Eliminate the criminalization of people with mental illness through positive training and education.
Minnesota’s Region 7E completed a 4 part Conversational Cycle on CIT, their Region’s Crisis Intervention Team Program. The Region includes Pine, Kanabec, Isanti, Mille Lacs and Chisago Counties and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
North Branch Conversation
Grand Casino Hinkley/Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Conversation
Hyatt Regency Downtown Atlanta, Georgia
“Georgia on Your Mind – CIT in Your Heart”Presented by the Georgia Crisis Intervention Team. Click on the link below for more information. http://www.namiga.org/NGA-CIT-conference08.htm |
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The Council of State Governments Justice Center put together the Essential Elements series, a collection of publications that provide advice on strategies for responding to the needs of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system. The most recent publication that has been released is Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement-Based Program. For more information about these resources, click here.
Presenters: Jack Avery, Traumatic Brain Injury Unit, VA Hospital and
Major Cynthia Rasmussen, Combat Stress Officer, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, 88th Regional Readiness Command
Sponsored by NHCC, Disability Access Services, 763-493-0555, Veterans Resource Center
Purpose: This pioneering kickoff event is the beginning of a movement to explore how welcoming and inclusive spiritual communities can benefit those returning from prison or recovery centers as well as themselves.
Who Is This Event For?
What Will Happen?
We will all come together in a circle. People returning from prison and people in recovery, government and community service professionals, and representatives of spiritual communities in the Twin Cities will share ideas and viewpoints. Through a process called “Open Space,” all participants will have an equal opportunity to be heard and to identify the issues and opportunities they are most passionate about. These meaningful conversations held in concurrent sessions during the day will provide the basis for recommendations and next steps. While we don’t know what the specific results will be, we do know that this process generates interactive learning, inspirational visions, surprising partnerships, heart-felt community, and transformative outcomes. Please call Cal Appleby at 612-929-0901.
This conference was underwritten by the Trust for the Meditation Process, a charitable foundation supporting contemplative practice among Christians and encouraging dialogue and cooperation among all contemplative traditions. www.trustformeditation.org
Sponsored by: The Mental Health Association of Minnesota (MHA), Ramsey County Adult and Children’s Mental Health Advisory Councils, Ramsey County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative, Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Network, Ramsey County NAMI, the Barbara Schneider Foundation and CLUES
This is an opportunity for all those from the mental health communnity to have a chance to discuss ways we can collaborate to improve our mental health system.
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The 5th Annual Summer Soirée is our way of saying thank you to all of our Contributors, Volunteers, Supporters, Workers and Crisis Trained Responders.Thomasina Petrus, the premier Twin Cities jazz vocalist, will perform for you at our Summer Soirée. |
During the last year we sponsored crisis training for social workers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, hospital emergency room staff, school psychologists, patrol officers, and jail staff. And we have numerous trainings scheduled for this next year. Come celebrate the progress we are making to provide first responders with an educated health response to mental health crisis.
Spend a pleasurable summer evening at the Theodore Wirth Park Country Club, with superb food and drink, and dancing to the sultry jazz tunes of Thomasina Petrus. Cost is just $30 per person. Purchase your tickets online on our home page or by calling BSF at 612-801-8572.
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2008 Barbara Schneider Foundation
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Criminal Justice Partners
Anoka County Sheriff’s Department
Appleton Wisconsin Police Department
Benson Police Department
Hennepin County Attorney’s Office
Hennepin County Mental Health Court
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department
Isanti Police Department
Minneapolis Police Department
Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association
Moorhead Police Department
Ramsey County Mental Health Court
Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department
Savage Police Department
Scott County Sheriff’s Department
Shakopee Police Department
University of Minnesota Police Department
Wright County Sheriff’s Department
Education Partners
Century College
Inver Hills Community College
Metropolitan State University
Minneapolis Public Schools
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Ridgewater College
St. Olaf College
University of Minnesota
University of St. Thomas
Community Partners
Alchemy Project
merican Indian Safety Council
Basilica of Saint Mary
City of Minneapolis
Council on Crime and Justice
Dick Senese Memorial Fund for Irene Senese
Eli Lilly
Gadtke Family
Heading Home Hennepin
Interact
Interfaith Network for Mental Health
The Advocates for Human Rights
Oswald Family Foundation
St. Joan of Arc Mental Health Ministry
Tom Braun Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation
National Partners
Partners in Crisis Florida
Mental Health Community Partners
Brain Injury Association of Minnesota
Cass County Human Services
Crisis Connection
Eden Programs
Guild, Inc.
