Workshop Descriptions
Session One • 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. |
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1A. |
The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Delinquent Behavior |
| Suzanne Neuhaus, Parole Agent II/Victims Services Specialist, CDCR’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services |
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| Many violent youthful offenders have witnessed chronic violence in their homes and communities, and most have experienced the loss of a significant person in their lives through violence. This immersion in a violent culture communicates to the individual that they are in a constant state of danger. Such exposure may deplete their inner resources and impact their ability to function and behave appropriately, often leading to an acquisition of violent acting out behavior. This workshop will explore the relationship of early childhood trauma and violence on later delinquent behavior, and address ways to intervene and treat youthful offenders. | |
1B. |
Breaking the Cycle of Abuse: The Effects of Fatherlessness on Children |
| Rick Johnson, Executive Director, Better Dads | |
| Men are convicted of a preponderance of the abuse that takes place in our society. However, they are also the solution to solving these problems. The negative effects of abusive behavior, domestic violence, abandonment, and addiction are passed down from generation to the next. Children who were abused or abandoned often grow up to abuse and abandon their own children. Without deliberate, proactive intervention to reprogram the abusive behavior, the next generation will be at-risk. One effective way to help stop this intergenerational cycle of abuse is through the involvement of positive male role models. Given the dismal statistics regarding the long-term welfare of fatherless children, fatherlessness is surely a form of child abuse. This workshop will explore ways that men are the key to eliminating child abuse and domestic violence. | |
1C. |
Victims with Disabilities: The Forensic Interview – How to Effectively Interview Children (and adults) with Cognitive, Communication and/or Physical Disabilities |
| Nora Baladerian, Director, Center for Healing of West Los Angeles | |
| Learn skills and techniques that can be applied immediately. This workshop offers attendees an opportunity to view a screening of the new law enforcement training video entitled “Victims with Disabilities: The Forensic Interview.” Participants will observe a demonstration and learn the eight steps used in assuring a productive outcome when interviewing children with disabilities. | |
1D. |
The Multi-Disciplinary Investigation of Fatal and Severe Injuries to Children – Special Focus on Children Ages 0 to 5 |
| Patti Culross, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Injury and Violence Prevention, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Michael Durfee, M.D., Chief Consultant, ICAN National Center on Child Fatality Review Other Presenters to be Announced |
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| Attend an interactive debriefing from the November 13th Think Tank and Symposium: Multi-Agency Investigation of Fatal and Severe Child Injuries. Get first hand information on some of the challenges, and discover a summary of potential solutions. Learn what experts in the fields of law enforcement, public health, child death review, child protective services and healthcare are addressing in an effort to develop multi-disciplinary investigation protocols. | |
1E. |
Los Angeles County Regional SAFE Team: Sexual Registrant Enforcement and Internet Safety |
| Thomas Sirkel, Lieutenant, L A County Sheriff’s Department, Special Victim’s Bureau (SAFE Team) Richard Ruiz, Sergeant, L A County Sheriff’s Department, Special Victim’s Bureau (SAFE Team) |
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| The Los Angeles County Regional SAFE Team’s mission is to provide oversight responsibility for the monitoring of all sex offender registrants residing within Los Angeles County. Participants in this workshop will learn how the SAFE Team coordinates and participates in registrant compliance sweeps of non-compliant sex offenders, conducts sexual exploitation investigations, and provides public lectures on Megan’s Law and Internet related crimes. | |
1F. |
Prescription and OTC Medications: Teen Abuse |
| Dmitry Gelman, Training Coordinator, TEEN LINE Alex Khan, Outreach Associate, TEEN LINE TEEN LINE Volunteer |
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| Most people are not aware of the problem of teen prescription and over-the-counter medication abuse, and the possibility of serious harmful, even lethal effects. Some teens, who are legally prescribed psychotropic medication, may even sell their pills to peers who wish to get high. This workshop will explore the ramifications of these practices and how to educate youth about this kind of substance abuse. Teen panelists will describe their personal experience with these issues. | |
1G. |
Family Violence in Asian Pacific Islander Populations and Immigration Remedies Available to Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence |
| Ivy Panlilio, Program Director, Asian Pacific Women’s Center Chun-Yen Chen, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Women’s Center Amy Woo, Staff Attorney, Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice |
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| Join this workshop to examine the cultural issues surrounding domestic violence specific to the Asian and Pacific Islander community, which, according to recent Census figures, is one of the fastest growing racial groups in Los Angeles County. Accordingly, this workshop will also provide an overview of immigration options available to immigrant survivors of domestic violence via the Violence against Women Act (VAWA), Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments (IMFA) and U Visa provisions of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. | |
1H. |
Artful Communication: Helping Parents Whose Children Have Witnessed Domestic Violence |
| Margeaux Gallinger, Director of Counseling, WEAVE Anna Kodet, Counseling Services Manager, WEAVE |
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| Learn a fresh approach to help mitigate the effects of family violence on children. Since a healthy parent is a child’s most important ally, this workshop will educate the attendees on how to decrease the impact of family violence on parenting. It will demonstrate how to help parents break through denial, minimization and shame to be their child’s most helpful resource. Children’s artwork and case vignettes will illustrate from the child’s perspective: the cycle of violence, attribution of blame and their interpretation of anger as violence. Professionals working with children or parents will experientially learn how to use art to intervene. | |
1I. |
Teaching Non-Violent Parenting: Breaking the Cycle of Violence with |
| Ruth Beaglehole, Executive Director, Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting | |
| Parental disciplinary practices can have long term consequences for families and the psychological development of children. With research stating that 80% of all American children are spanked, there is an undeniable truth: early violence is learned in the family in the guise of punishment. Research has shown that early brain development and attachment are affected by the prenatal connection and the family environment created by corporal punishment, shaming and manipulation. A key challenge for professionals working with families is to teach parents the benefits of avoiding all punishments that lead to disconnection and mistrust between the parent and the child. It is inevitable that parents will, at times, feel intense anger and frustration in raising their children but the rare tools that parents can learn that acknowledge the parent’s needs, provide limits and boundaries and at the same time support the child with the development of their emotional intelligence. Breaking the cycle of violence involves learning alternate strategies that allow parents to de-escalate their anger and to use the nonviolent communication and problem solving with their children. Through this work, we can teach skills that build strong family interactions that will have a profound effect on the child’s ability to cope later in life. | |
Session Two • 3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. |
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2A. |
Partnerships for Families to Make Every Child Safe from the Start: |
| Mary Hammer, Program Director, First 5 LA, Partnerships for Families Program, South Bay Center for Counseling Debra Stout, Psy.D. Trainer, OC Safe from the Start Mary Marlin, RN, M.S.N., Trainer, OC Safe from the Start Rose Hedegard, Program Specialist/Trainer, OC Safe from the Start |
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| The first part of this workshop will provide an overview of First 5 LA’s Partnership for Families program in the South Bay of Los Angeles whose goal is to support pregnant and parenting teens as well as at-risk families referred by the Department of Children and Family Services. The second half of the workshop will provide an overview of the OC Safe from the Start public health campaign to reduce children’s exposure to violence, based on current research from Dr. Bruce Perry of the ChildTrauma Academy. | |
2B. |
Compassion Fatigue – Can You Care Too Much? |
| David Kessler, Author | |
| In a world too often filled with grief, loss and violence, what is your professional role in caring? In this enjoyable workshop, attendees will understand how compassion fatigue can affect professionals. We will focus on how we can prevent it, as well as how we can recover from it. Issues addressed will include new ways to empower staff members while helping them stay motivated and good work tools to ensure staff members don’t carry work-related stress into their personal lives. Learn from the experience of the late Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler on how to handle work worlds filled with grief and loss. | |
2C. |
The Changing Face of Foster Care |
