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May 19, 2017

Ferris State University Center

805 Campus Drive

Big Rapids, MI

Sponsored by the LMNOW Coalition (Lake, Mecosta, Missaukee, Newaygo, Osceola and Wexford DHHS offices) & our Community Partners: Bethany Christian Services, Post Adoption Resource Center, Eagle

Village, Catholic Charities of West Michigan and Holy Cross.

6th Annual Foster-Adoptive Parent &

Community Supports Conference

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GENERAL CONFERENCE INFORMATION

If you are a foster or adoptive parent, relative caregiver, other

human services professional, or someone

considering becoming a foster-adoptive parent, this conference is for you!

HEALTH FAIR Walk among the vendors and agencies in the bright and airy Ferris State University Student Center concourse for samples and information on healthy, nutritious foods and drinks, skin care, nail care, hair care, cosmetology, structured physical programs,

a massage, sports information, books and more.

There will also be information and an opportunity for conversation with members of the MDHHS Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office, Ferris State University and

other agencies.

The LMNOW Coalition

Since 2009, child placement agencies in Lake-Mecosta-Missaukee-Newaygo-Osceola-Wexford counties have collaborated to provide trainings, recruitment and retention activities.

Since 2012, LMNOW has presented this cost free Conference.

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Our Theme

Our 6th Annual Foster-Adoptive Parent and Community Support Regional Conference theme is “Self Care.” This profession often attracts individuals who are giving, selfless, helpful and kind. When we continue to give freely of ourselves without intentional focus on our own well-being and care, we may not adequately meet the needs of others. Therefore, we must replenish.

Figley (1995) coined the term compassion fatigue. It is defined as a set of physical and psychological symptoms that impact our overall functioning as a result of being exposed to individuals who have suffered and experienced trauma. Symptoms of compassion fatigue can include depression, anxiety, fear, rage and shame. We may also avoid situations or people. We can all be at risk of compassion fatigue based on the extreme and traumatic cases and situations we are faced with on a nearly daily basis. We have an obligation to engage in self care to minimize the impact of compassion fatigue. The children and families we serve deserve to work with individuals who are healthy, generally content with their work and engage in self care.

Foster-Adoptive parents are particularly at risk of compassion fatigue, secondary trauma and burnout. We know that being a caregiver has the most challenges of all the helping professions. To be faced with situations in which you are asked to bond with children only to have them at times replaced, or asked to connect with parents who have made different choices than you may have made, or faced with the troubling reality that the children in your care are torn between connection and resentment of those they love, are all difficult realities of the job that you do. In order to continue waking up each day and trusting in the good will you offer, you must be focused, refreshed, optimistic and healthy. We hope that this conference provides you with information and skills to better accomplish these tasks.

Our Goal

To effectively meet the needs of children in care and improve their overall situation and happiness, we must better understand trauma, necessary supports, relationships between foster parents and biological parents, as well as appropriate safeguards.

This joint training conference of foster-adoptive parents and community support systems will serve to give you the latest on key topics that are important to you and to provide enhanced skills needed for today’s caregiving efforts.

Hear from a variety of relevant speakers.

Learn about supportive services available in your community.

Meet other foster-adoptive parents.

Join in interactive training sessions.

Win door prizes !!!

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

Continental Breakfast and Buffet Lunch provided!

Overnight accommodations available at a discount.

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15344 Waldron Way Big Rapids, MI 231 527-9000

Conference Schedule

8:15-9:00 Registration

9:00-9:15 Welcome, Danielle Martin, Mecosta-Osceola MDHHS

9:15-10:30 Keynote, Andrew Soper

10:30-10:40 Break

10:40-11:45 Keynote resumes

11:45-12:45 Enjoy the Health Fair. Lunch served at NOON

12:45-1:35 Concurrent Workshops One through Six

1:35-2:00 Break—enjoy our wellness and self care activities

2:00-3:35 Plenary, Cole Williams

3:35-3:45 Closing - Lori Schultz, Lake-Newaygo MDHHS Director

When Self Care Matters, Caring for the Most Traumatized: Andrew Soper

Keynote address is sponsored by the Post-Adoption Resource Center (PARC)

Trauma is not simply a single event and the immediate fallout. Abuse and neglect have biological and social impacts long after the physical threat has gone. Together, we will explore how the trauma impacts biological development of the brain, effects behavior of youth and how practitioners and caregivers can work with their foster or

adoptive child or client to heal.

