, or are a family or youth partner/advocate, or community program leader who interfaces with residential, or a family or youth, this BBI Pre-Institute provides you with up-to-date information about successful residential practices, implementation strategies, and policies.
Learning Objectives:
- Increase your understanding about why residential care is being transformed across the country. Become familiar with important components of several residential transformation efforts in different regions that have resulted in improved outcomes for youth and families after discharge from residential care.
- Increase your knowledge about a range of family-driven, youth-guided, trauma-informed, culturally and linguistically competent, and other residential best practices (e.g., aftercare; permanency). Identify, specific to your state/systems of care community/residential and/or community program(s):
- Current strengths in these areas that support residential best practices
- Current and prioritized challenges that are impeding residential best practices
- Doable action steps to support improvement in these areas
- Identify, specific to your state/systems of care community/residential and/or community program(s),
- Current strengths that support residential best practices
- Current and prioritized challenges that are impeding residential best practices (e.g., engaging families with complex challenges, reducing lengths of stay, partnering with community services and supports, and effectively addressing permanency issues)
- Doable action steps to align residential best practices with research on improving long-term post-residential outcomes
- Leave the training program with renewed enthusiasm and individual action plans for returning to your states/systems of care communities/programs to:
- Improve overall focus on family-driven, youth-guided, trauma-informed, and culturally and linguistically competent practices with residential and their community counterpart programs
- Improve overall focus on ensuring sustained positive outcomes post-residential discharge for youth and families
Pre-Institute #5: Introduction to Restorative Practices & Using Circles Effectively
Presenter:
- Shantay McKinily, Director, The Positive Schools Center, University of Maryland School of Social Work
Schools, as well as workplaces and agencies, can easily become punitive environments. They often rely on punishment rather than developing relationships and supportive, nurturing environments. This punitive approach leads to student, client, and staff disengagement, the growth of the School-to-Prison Pipeline, low staff retention, and poor student outcomes.
The Positive Schools Centers Pre-Institute give participants the skills they need to build positive and restorative environment in their workplace, agency, or school. Participants learn the essentials of Restorative Practices, and the social science on which it is based. School leaders and staff have the opportunity to join with other educators and social workers to discuss challenges in transforming organizational culture. The training will cover the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP)’s Day 1 (Introduction to Restorative Practices) and Day 2 (Using Circles Effectively) curriculum, while integrating the Positive School’s Center’s unique racial and social justice, trauma-responsive strategies, and social emotional learning lens.
This Pre-Institute is designed for individuals who are looking to implement Restorative Practices in their school or workplace, especially educators and clinicians working with K-12 students. All participants are registered as having completed Introduction to Restorative Practices and Using Circles Effectively with the International Institute of Restorative Practices and are eligible to take the train-the-trainer course Day 1 and Day 2.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn to describe key concepts of restorative practices including:
- Fundamental hypothesis/ Social Discipline Window
- Fair Process
- Psychology of Affect
- Restorative Practices Continuum
- Understand the purpose of the circle process and how circles can be used in your setting
- Learn the necessary skills to prepare and facilitate restorative circles
- Assess their school or organizations in light of the Organizational Change Window, and identify ways in which they can shift practices to become more restorative
- Explore how to use Restorative Approaches to build positive school climate and workplace environments that more effectively serve clients and students
- Understand the different purposes of circles, and how to best use them in their respective work environments
- Practice using restorative circles, and begin to use them effectively in daily work practices
Pre-Institute #6: The RockStar Blueprint: The Tools You Need to Rock the Leadership Game
Presenters:
- Madeline Zielinski, Youth Program Specialist, Youth MOVE National
- Lydia Proulx, Youth Program Specialist, Youth MOVE National
Youth leaders are often asked to join in the work of system change via advisory councils, System of Care governance councils, or by joining youth-run programs. This Pre-Institute is designed to boost the skills youth leaders have to be effective change makers in these spaces. By investing in youth leadership training, we can all succeed together.