Hennepin County Human Services
Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Network of MN
Minnesota Department of Human Services
Minnesota Mental Health Association
Minnesota Teen Challenge
NAMI Appleton WI
NAMI Brainerd Lakes
NAMI Hennepin County
NAMI Minnesota
NAMI Ramsey County
Nicollet County Human Services
Pacer Center
Ramsey County Human Services
Region 7E Crisis Services
Rise, Inc.
SAVE
Scott County Community Action Program
Systems Transformation of Area Resources and Services (STARS)
Tasks Unlimited
Health Care Partners
Abbott Northwestern
Allina
Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES)
Hazelden
Hennepin County Medical Center
Mayo Clinic
Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
Metro EMS Board
North Saint Paul Fire Department
Northfield Hospital
Training Partners
Consumer Volunteers
Crisis Company
Double O Media
MASA Consulting
Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
Pro-Crisis
Temple Israel
Veteran Reintegration Support
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Author and public speaker Andrew Gadtke announces the sale of his new book, Regular & Decaf.Synopsis: Andrew & his friend Benji are two ordinary twenty-somethings with extraordinary true stories to share. Through a series of meetings, Through the conversations you will discover their: Early Symptoms, Thoughts and Feelings of Psychosis and Mania, Hospital and Treatment Experiences, Family, Friend, & Romantic Relationships, Disability & Stigma, Faith & Coping, & More. ($19.95 + tax). |
Special Guest Benji Wulf, Andrew’s friend and conversation counterpart in Regular & Decaf will be coming from out-of-state to attend the open house.
The immediate mental health crisis can be challenging for any professional, but when it is a client, the challenge can be great. This training is designed to introduce professional and other care providers to skills that will enhance their readiness and response to crisis events.
Participants will be introduced to concepts on how to intervene with individuals in crisis and maintain their own safety and that of their client. This training is designed for behavioral health care providers working with a wide range of populations that are at risk.
BSF has expanded outreach efforts to greater Minnesota by sponsoring a symposium at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minnesota on May 21, 2008. Other sponsors included Kandiyohi County Human Services, Rice Hospital, and Woodland Centers among others. BSF presented two well attended sessions on Best Practice in Mental Health Crisis Response. Several attendees indicated an interest in bringing BSF to their communities to provide training for criminal justice and mental health professionals and staff. There is growing interest in CIT in greater Minnesota and strong support for strengthening collaborations between mental health, law enforcement, and corrections. Contact BSF for further information on how your police, sheriff, mental health, social service and health care providers can get the training they need in mental health crisis response.
How do we prevent crisis? Effective Response & Support; Continuum of Care; Support for Quality of Life. All our speakers and breakouts and breakouts will emphasize these themes. This state-wide event is held with participation by leaders in mental health, police, courts, corrections, emergency medicine, social services and education is sponsored by the Barbara Schneider Foundation and co-sponsored by its partners in law enforcement and other partner systems that respond to those at risk for mental health crisis.
Through plenaries and breakout sessions, participants from all corners of the state will learn about mental health and criminal justice related reform efforts in Minnesota and work on plans to build collaboration in their home communities.
Keynote Speaker, Elyn R. Saks, Author of The Center Can Not Hold
This new book that tells the story of her mental health recovery and her success at living with schizophrenia as a professor of law at the University of Southern California School of Law and an adjunt professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. In sharing the story of her life, Ms Saks will set the tone for our conference. Recovery is possible with good crisis response, good medical care and attention to quality of life issues. As a BSF board member explained it, “I need someone to get me out of crisis and back on track as soon as possible; this is a medical condition and I need accurate assessment and quality treatment; and I am a person, not an illness.”
Keynote Speaker, Michele Saunders, Director: Partners in Crisis, FL
Ms Saunders. LCSW, will focus on the grassroots CIT approach in Florida where 27 counties are actively involved in CIT, 17 counties are developing a strategic plan, and 23 counties yet to organize. For her, CIT is more than just training. It is about a new way of responding for the officer and about an integrated systems approach to effective crisis response embedded with compassion, officer safety and a jail diversion philosophy. She will also discuss Partners in Crisis which started in Florida. This coalition of providers, government administrators, consumers, law enforcement and members of the judiciary, is now a growing national alliance. Ms Saunders will discuss the work of Partners in Crisis advocating for mental health funding, law enforcement training, treatment alternatives, access to medication, housing and other services. See a de-escalation role play demonstration by the famous Crisis Company actors.