Who Is Going To Take Care Of Me? : Cole Williams

Plenary Sponsored by the LMNOW Coalition

Cole will take us on an emotional rollercoaster as he explores and critiques his ex-periences as a foster-adoptive parent of six sons, who were labelled, diagnosed, and traumatized. Cole will address compassion fatigue-or the cost of caring, recog-nizing your triggers and what to do about it, understanding how co-dependency shapes stress, and repairing and healing of the whole self through self-care prac-tices. You will walk away from this conference restored and on a personal path to increased personal resilience.

Hotels

Conference

1005 Perry Ave Big Rapids, MI 231 796-4400

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Andrew Soper - Keynote

Andy Soper –a man who as a child dreamed of being a roadie for Mötley Crüe – is now an advocate for some of the most vulnerable people in our world. After working for 10 years with youth who were severely traumatized, Andy founded the Manasseh Project and opened the first shelter for minor Human Trafficking victims in Michigan. He spends the majority of his time speaking, training others and developing programming to support youth in crisis. Andy, working with his wife Marcy and their nation of four children, now works as the Director of Mobilization at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI and the owner of Five Arrows Consulting. He is now working with multiple projects around the world to ensure that children are protected, honored, and allowed to flourish.

Cole Williams - Plenary

Cole Williams is the CEO and Founder of “Son To A Father” and “Cole Speaks”, which are programs that work to empower and restore relationships between teens and their parents. Cole has developed curricula and workshops that explore the emotional terrain of Parenting.

Cole's journey from growing up fatherless, to becoming a single teenage father, to reuniting with his biological father, to finally fostering and adopting fatherless sons are the lessons he uses to illustrate the colors of parenting in the 21st Century. Cole is a Motivational Speaker, Fatherhood Consultant, Facilitator, and most importantly a Father.

Cole’s most recent work has been dedicated to providing Fatherhood training, support, and materials for the Michigan Adolescent Pregnancy and Prevention Program (MI-APPP), as well as penetrating the culture of the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center, where he provides life skills and leadership development to incarcerated youth.

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Workshop 2 The Power of Engagement & Collaboration with Birth Parents—And Others!

Sponsored by Bethany Christian Services Fremont-Muskegon

In his workshop Cole Williams will discuss the challenges and rewards of collaborating with birth parents. This workshop will also provide foster parents with practical tools to improve or develop meaningful and supportive relationships with birth parents. Participants in this workshop will learn and practice how to navigate communi-cating challenging conversations, learn how to find common ground with birth families, and will understand the importance and meaning of (R.E.J) Resiliency, Empathy, and Judgement and how each one can impact the rela-tionship with a birth family. Presenter: Cole Williams is the CEO and founder of “Son To A Father” and “Cole Speaks”, programs designed to em-power and restore relationships. Cole’s most recent work has been dedicated to providing Fatherhood training, support, and materials for the Michigan Adolescent Pregnancy and Prevention Program (MI-APPP), as well as pen-etrating the culture of the Kent County Juvenile Detention Center, where he provides life skills and leadership de-velopment to incarcerated youth and their parents, if available. Cole is also today’s afternoon plenary speaker .