| Harvey Kawasaki, Division Chief, Department of Children and Family Services Jennifer Hottenroth, Assistant Division Chief, Department of Children and Family Services Thomas Sirkel, Lieutenant, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Gregory Lecklitner, Ph.D., District Chief, Department of Mental Health Jed Minoff, Director, ILP Probation |
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| This workshop will focus on changing policies, procedures and resources that affect decision making and quality of care for youth in the foster care system. New initiatives will be discussed by representatives from the Department of Children and Family Services, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Probation Department and the Department of Mental Health. | |
2D. |
Bullying or Harmless Teasing? |
| Michael Pines, Ph.D., Co-chair, Los Angeles County Child & Adolescent Suicide Review Judy Chiasson, Ph.D., Human Relations, Diversity & Equity, Los Angeles Unified School District |
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| Is it playing, dissin’, punkin’, messin’ around, harassment, a hate crime, or gay bashing? To begin to understand the problem of bullying in schools, educators and professionals must begin with a fresh understanding of their personal experiences. This workshop will take a hard look at the nature, targets, and perpetrators of bullying, methods of delivery, and unique consequences. Particular attention will be given to marginalization based on real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. | |
2E. |
At Risk Youth and Internet Predators |
| Jennifer Corbet, United States Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office | |
| With the advent of the Internet, child predators have a new tool to seek out troubled children and groom them to engage in sex acts. There are a number of federal criminal statutes that provide for the prosecution of these offenders. This workshop will identify and describe federal criminal statutes prohibiting the sexual exploitation of children. | |
2F. |
Breaking the Cycle: Early Screening and Assessment of Intimate Partner Abuse Among Youth |
| Brandy Davis, Supervising Attorney, Break the Cycle | |
| Although some attention is paid to the effects of children witnessing domestic violence, relatively little attention is devoted to the reality of abuse among youth in their own relationships. This workshop will address the challenges to screening for and assessing intimate partner abuse among youth. Using practical scenarios, with particular emphasis on legal issues, this workshop will help youth-serving professionals develop strategies for confronting the barriers that prevent youth from getting help. We will explore strategies for providing prevention, early intervention and crisis services that overcome barriers for teens in three common settings: health clinics, schools, and parenting programs. | |
2G. |
How the Process of Theatre Provides Natural Buffering Factors for Abused and Neglected Youth |
| The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company | |
| Creating stories through improvisation empowers youth. Youth participants work with volunteer audience participants to discover new points of view on issues of conflict. Learn how theatre instills good listening skills, pro-social behavior and good habits. Experience positive strategies used in theatre games that translate into other areas of life. | |
2H. |
Animal Cruelty and Human Violence |
| Susan Brumagin, Detective III, Animal Cruelty Task Force, Los Angeles Police Department Tony Lomedico, Lieutenant II, Animal Cruelty Task Force, Los Angeles Police Department |
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| The Los Angeles City Animal Cruelty Task Force will provide information regarding animal cruelty and its relationship to family violence, child abuse and juvenile crime. Participants in this workshop will learn specific statistical information and will also learn from case biopsies that illustrate examples of family violence with incidents of pet abuse in the home. They will also learn the primary aggressor role in animal abuse, physical and sexual abuse of children in homes where there are prosecutable animal cruelty cases, and about juvenile crime relative to family violence and psychopathy. | |
2I. |
Developing a Greater Understanding of Children with Asperger’s Syndrome |
| Ruth C. Mandernach, LCSW, Director of Family Service Programs at The Help Group | |
| Children and teens diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome are frequently labeled as eccentric or peculiar, and can be easily misunderstood by peers and adults alike. They are often victimized by peers and are bullied and scapegoated. Caregivers and professionals can lack the empathy and understanding for young people with Asperger’s Syndrome to help them deal with their feelings of isolation, frustration, anger and vulnerability and develop more effective social and communication skills. This workshop will focus on appreciating the different ways in which youth with Asperger’s Syndrome process information and interact with the world around them, giving participants a greater ability to work effectively with these young people. | |