1 – The Latest Development in 24/7 Mobile Crisis Intervention and Stabilization in the 7 Metro Counties. Presenters: Gloria Morrow, MSE, LICSW, Supervisor, Hennepin county Children’s Mental Health Crisis Unit; Martin Marty, MSW, LICSW, Social Work Unit Supervisor, Hennepin County Adult Behavioral Health, C.O.P.E.; Amanda Gramlich, MSW, LICSW, Area Director, People Incorporated’s Riverwind Crisis Services; Roger Meyer, Coordinator, Metro Children’s Crisis Services partnership.
Session Description: A panel of supervisors of Mobile Mental Health Crisis Teams demonstrate what consumers and referring agencies can expect from mobile crises teams in the 7-county metro area. This includes 24/7/365 access to Mental Health Crisis Interventions, and access to Crisis Stabilization services for individuals needing short-term ways to stay out of crisis. In addition, the Metro Children’s Crisis Service partnership coordinator will explain how a public-private partnership of providers, counties, hospitals, health-plans, DHS and parents is working in the metro area to improve the mental health crisis infrastructure.
2 – Mental HealthCourts: Hennepin and Ramsey Models That Divert People with Mental Illness Out of the Criminal System.
Presenters: Judge Gregg E. Johnson, Ramsey District Court Brandi Coady, Ramsey County Mental Health Court Coordinator, Ramsey District Court; Deborah Strasser, Case Manager of the Mental Health Court, Ramsey County Mental Health Center; Lori Swenson, Hennepin County Mental Health Coordinator, Hennepin County District Court
Session Description: This session will take a broad look at the development and operation of the two mental health courts in Minnesota, reflecting upon the impact these courts have had on the criminal justice system and mental health systems and discuss how CIT-trained officers and mental health courts can work together to effectively use resources. Mental health courts are quickly expanding and gaining national recognition for their effectiveness in reducing recidivism and improving public safety by addressing the problems faced by individuals with mental health disorders entering the criminal justice system. Mental health courts work to increase effective cooperation between the mental health treatment system and the criminal justice system.
3 – Getting it Right…With a little help from our friends. Jail C.I.T.
Presenters: Randy Carroll, Lt. Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office
Jack Stephens, Sergeant
Shari Otterblad, Psychiatric Nurse
Session Description: Find out how this adaptation of crisis intervention team training is changing the attitudes of jail staff and improving the lives of mentally ill people in jails throughout Minnesota.
4 – How Cultural Factors influence Crisis Management.
Presenter: Dionne Hart, MD, Staff Psychiatrist, National Health Service Corps,
Federal Medical Center, Rochester, Minnesota
Session Description: The well-known fact that cultural issues permeate practically every human activity has, in the emergency setting, one of its most eloquent examples. If we understand culture as a set of beliefs, traditions, customs, and habits that provide a necessary social and historical background to an individuals identity and behavior, it is clear that these cultural factors impact the care provider or responder, the patient, and his/her family members. A physician, nurse, social worker, chaplain, or law enforcement official managing an emergency faces the broad scope, as well as the limitations of their respective disciplines, in dealing with persons who also carry the baggage of cultural norms which rule their lives and their illness-related behavior.
During this breakout session we will explore non-English speaking mentally ill minority persons in crisis and the first twenty-four hours of detainment in a local jail. Through case analysis, we will explore implementation of culturally competent crisis management and appropriate risk assessment to ensure safety of the detainee and all responders.
5 – How Law Enforcement Partnered with NAMI to Bring C.I.T. Services to Rural Wisconsin.
Presenters: John Wallschlaeger, Patrol / CIT Officer, Appleton Police Department
Karen Aspenson, MSW – Executive Director, NAMI Fox Valley, Appleton, WI
Session Description: The Appleton Police Department and NAMI Fox Valley partnered in 2003 to bring CIT to the area. Since that time they have found the effort of building collaboration in the community to be a constant work in progress. This presentation will focus on what efforts have been taken to build collaboration and strengthen the CIT Initiative in Appleton (pop 75,000) and greater Wisconsin. Discussions will include both what worked and what didn’t [in that process].
