MIchigan Federation For Children and Families.

FYI / May 9, 2008 / No. 11

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:21:29 +0000

Federation Full and Affiliate can click here to log in and read the full version of the FYI with the convenience of hyperlinks within the bulletin.

FYI / May 9, 2008 / No. 11
The next FYI bulletin will be issued May 23, 2008

STATE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES
• DeRoche and Hardiman hold press conference to announce proposal for a Foster Care Trust Fund
• Coalition announces Blueprint for a Safer Michigan
• Governor signs food stamp legislation

STATE JUDICIAL/EXECUTIVE/ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES
• DHS Quarterly Contractors Meeting report
• Alert to new foster care policy
• Baldwin prison gearing up for federal prisoner population
• Community Health reveals rural health plan

MEMBER NEWS
• Network180 renews Affiliate membership—Paul Ippel, Executive Director, has renewed Network180’s Affiliate membership in the Federation; this organization has been a Federation member since 2003. Network180 is Kent County’s public mental health agency. Network180 contracts with more than 25 local human service agencies that specialize in providing care to children and families, teens, adults, and seniors who are experiencing mental health or substance abuse problems, or living with a developmental disability. In essence, Network180 is the gateway to a wide array of mental health, substance use disorder, and developmental disability services offered throughout the community. Thank you, Paul and staff, for your continued support of the Federation and for all you do for kids and families in Michigan! To learn more about Network180, visit http://www.network180.org.

FEDERATION ACTIVITIES
• Residential Treatment MIN hosted Rep. Dudley Spade and MACMHB’s Amy Zaagman
• Member Day at the Capitol enjoyed by all
• Annual HR Training Day was a big success

Summer Series on Enhancing Parental Involvement in Child Protective Proceedings

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:44:45 +0000

On June 3, 2008 the State Court Administrative Office, Child Welfare Services presents “Summer Series on Enhancing Parental Involvement in Child Protective Proceedings: Legal Issues Regarding Fathers’ Involvement” at the Holiday Inn South, Lansing from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This interactive, case-based training will address the legal issues and practice problems confronting attorneys, judges, and caseworkers involved with fathers’ issues in child protective proceedings.

Topics addressed will include:
• The constitutional rights and responsibilities of fathers
• Legal versus biological fathers
• Establishing paternity
• The role of the family court in child protective proceedings when there are putative father issues
THERE IS NO REGISTRATION COST TO ATTEND THIS TRAINING. The cost of this training is generously funded by the Governor’s Task Force on Children’s Justice. All training materials, parking validation and lunch are provided. You must fill out and return the completed Training Registration form no later than May 19, 2008.

For more information and the registration form, download the following:

Enhancing Parental Involvement in Child Protective Proceedings: Legal Issues Regarding Fathers’ Involvement

Wedgwood Christian Services • July-September 2008 Trainings

admin — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:44:49 +0000

Attached below is the 3rd quarter trainings Wedgwood Christian Services is offering. Here’s just one of the trainings being offered:

“Working with Youth with Conduct Disorder” This two hour training has been developed with the residential treatment worker in mind who already possesses knowledge of youth that have been diagnosed with Conduct Disorder and has had some experience in working with this population.

Participants will receive information about the use of Cognitive Behavioral Interventions with Conduct Disordered youth. Those in attendance will also receive training that will help them to integrate Life Space Intervention’s-Life Space Interview, with Time out Interventions in a residential treatment setting.

In order to enhance the learning experience, in addition to handouts, lecture, and discussion, this training will provide participants with the opportunity to role play and practice the Life Space Interview.

Presenter: Michael Pontius, LPC, LMSW, Supervisor, Kent County Juvenile Detention Since 1978, Michael has worked with troubled youth and families. From 1986-1995, he has worked with more than 2000 felony offenders most of whom were members of youth gangs at a secure private facility in Southeastern Michigan. In 1996, he published “The Michigan Youth Gang Handbook” and several other tools for working with gang members in residential treatment settings. He has served as a training consultant on a variety of topics including: “Verbal De-escalation and Crisis Management,” “Working with Youth Gang Members in a Residential Treatment Setting,” and “Working with Violent Youth Offenders” among others.

Date/Time: Tues., August 19, 9:00 a.m.—11:00 a.m. or Thurs., August 21, 9:00 a.m.—11:00 a.m.
Cost: $20 (includes 2.0 CE’s which are pending for this session)

Wedgwood 3rd Quarter Training Brochure

June 17-18: Michigan Teen Conference “Take Charge of Your Journey!”

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:45:30 +0000

Attached below is the full conference brochure and registration for the
June 17-18, 2008
2008 Michigan Teen Conference
“Take Charge of Your Journey!”
at CMU’s Bovee University Center.
This year’s keynote speaker is Maurice Webb, former foster youth, college graduate, ordained minister, entrepreneur and consultant.

