2023 Kansas Home Visiting Virtual Conference
Registration for the 2023 Kansas Home Visiting Conference HAS Closed.
2023 Conference agenda
Tuesday, August 29th
12:30 PM CST
Opening Session and Keynote: Practical Strategies for Connecting with Kids (To Get Them To Listen!) and Decrease Our Stress
Beth Trammell, Indiana University East, Make Words Matter
What is the “magic sauce” to get kids to listen and feel connected to them in a way that increases the joys of parenthood while decreasing stress? This practical, engaging session will highlight the science-based strategies to get kids to listen through deepening the connection they have with adults. We will start by learning the art and science of pairing – a tool that is so easy to learn, but so powerful in ALL of our relationships! We will also practice the skills of connecting and communicating more effectively with all kids. Learning the science of giving good instructions is the first key to getting kids to listen and decreasing our stress-level. This session will leave you with countless nuggets of information to use in your own life, as well as those to share with the your families.
1:45 PM CST
Mindfulness and Resilience: Strategies for Coping with Burnout
Meg Hasselman, KSPHQ
Working in the helping field can take a toll on our mental wellbeing. You don’t have to possess fancy equipment or an abundance of time to care for your brain and emotions – join us to discuss how to bring mindfulness into your everyday life. This session will help participants understand the complexities and impact of burnout, learn (or relearn) strategies to combat symptoms of burnout and create their own plan for whole-person wellness.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: How to Educate Parents without Increasing Stigma
Kathy White, Kansas FASD Support Network
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that “[a]ll children with involvement in foster care or adoption processes…should always be evaluated for a possible FASD.” FASD is surprisingly prevalent, affecting 1 child in 20 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The speakers will discuss this common, yet often overlooked disability and the neurobehavioral model that was developed specifically for FASD. This model enables success by shifting the paradigm from “bad” to “disabled,” and from “won’t” to “can’t.” Come learn strategies and tools necessary to optimize outcomes, highlight strengths, and improve quality of life at all levels.
Child Abuse and Neglect: Recognition, Reporting, & Supporting
Adrianne Ralston, KCSL
Professionals who work with children, including childcare providers, social workers, nurses, educators, and others, are mandated reporters and are required to make a report when they have a reason to suspect child abuse or neglect. This training addresses areas of risk and protective factors, definitions and common indicators of child abuse including shaken baby syndrome, and considerations for distinguishing poverty from neglect. Participants will also learn what to do in the event of a disclosure, how t make a report, what happens after a report is made, and thinking through roles as not just a mandated reported but also as a supporter of families and how we can support a family before a situation rises to the level of needing a hotline report.
3:15 PM CST
A HOPE-ful Framework for Compassionate & Equitable Home Visiting
Vanessa Lohf, WSU CEI Center for Public Health Initiatives
Positive experiences can ease toxic stress and help children and youth grow into more resilient, healthier adults. Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE) identifies ways that our community and systems of care can better ensure more positive experiences for people of all ages and that individuals and families have the support to nurture and celebrate their unique strengths. In this interactive session, you’ll learn more about the Four Building Blocks of HOPE, the science behind the framework, and identify ways to incorporate HOPE into your everyday work.
Home Visit Safety for Professionals
Janet Horras, Division of Family Well-Being and Protection, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
Mean dogs, inappropriately dressed clients, and a drug bust next door…does this sound like a typical work day to you? The work life of a home visitor is full of hazards. Join us to learn how to take a proactive stance in recognizing and reducing risk factors.
Normalizing Home Visiting Services in Kansas and Family Engagement
Tiffany Green, Spring River Mental Health; Starla Bieberle, KCSL; Becky Whitney, Connections; Kia Price, Connections; Alex Phillips, Connections; Cathy Shald, My Family
During this session, participants will hear from Central Intake on strategies used to engage families in home visiting services initially. We will discuss differences between rural and urban efforts.
Kansas Early Childhood Transition Task Force
Melissa Rooker, Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund
On January 10, 2023, Governor Laura Kelly signed Executive Order 23-01, creating the Kansas Early Childhood Transition Task Force and tasking the group with creation of a “framework for a model single-agency governance structure for early childhood programming that consolidates initiatives and funding under the leadership of a new cabinet-level position.” Participants in this session will learn about Task Force progress, work to date, and next steps. Time will be held for Q&A.
Wednesday, August 30th
12:30 PM CST
Keynote Session: Beyond Toxic Stress: What, Why, and How?