6 – Crisis Response: Focus on the Survivors.
Presenter: Richard Peterson, S.A.V.E (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education), Speaker of the year. Formerly served in the Washington county Sheriff’s Office in a variety of capacities including patrol, narcotics, SWAT, K9 Sergeant and field training officer.
Session Description: Based on an actual story of suicide and family survival, Richard Peterson outlines the importance of responding to crisis through the eyes of the survivor, as well as what elements are part of relating to the family in a suicide situation.
7 – Be Careful What You Ask For: How to Be Prepared for Crisis as a Family Member.
Presenter: Shelley White, Associate Director – NAMI (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill)
Session Description:
Family members often struggle with loved ones who are reluctant to get treatment. Is this a problem or a crisis? Shelley White will discuss how family members can prepare for a crisis and how to distinguish a problem from a crisis.
8 – Customized Trainings by BSF: What’s New?
Presenter: Mark Anderson, Executive Director, Barbara Schneider Foundation
Session Description:
Hear details and discuss options. 40 hour Cit training for police; 32 hour CIT-style training for jail and detention; one day and half day trainings for : police and sheriff’s departments; professionals and staff in social services, mental health, courts, EMS and paramedics; continuing legal educations seminars. Customized versions of these trainings are tailored to your needs.
Trainings use professional Crisis Company Actors and presentations by individuals with mental illness to motivate participants to actively de-escalate and support individuals in crisis. Class presentations by local mental health providers improve collaboration between agencies.
9 – Crisis Response in the University Environment.
Presenters:
Chief Greg Hestness, Lt. Troy Buhta,
University of Minnesota PD,
Response to Imminent Threats
Session Description: Hear how the Behavior Intervention Team works together with various segments of campus life including health care, housing, residences and Student Affairs to address particular student behavior. Also discussed will be the long term plan to make services more accessible when there are concerns about the mental health of a student.
10- Keeping Veterans Out of Homelessness
Presenters: Kathleen Vitalis, Executive Director of Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans
Session Description: Knowing what resources are available can help homeless veterans or those at risk of homelessness to receive the benefits and services they are due. Kathleen Vitalis will demonstrate the importance of a statewide collaborative effort to fill gaps and place veterans in safe environments.
Continuum of Care:
1- The Evolution of a Treatment Model: forIndividuals with Co-occurring Disorders: Hazeldon’s approach.
Presenter: Sue Hoisington, Psy. D., LP, Executive Director Clinical Services,
Hazelden Foundation
Session Description: The mental health and chemical dependency field has struggled with which should be treated first, mental health or chemical dependency. Research supports an integrated treatment model that treats both the mental health concerns and the chemical dependency, concurrently. This presentation will give an overview of the integrated treatment model for individuals with co-occurring disorders.
2 – A Preview Of New Statewide Practices to Integrate Treatment of Mental Health and Substance Use for People with Co-occurring Disorders.
Presenters: Julie Pearson, MSW, LGSW, Co-occurring Policy and Technical Assistance, Minnesota Department of Human Services; (And possibly) Paula De Santo, MS, LSW, CPRP, Program Director – People Incorporated (may join to tell stories)
Session Description: Understand evidence-based practices for co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. This presentation will highlight the importance of collaboration and communication between providers and service systems for the comprehensive treatment of co-occurring disorders.
3 – Mayo Clinic’s New Tool for Better Mental Health Assessments.
Presenter: Mary Jo Moore, RN, Mayo Clinic
Session Description: There are many challenges today for providing services to people with mental health concerns. Mayo Clinic has developed a mental health care program to provide assessments and brief follow-up. This program improves access and care coordination using a unique team approach.
4 – Exercise and the Brain
Presenter: Jennifer Mowrey, Health and Physical Educator, Titusville Area School District
Session Description:This session will provide an overview of a school district that is beating the odds through proactive measures, such as Student Assistance Programs, Response to Intervention, and Physical Education. Find out how a small, socio-economically challenged school district in rural Pennsylvania is meeting the needs of its students, physically, socially and emotionally.