Workshop 1 As Real As It Gets— Navigating The Challenges of Blending Your Family

Sponsored by PARC

The “blending” of families through foster care, adoption, remarriage or guardianship comes with a unique set of challenges that make self-care more difficult unless we have a solid game plan. Join Amanda Barton as she discusses how to identify and predict some of the challenges unique to making blended families thrive and work together to come up with practical, REAL suggestions for meeting those challenges AND prioritizing self-care. We will consider the impact of age/developmental stages, race/culture, personality traits, special needs, birth order, support and resources, practical suggestions for individualizing your parenting based on your child’s needs, recognizing secondary trauma, responding to it, and caring for ourselves while caring for our family. You will enjoy her interactive high energy approach that is like having coffee with a good friend who has been there, done that, and lived to tell about it.

Presenter: Dr. Amanda Barton, DNP from Rush University in Chicago, is a nurse practitioner, wife, and mother. Her family includes adopted, biological, guardianship and foster children. Her three oldest, who are biological siblings, were adopted from the foster care system at an early age and are now 23, 21 and 19. Amanda has co-authored a series of children's books based on their real life experiences of being in a mixed race family created through adoption. Self care for Dr. Barton involves prioritizing time with close friends and family. She loves walking their dog with her husband, kayaking down the Clam River, hiking with girlfriends, cheering at her kids sporting events and watching movies with family. Self care for her does NOT involve shopping, iPhones or open water swimming, thus on her day off she avoids buying groceries, her phone is often missing and she will never attempt another triathlon- ever.

Workshop 3 Just Breathe

Sponsored by Lake-Newaygo DHHS

In today's busy world, stress is a reality and has become a state of normalcy in our lives. Today, let's learn to calmly and confidently slow down. Our bodies were not designed to be in a state of constant stress. As a result, we are de-veloping a myriad of health problems. If stress and health problems are a part of your life and you seek more bal-ance, then this workshop is for you. Science now confirms the effectiveness of mindfulness and yoga in reducing lev-els of stress and improving physical and mental conditions. This workshop is designed to provide you with general information on the body's physiological stress response, as well as assist participants with learning practical tools to combat stress and work towards improving overall physical and mental health. Workshop participants are encour-aged to wear comfortable clothing as this is also a hands-on, body-on, approach to learning conscious breathing and gentle stretches (yoga) to relieve muscle tension and reduce stress. Just Breathe workshop is limited to the first 25 registrants with complementary yoga mats provided to each partici-pant for use at home. Register early! Presenter: Kendra Gibson Kendra Gibson is a registered dietitian and nutrition instructor with Michigan State University Extension. She is a 27 year ovarian cancer survivor. Kendra has experienced adoption first hand through her two amazing daughters and embraces that families form in a variety of beautiful ways. She became a registered yoga instructor in 2015 and en-joys helping people balance all areas of their health and wellness. Kendra is actively involved in mission work in the Dominican Republic and plans to return again with her family in 2018.

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Workshop 4 Human Trafficking and Recovery

Sponsored by Wexford-Missaukee DHHS

The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a cottage industry throughout the world. This session is designed to empower professionals to understand not only how to support victims, but to also understand how a youth is brought into 'the life.' This seminar will highlight risk factors for youth, lessons from survivors, and details of legal re-quirements for professionals and foster parents. Presenter: Andy Soper is the founder of the Manasseh Project, a program designed for community education and ad-vocacy for victims of Human Trafficking and HQ – Grand Rapids’ Runaway and Homeless Youth Drop-In Center. After earning a Master’s Degree in Popular Culture from Bowling Green State University, he taught at BGSU and Corner-stone University before beginning work with abused and neglected children in both Residential and Community Pro-grams at Wedgwood Christian Services. He now operates Five Arrows Consulting with his wife Marcy, working with multiple projects around the world to ensure that children are protected, honored, and allowed to flourish. Andrew, also our morning keynote speaker, is considered an expert in human trafficking.