Andrew Garner, University Hospitals of Cleveland; CWRU School of Medicine
Advances in developmental sciences like epigenetics and neuroscience are revealing how experiences in childhood, both positive and adverse, are biologically embedded and influence life course trajectories, for better or worse. The pressing issue now is how to translate these advances in basic developmental science into practices and policies that support early relational health in a two-generational and developmentally-appropriate manner across multiple family-service sectors. This presentation will: 1) define toxic stress responses as being central to many of our society’s most intractable problems; 2) explain why early relational health is the antidote to toxic stress responses; and 3) present three lens to support the implementation of a strengths-based framework like relational health within systems of care that are largely deficits-based.
1:30 PM CST
MIECHV Learning Management System
Sarah Hernandez, University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research; Morgan Bell, University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research
The MIECHV Learning Management System is a way for Kansas MIECHV home visitors and supervisors to link various online professional development accomplishments together in one place. As the MIECHV team gets ready to officially launch the site, we want to hear from the home visiting community what would be most meaningful for your professional development.
During this session we will share about the Kansas MIECHV LMS journey so far and get feedback from home visitors on how to make the LMS meaningful for their professional development
Addressing Tobacco Use in the Home
Matthew Shrock, KDHE Bureau of Health Promotion; Lisa Frey Blume, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Learn tips for communicating the benefits for families and children when they are not exposed to vaping aerosol and tobacco smoke in their homes and vehicles. Cessation resources and referral to the Kansas Tobacco Quitline will also be addressed.
Opioid Overdose Prevention and Medication Safety for Families
Deanne Armstrong, DCCCA
This session will provide participants with the most up-to-date information on opioid trends, opioid overdose prevention, naloxone administration, and best practices for medication safe use, storage, and disposal to share with families. Participants will learn how to access free resources for families including naloxone, medication disposal bags, and devices for storing medication safely in the home.
Perinatal Behavioral Health
Patricia Carrillo, Kansas Connecting Communities; Taryn Zweygardt, Flourish Wellness Collective & The Kansas Chapter of Postpartum Support International; Jennifer Wise, KU Center for Public Partnerships and Research
This presentation is intended to support the work of both administrative staff and parent educators in implementing policy and screening procedures to identify symptoms of mental health or substance use disorders during the perinatal period, including screenings for fathers, partners, or other family members. This presentation will provide an overview of KDHE’s Perinatal Mental Health and Perinatal Substance Use toolkits which include policy templates, screening algorithms, role-play videos, and other resources for providers working to improve perinatal behavioral health outcomes. Special focus will be paid to resources addressing paternal postpartum depression, including a hands-on activity to familiarize participants with navigating the toolkits and resources specific to postpartum depression found within.
3:00 PM CST
Using Media to Promote Home Visiting Services
Tobias Harvey, Create Uplift
Parents are busy, and connecting with them can be a challenging task! In this session we will discuss some of the different promotional and marketing methods you can use to reach families about home visiting services. We will cover areas such as social media, paid advertising, exploring desired outcomes, and more. Following the presentation you’ll be able to ask your specific questions and get input from attendees on what you can do to strengthen your marketing efforts!
The Heart of Reflective Supervision
Jessica Mostaffa, Wild Hope
In order to be truly effective in our work with other human beings we must engage in a process of reflecting on our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that arise through our work and relationships. John Dewey stated, “We don’t learn from experience – we learn from reflecting on experience.” Please join in for a discussion and opportunity to learn more about a process that centers on the heart of our work in early childhood with infants, young children, and their families: Reflective Supervision.
Engaging Foster Parents During Home Visits and Your Vital Role in their Success
Danielle Lee, DCCCA
Foster parents…one of the unspoken heroes of the world. These selfless individuals bring children into their homes to love and parent on a daily basis. Being a foster parent is a subculture in itself, and often foster parents are an underserved population. Join us as we discuss how home visitors can engage foster parents during their home visits and the vital role that home visitors make in the lives of not only foster parents but the children in the foster homes as well. The goal of this session is that participants will walk away with knowledge of how to engage foster parents, the importance of engaging these heroes, and the encouragement that home visitors are vital to foster parent success.
Overdose Data in Kansas and Harm Reduction Tools for Home Visitors
Ann Elifrits, Kansas Department of Health and Environment; Scott Johnston, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
4:15 PM CST
Closing Session
Information Coming Soon