5 – Expanded School Mental Health: Providing Services where the Children Are
Presenter: Jim Johnson, MSW LICSW, District Lead for Social Work and Mental Health, Minneapolis Public Schools
Session Description: The Minneapolis Public Schools, Hennepin County, and several community mental health agencies have developed a partnership to deliver mental health services on-site in nine Minneapolis Public Schools. This presentation will describe the essential components for a successful school mental health program and discuss lessons learned over the past three years.
6 – Community Pilot program: Integrating Agencies to Fill Mental Health Service Gaps.
Presenters: Christine Oldabowski, Project Director,
Mary Christen Czech, Family Involvement Coordinator
S.T.A.R.S.
(System Transformation of Area Resources and Services)
for Children’s Mental Health
Session Description:
Find out how a community-based program fills in the gaps for at-risk children (under 19 years of age) through interagency cooperation and sharing services to improve response to mental health issues. Children and adolescents receive wrap-around services regardless of culture, race or socioeconomic circumstances.
7 – Minnesota Leads the Way in Soldier Reintegration.
Presenter: Cynthia Rasmussen, RN, MSN, CANP, Combat Stress Officer, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, 88th Regional Readiness Command, US Army Reserve
Session Description: Behaviors learned in uniform for soldiers, services members as well as police officers that affect change in civilian roles and behavior. Cynthia Rasmussen will discuss what this looks like, what some resources are and what can be done to facilitate long term reintegration and healing.
8 – Culture, Trauma and Somatization: Addressing Psychological Trauma w/East African Refugee Women, a Model for Integrated Care
Presenters: Deborah Boehm, CNP, MPH; Mary Bradmiller, Ph.D.
Session Description: Primary care providers, mental health professionals, or individuals working with refugee populations who are interested in a pragmatic approach to dealing with the effects of war, displacement and adaptation, may find this talk of interest.
We address the specific somatic presentation of the identified refugee population and describe a structured approach to managing both the physical and psychological complaints in primary care. Using an integrated approach, effectively, co-management has led to high rates of both patient and provider satisfaction.
9 – University of Minnesota
Presenters: Dr. Charles Schultz, University of Minnesota
Session Description: With one of the most renown university programs specializing in schizophrenia, Dr. Schultz takes a three-pronged approach in making progress: innovations in the family therapy model, the use of imaging, and an emphasis on research. He recounts how they are interconnected and how they relate to the community.
10 – Students Speak Out: How Teens Navigate the School and Community Systems.
Presenters:
Michelle Ulfers, Licenced Parent and Family Educator, Parent Trainer and Advocate, Youth Advisory Board Coordinator, Pacer Center
Session Description: This presentation has a dual purpose: to offer knowledge of Pacer Center’s vast resources for helping parents with children of emotional, behavioral or mental health issues; and understanding how a teen with emotional behavioral or mental health issues navigates through the school and community systems.
11- The Family–centric Coordinated Health Care Model
Presenters:Jesse Bethke Gomez, MMA. President of Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES)
Session Description:
CLUES is part of a collaboration on an exciting delivery model that aims to better serve clients through the framework of Family-Centricity. Clues provides language-appropriate and culturally competent behavioral health and human services, and is proudly in its 27th year of service to the community. The agency was ranked among the top 25 nonprofits in the United States by Hispanic Business Magazine for 2007. Clues provides the following programs: Mental Health Services, Chemical Health Services, Family Health Services, and Community Health Worker Services.
Recovery of Spirit:
1- Don’t Believe Everything You Think.
Presenters: Mavis Karn, MS, LSW
Session Description: When we begin to see that we are the creators of our experience, we start to understand that sometimes we are creating from an innate health and wisdom and sometimes from habits of thinking that are not in our best interests. This workshop will help us begin to feel more in charge of our life’s experiences and less at the mercy of outside situations and circumstances.
2 – From Crisis to Recovery: A Provider That Goes the Extra Mile.
Presenters:
Grace Schmitt
Will Susens
Jeanne Trammel Rasmussen
Session Description: Going the extra mile is the mission of Guild Incorporated which provides community-based behavioral health and human services that start with the needs of the individual. They work hard to traverse geographical boundaries for each person and to avoid turning anyone away.
3 – Making a Concrete Plan: Developing a Step-By-Step Individual Map to Recovery.
Presenters: Ann Meyer,
Jennifer Padelford,
WRAP Program
Session Description: A structured system designed for people who are experiencing psychiatric symptoms and are trying to move forward in their lives. They will identify the eight distinct aspects addressed in creating a plan and following through in a concrete direction. Includes discussion of dual diagnosis.