Workshop 5 Supporting Family Health and Well-being

Sponsored by Eagle Village

Have you ever wanted to incorporate exercise and healthier eating into your daily life but just don’t feel like you have the time? Are you curious about how exercise and nutrition impact your overall health and stress levels for you and your family? If so, then you will want to explore this important topic and increase efficiencies with us in this workshop! Megan and her staff provide athletic trainers to numerous community school districts to work with their student athletes on best practice and injury prevention. The Spectrum Health Team is excited to talk to foster-adoptive parents and the community at large about health-related goals and issues. This will be a well-rounded workshop with ample opportunity to have your questions about exercise and nutrition answered by experts in their field. Presenter,: Megan Snow, MA, AT, ATC, is supervisor of Sports Medicine and Community Outreach at Spectrum Health Medical Group. Megan earned her Master’s in Sports Administration from CMU and went on to be a part of champion basketball teams at EMU in the Mid-American Conference. In 2010, Megan was selected to participate in the US Olympic Committee Performance Services Medical Volunteer program, and also travelled to Guadalajara, Mexico, for the Para Pan Games as athletic trainer of the gold medal winning USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team.

Workshop 6 Maltreatment in Care and Special Evaluations: What to Expect and How to Navigate the Experience.

Sponsored by Holy Cross

The responsibility of child safety falls on the shoulders of everyone involved with a child. This session will focus on roles, responsibilities, collaboration, and overall child safety during and in the after-plan of a CPS-MIC investigation.

Presenter: Alison Kilgore has been working in child welfare for MDHHS since 2002. She has been a supervisor with CPS-Maltreatment in Care since 2012. Prior to that, Alison was a CPS supervisor in Ingham County, a CPS investigator in Oakland County, and also worked as an analyst for Continuous Quality Improvement. Alison is a graduate of Western Michigan University in psychology. Presenter: Ashley Lyzenga began working as a CPS worker in Montcalm County in August of 2010, before transferring to Kent Co in March of 2012. In June 2013, she was asked to join CPS-MIC in Kent County and continued on to join the regional CPS-MIC unit. Ashley has a degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Grand Valley State University.

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Y 6th Annual Foster-Adoptive Parent & CS Conference

-

Name

Address

City, State

Phone

Agency or affiliation

Please number your 3 preferred workshop choices, 1 being the most preferred

Your selected workshop time is 12:45 to 1:35

____ As Real As It Gets

____ Power of Engagement

____ Just Breathe

____ Understanding Human Trafficking

____ Supporting Family Health & Well-Being

____ What To Expect, MIC/SE

Please one form per attendee.

Registration Deadline is May 10th Prize drawing for registrations

received before April 28.

Fax your completed registration forms to: 231-796-0799

Or Email completed registration forms to: HengesbachD2@michigan.gov

Or mail completed registration forms to: Mecosta-Osceola MDHHS, 800 Water Tower Rd.,

Big Rapids, MI 49307

Call Darren Hengesbach at 231-796-4347 with questions.

Email

I am….

O - A current foster parent

O - Interested in becoming a foster parent

O - A MDHHS or PAFC staff member

O - A Community Service Provider

O - A Faith Community Member

O - Other

How I learned of this conference:

________________________________

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Y 6th Annual Foster-Adoptive Parent & CS Conference

-

Name

Address

City, State

Phone

Agency or affiliation

Please number your 3 preferred workshop choices, 1 being the most preferred

Your selected workshop time is 12:45 to 1:35

____ As Real As It Gets

____ Power of Engagement

____ Just Breathe

____ Understanding Human Trafficking

____ Supporting Family Health & Well-Being

____ What To Expect, MIC/SE

Please one form per attendee.

Registration Deadline is May 10th Prize drawing for registrations

received before April 28.

Fax your completed registration forms to: 231-796-0799

Or Email completed registration forms to: HengesbachD2@michigan.gov

Or mail completed registration forms to: Mecosta-Osceola MDHHS, 800 Water Tower Rd.,

Big Rapids, MI 49307

Call Darren Hengesbach at 231-796-4347 with questions.

Email

I am….

O - A current foster parent

O - Interested in becoming a foster parent

O - A MDHHS or PAFC staff member

O - A Community Service Provider

O - A Faith Community Member

O - Other

How I learned of this conference:

________________________________