Hopefully, you received our earlier Save the Date notice and have arranged for YIT funds if they are needed.

NOW YOU CAN REGISTER!

Registration and payment is due by May 30 to the conference fiduciary, Lutheran Social Services of Michigan.

If you have any questions about the conference, payment, or registration, please contact:
Diana Ripley of LSSM at dripl@LSSM.org or (800) 765-0541.

Click here for the: 2008 Michigan Teen Conference Registration

Long established social service agency seeking Executive Director

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:12:12 +0000

Long established social service agency headquartered in Detroit seeks a Dynamic Leader w/strong program Development, Evaluation, Budgeting, Resource Development, Communication and Team-Based Management Skills. Salary 80 - 90K, plus benefits.
Requires: Master’s Degree in Social Work or PhD, Certified (licensed) Social Worker with minimum 4 years post degree experience.

Qualified applicants may email resumes to: childrensaid@detroitchassis.com or fax to 313-925-1369. Resumes must be postmarked by May 20, 2008.

May is Mental Health Month in Michigan

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:25:55 +0000

Get mental illness out of the shadows of shame
BY JACQUELINE CASTINE • May 2, 2008
Detroit Free Press • Opinion

“He died after a long battle with a chronic illness.”

That’s what someone suggested should be in the obituary for my 46-year-old son who committed suicide in a New Mexico desert last fall. His fifth attempt at it would be his last.

While the suggestion was essentially accurate, I found it so understated as to be offensive. As his mother and a mental health educator, I must expose, not cover up, the invisible dis-ease that took my son’s life. It is imperative for me to transform my helplessness and grief over his chronic mental illness into a catalyst for change in the public perception of brain disorders and addiction. Perhaps this will forge my son’s legacy.
Too few people remember the front page photographs when the mother of 15-year-old Emmett Till insisted in 1955 on an open casket and public viewing of her son after he was brutally murdered by racists in a dusty Mississippi town. She boldly displayed her son’s bloody corpse in Chicago as Exhibit A of racial injustice to end the apathy of this national disgrace.

I, too, am seeing red. Nobody wants to talk about suicide. The stigma, shame and suffering are, for most, unspoken. My son was what is known as “a cutter.” He repeatedly cut his wrists, deeper each time. Finally, he cut his throat.

Because I believe “the pen is mightier than the sword,” my rage and heartbreak compel me to splatter some shocking, gruesome statistics about suicide across the pages of this newspaper.

Do you know that 37,000 Americans die by their own hand each year, one every 16 minutes? That suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in this country, the third ranking killer of young people? That people age 65 and older accounted for 16% of suicide deaths in 2004? That of the nearly 16,000 violent deaths occurring in 16 states, 56% were suicides?

And still, only those who have lost a loved one are moved to mourn, often in secret shame.

Suicide is most often associated with mental illness, especially clinical depression, addictions and substance abuse. One in four families in the United States live with a person who has mental illness and/or an addiction. Because these diseases of the brain reveal themselves as conduct, behavioral and mood disorders, diagnosis and treatment are often replaced by condemnation, incarceration or fearful silence.

Individuals with undiagnosed mental illness are more likely to end up homeless, indigent, in jail, or in the morgue, rather than in the behavioral health unit of a hospital. Suicide is the ultimate conduct disorder.

Most people diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or diabetes jump at professional efforts to extend their life. “I’m not sick, and I don’t need help,” is a common proclamation of the “broken” brain. This death-defying delusion is a major barrier to diagnosis and successful treatment.

We rarely hide the fact that a family member suffers from kidney failure or respiratory disease. We don’t consider these moral failings. We spend millions on research every year to cure them. Yet we still treat diseases of the brain as if they were defects of willpower or character.

May is Mental Health Month. The good news is that national and statewide initiatives for suicide prevention are on the rise. Mental health education is increasing. Suicide rates are declining among some age groups. Personal experiences of hope and recovery from suicide attempt survivors abound. But no one can do it alone.

We must all become educated to end the sensationalism, fear, isolation and stigma of mental illness.

JACQUELINE CASTINE is the community education specialist of the Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority and the author of “I Wish I Could Fix It, But …” Contact her at castinej@occmha.org.

June 6: Bridging the Gap between Social Work and Criminal Justice

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:11:49 +0000

On June 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Lansing, the Citizens Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending is presenting “Bridging the Gap between Social Work and Criminal Justice: How Probation, Prison, Parole & Prevention Impact Your Clients.”

You’ll learn about the criminal justice process, the experiences of adult and juvenile clients with the criminal justice system and the points at which criminal justice and social work practice intersect.

The course has been approved for 4 CE clock hours. Cost: $75

To register call LeAnn Voigtritter at 517 482-7753 or email capps@capps-mi.org.