4 – Faith Communities Step Up
Presenters Jack Haggerty, Basilica of St. Mary,
Kyle Kneen, Chaplainey for the Community on Mental Health,
Mary Jean Babcock, NAMI Faithways,
Steve Anderson, Sherwood House / Mount Olivet Rolling Acres,
Sharon Lund, Care giving within Congregations
Session Description: Learn what faith communities are doing to provide safety and services for people who are at risk. From visits and job-building opportunities, to a corporate foster care model with therapeutic services to internal training within congregations, the faith community is making strides to fill gaps and provide creative solutions.
5 – The Importance of Creative Pursuits for Achieving Recovery
Presenters: Renee Jenson, President, Free Agent Association, Inc., Jeanne Antonello, Author: Naturally Thin by Eating More and Breaking out of Food Jail, an obesity and eating disorder specialist.
Interact… Creating art and challenging Society’s view of disability
Session Description:
Achieving success in the arts, in science fields and in business is very possible even with the complications of bipolar disease or schizophrenia. See first hand how our presenters have kept their eyes on their goals despite such constraints.
6 – One Stop Shop – Supported Housing & Supported Employment: A Proven Model for Ex-offenders With Mental Illness.
Presenter: John K. Trepp,Executive Director, Tasks Unlimited,
Author of Lodge Magic
Session Description: With a comprehensive surround of services, Tasks Unlimited (using the Fairweather Model since 1970) sponsors supported employment, living, and psychiatric services. Tasks’ 20 lodges in the Twin Cities, including a new concept, opened in July 2007. The first of its kind in the country, this lodge is designed to work with persons who have mental illness and corrections backgrounds.
7 – Insight on Living with Mental Illness
Presenter: Donna Draves, Program Assistant – Charaka Community Support Program
Session Description: Donna Draves will use visual aids, humor, analogies, and personal stories to convey her story of hope and recovery. She highlights three components she finds essential to healing:
1. Community of Support. 2. Medication/Food. 3. Belief in Oneself. This workshop is intended to bring some fun and also to inspire.
8 – Volunteering
Presenter: Jeanne Tramel Rasmussen,
Volunteer Coordinator Guild Incorporated.
Session Description: Learn how to identify the kind of people who will be the right volunteers for you – and then develop ways to effectively reach potential volunteers with a compelling message. This presentation has been developed for persons who coordinate, manage or supervise volunteers. It is part of the model developed by the MN Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA) for the Volunteer Impact Leadership Training Series.
CEU Hours 4.75 CEU Hours are offered for Social Workers for this conference
BSF worked together with the University of St. Thomas and the Minnesota Disability Law Center to put on this day-long event. Panel presentations will focus on cultural competence, youth and elderly concerns, with presentations from community leaders interested in these issues.
BSF’s Video: Getting it Right, will be presented at the 2008 CMHS National GAINS Center Conference in Washington, DC, on March 18-20, 2008. For details visit www. gainscenter. samhsa. gov
BSF is co-sponsoring this event with the Minneapolis Urban League and the Cultural Competence Committee of Heading Home Hennepin. Come to the Urban League North, Penn Ave. North and Plymouth Ave. North to learn about the effort to eliminate homelessness in Minnesota by 2017 with a focus on the effort to improve the response to communities of color, American Indians and immigrant communities. The communities will help define the agenda and are essential to achieving the goal.
Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center 179 Robie Street East, Room 31, Saint Paul, Minnesota
This event was planned by the American Indian Community Housing Organization – Sherry Sanchez-Tibbetts; Corporation for Supportive Housing – Leah Lindstrom; Oyate Oshkabaywis – Wade Keezer; Barbara Schneider Foundation – Mark Anderson; Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe – Jamie Edwards; City of Minneapolis Indian Advocate – Bill Carter; RedLake Homeless Shelter – Carol Priest; Women of Nations – Norma Renville
This event is a fundraiser for the following shelters:
Program
Master of Ceremonies – Wade Keezer
Blessing – Herb Sam
Welcome Song – Little Earth Singers
Homelessness on Northern MN Reservations
– Carol Priest, Sandra King & Leah Lindstrom
Oyate Oshkabaywis – Wade Keezer
Mental Health Recovery
on the Road to Ending Homelessness – Mark Anderson
The Correlation between Domestic Violence
– Sherry Sanchez-Tibbetts, Norma Renville
Homelessness, Addressing the Issue
Honoring Lawmakers who are Champions – Jamie Edwards
In Indian Country Honor Song – Little Earth Singers
Dinner
Entertainment – Glen Blacksmith, Rick Bernardo
Traveling Song – Little Earth Singers
On Feb. 13, 2008 in the Capital Rotunda, over 1000 ex-offenders, their family members and supporters of justice system reform will come together to highlight the importance of second chances. This effort is being led by a consortium of non-profit leaders and justice system advocates. On behalf of this consortium, we are asking for your support in drawing state-wide and national attention, and in raising the awareness about the barriers facing individuals with criminal records.