Youth MOVE National’s Pre-Institute, The RockStar Blueprint, focuses on the growth of youth advocates in a peer-led environment by building off each youth leader’s current leadership skills and support movement towards future leadership aspirations within the youth movement. We explore the power of personal leadership, the journey of leadership, and leadership in action. Each section supports youth leaders in gaining insight into what influences one’s leadership style. This Pre-Institute offers youth and young adults a collective experience that blends experiential learning with peer facilitated group discussions and activities that provide opportunities for application of key leadership concepts.
This Pre-Institute is designed for youth, youth advocates, youth peers, and young adults who are using their lived experience to create change in their communities.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand how personal values, culture, and lived experiences shapes one’s approach to leadership and ability to connect with others
- Identify individual strengths and how to apply those strengths in leadership roles
- Recognize the strengths others have and how to build on those to develop meaningful partnerships
- Understand what it means to be an effective leader and identify resources and supports needed to be become an effective leader
Pre-Institutes #7: What it Means to Operationalize Systems of Care: Getting into the Weeds Around What the Principles Look Like in Practice
Presenters:
- Kim Estep, Director of Training and Workforce Development, The Institute for Innovation and Implementation
- Shannon Robshaw, System/Policy Coach, The Institute for Innovation and Implementation
- Toni Donnelly, Parent Peer Support & Director of Training
This session walks participants through concrete steps to operationalize the System of Care (SOC) principles in their state, community, or tribe. In theory and value, the SOC principles seem realistic and easy enough to achieve. However, states, communities, and tribes often struggle to ensure the principles get turned into action so the experiences of youth and their families seeking support are meaningful, positive, and coordinated. Families still voice concerns over access and often are left struggling to get services and support how and when they need it.
This Pre-Institute is specifically designed for administrators, managed care organizations, organizational leadership, supervisors, family leaders, youth leaders, managers, and program staff who are in leadership and partnership roles responsible for designing and creating systems to support children, youth, and families.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn what the SOC principles mean in practice and identify steps needed to achieve successful system reform
- Walk through family experiences and identify those touch points that would make a huge impact on the ability of a family to access service and supports
- Leave with action steps to begin or enhance their system reform effort in their state, community, or tribe
Pre-Institute #8: Building on Cultural Strengths: Strategies for Addressing Challenges in American Indian/Alaska Native Communities
Presenters:
- CAPT Andrew Hunt, MSW, LICSW, Acting Deputy Director, Division of Behavioral Health, Indian Health Service
- Teresia Paul, Student Health Program Specialist, Bureau of Indian Education
- Diane Hietpas, Trauma Informed Care Coordinator, Menominee Tribal Clinic
- Sarah Kastelic, PhD. Executive Director, National Indian Child Welfare Association
- CDR Micah Woodard, Western Oregon Service Unit, Indian Health Service
American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities operate in a context that has unique needs for serving children and youth with mental health and substance use issues. This Pre-Institutes Training Program helps participants understand the historic trauma that impacts AI/AN individuals and communities, and how to build on cultural strengths and resiliency. Presenters will share programs and practices that have demonstrated a positive impact at the national, regional, or local levels, highlighting strategies for addressing the significant challenges facing AI/AN communities. There is an emphasis on cultural approaches and building collaboration within AI/AN communities, as well as expanding potential partnerships with city, county, state, and private organizations.
The first day focuses on historical trauma in AI/AN communities and trauma-informed care, school mental health, and suicide prevention approaches. On the second day, participants complete the "Culture and Drugs Don't Mix" curriculum and leave with the knowledge and skills to train others on how to implement this curriculum. Throughout the program, participants are encouraged to discuss lessons learned and develop strategies to bring effective approaches back to their home communities.
Learning Objectives:
- Gain an understanding of the impact of historic/intergenerational trauma in AI/AN communities and how to incorporate a trauma-informed care approach
- Learn about specific mental health programs and practices in AI/AN communities
- Engage in networking to discuss and strategize how to implement lessons learned
- Complete the Training of Trainers curriculum for “Culture and Drugs Don’t Mix”