There are currently 155,000 Minnesota adults under som form of correctional supervision; 142,000 on probation, 4,200 on some levle of supervised release and 9,100 in prison. And there are at least as many with a criminal record who have satisfied all the requirements of their sentence. This equates to one in every 16 Minnesotatns having the stigma of a conviction they must overcome to quality for housing, employment and student loans.
Legislatively, we have created nearly 200 collateral sanctions over and above the penalites associated with a conviction. We ask that you and your organization support “Second Chance Day” on the Hill on Feb. 13, 2008, by recruiting individuals to come to the capitol. It is time for us to come together and make visible the problems facing individuals with criminal records.”
Empowering the arts to
transform our community.
Panelists: Susan Hawthorne, Robin Brown, Mark Anderson
What does it mean to say someone is “mentally ill”? How do we define norms of mental health? How do we treat those classified as suffering from mental illness? What is the relationship between individual chemistry and society as it affects one’s mental health? These and other topics will be addressed in a conversation about society’s relationship to mental illness. The alchemy project is a Twin Cities-based non-profit organization that promotes community engagement through high quality, interdisciplinary arts programming. For more information email: info@alchemyproject.org
BSF joined 1100 other delegates from mental health and criminal justice communities at this national conference. BSF attended the first and second national CIT conference and we were joined by law enforcement, mental health, education and community members from around the state. This year as last year BSF presented at a breakout session on the development of CIT in Minnesota. For more information visit CIT.memphis.edu
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| Major Sam Cochran, Memphis Police Department, who is the founder of the CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Model and Mark Anderson, Executive Director, BSF. | Jan Buntz, BSF Board Member at that time, attended the conference and presented at a breakout session on BSF’s training, collaboration and CIT work in Minnesota. The other BSF presenters were Renee Jenson and Mark Anderson. |
Host Roshini Rajkumar of Roshini Multi Media and WCCO Radio. The annual fundraising event featured regional authors and their stories:
We honored the wonderful work of our mental health partner from the Combat/Operational Stress Control Team of the 88th Regional Readiness Command, Lt. Col. Susan Whiteaker. Her commitment to members of all branches of the military in the deployment cycle is a true inspiration.
The premiere of our new documentary, Getting it Right, about the CIT model in action. A behind-the-scenes look at the experience of a first responder on the police force under pressure (as well as a person trying to win back his own life). Come and meet the stars of Getting it Right: Police Officer Paul Gillies and other CIT Officers; Charles Jenson; Gloria Freeman; as well as film maker Mike ‘Media Mic’ Hazard.
Hors d’oeuvres, drinks, music, conversation with friends and supporters of our work, with fabulous silent auction items.
Panelists: Kirk Allison, Mark Anderson and Joe Carlile, Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s Office
BSF is pleased to co-sponsor the two-day 2nd annual Basilica of Saint Mary Mental Health Fair. Dozens of mental health programs will be represented with literature tables and staff to answer your questions. All are welcome at this event in the lower level of the Basilica of Saint Mary on Hennepin Avenue South in Downtown Minneapolis.
Keynote speaker is Pete Early, Author of Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness. Several panels of local mental health leaders. All details available online at: www.stthomas.edu/education/events
BSF co-sponsored this public policy conference. Attendees agreed to hold a series of brown bag supper meetings to work on follow up to ideas that came out of the day’s discussions. Contact BSF if you would like to be part of this group.
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The theme of the 2nd Annual Minnesota CIT Conference was BUILDING THE TEAM to respond to mental illness in our communities. BSF supports mental health and criminal justice in collaborations across Minnesota. |
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These collaboration efforts were explored at the 2nd Annual Minnesota CIT Conference on February 26, 2007, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. at Minneapolis Convention Center.
The team is needed to support recovery and prevent crisis events for those community members who struggle with a mental illness. In order to provide the support people with mental illness need, family, neighbors and community members need to join the team. If there is a crisis event, police officers, mobile crisis teams and emergency rooms help to stabilize the situation. Inpatient and/or outpatient mental health professionals may also be needed. For those caught up in the criminal justice system, judges, attorneys, court and corrections staff can support the person’s recovery. And support from social services, supportive housing and employment are long term partners that need to be in place as well. Really, the entire community needs to be on the team. They need to understand there is no shame in mental illness. It is simply a health care challenge affecting the brain. And the entire community needs to support the recovery of those who have an illness.
We have all learned to be supportive of a person struggling with cancer or heart disease. People with mental illness need that kind of support, every day too, from all of us. BSF is encouraging the development and strengthening of collaboration among all the team members in local communities.
Ramsey County Collaboration
Leaders from the criminal justice and mental health institutions in Ramsey County have worked with community partners to develop some exciting work to improve response to mental health crisis and to provide support designed to avert crisis events. There is a very long list of successful efforts but here are a few of the key pieces. An ongoing Mental Health/Police Roundtable that is open to the mental health community and involves discussion of issues that arise involving mental health and the criminal justice system. In addition, providers and police in the St. Paul Downtown Patrol have developed their own Police/Provider Forum to focus on their work Downtown. Joint leadership by police and mental health leaders, in both the Roundtable and the Forum has proved to be essential. Ramsey County has developed a Mental Health Court that diverts offenders whose primary problem is their mental illness and uses the court as a tool to get them the help they need. The Local Adult and Juvenile Advisory Councils have worked with partners at the County and City level to develop a who series of initiatives aimed at addressing emerging problems and focusing on areas that need more work.
Phillips Neighborhood Collaboration
BSF is initiating discussions with community members and partner institutions in an effort to strengthen collaboration in the Phillips Neighborhood near Downtown Minneapolis. Plans are underway to convene partners from the criminal justice and mental health systems along with leaders in the American Indian community, the communities of color, immigrant communities, and any interested residents of the area. The goal will be to identify what is working and to improve access to these community resources. This will be a round-table process where all voices will be invited and respected. The round-table will identify areas where existing programs can be strengthened and improved, where public education can increase use of available resources and where training of community members and staff can raise awareness of the obstacles that exist to access to care and ways those obstacles can be overcome.
 Over 200 in attendence |
 Attendees from 24 counties included 14 police and sheriff departments, courts, corrections, health, mental health, social service providers and consumers |
 Keynote speaker Dr. Joel Dvoskin |
 Breakout sessions on what’s working in Minnesota and by region to develop multidisciplinary collaborations |
BSF and MPD make a Joint Presentation
Community/Law Enforcement Partnership: Origin and Development of Minnesota CIT Statewide Initiative. That’s the title of the presentation that was made by Mark Anderson from Barbara Schneider Foundation, Sgt. Steve Wickelgren, CIT Coordinator with Minneapolis PD and John Trepp from Tasks Unlimited.
This panel discussed how CIT began in Minnesota, the growing BSF/MPD partnership on training, and growing collaborations with sheriffs, courts, corrections, social services, mental health, including long term supportive housing, employment, transportation and other services for adults with mental illness. They told the Minnesota story of outreach to other police agencies, growth of CIT in suburban departments and out-state communities, improved data collection efforts and improved outcomes on CIT calls. The presenters all agree that law enforcement is burdened with mental health crisis calls largely because there is an inadequate mental health system to provide needed acute care and long term support services for those with serious mental illness. They presented data that demonstrates ways to reduce police calls, emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
On July 26, at a gala event in Excelsior, Minnesota, Judge Richard Hopper was presented with the Barbara Schneider Foundation Public Service Award for his work as Judge of the Mental Health Court in Hennepin County and his leadership of the Downtown Minneapolis Mental Health and Criminal Justice Workgroup.
Speakers at the event included MPD Assistant Chief Sharon Lubinski and Dr. Stephen Olson, MD, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Psychiatry. The MC was TV and Radio journalist Roshini Rajkumar.
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