afternoon workshop 1 selections

8/12/2019 Afternoon Workshop 1 Selections

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Afternoon Workshop 1 Selections

Session 7

Moving from Service to Science: Initial Findings in the Evaluation of an

LGBTQ Community level Intervention

Presented by: Jason Vail Cruz, TERROS, Inc.

Veronica Harner, TERROS, Inc.

Emerson Kuhn, ASU Lodestar Center

Session AbstractThe Safe Out program has been awarded a subcontract of $30,000 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Services Administration (SAMHSA). Safe Out is using the award to strengthen the evaluation of its program for

local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer communities (LGBTQ). The subcontract, which was awarded

through the Service to Science Initiatives FY2014 Subcontracts to Build Evaluation Capacity for Evidence-Based

Interventions, is administered by SAMHSAs Center for the Application for Prevention Technologies (CAPT). Safe

Out was one of 24 local organizations to receive this award in 2014.

A program of TERROS Community Prevention Services, Safe Out works in collaboration with the LGBTQ

Consortium to reduce excessive drinking and its associated harmsproblems that affect the LGBTQ community on

average 30% more than the dominant society. Safe Out works through social marketing, community education,

partnering with bars for safer drinking practices, and alternative community events.

This presentation will discuss the implementation of the rigorous research design and its initial findings from the

evaluation team. These findings are expected to demonstrate that the program has heightened attention and self-

regulation as well as any noted reductions in risky behavior and improvements in safe pouring through trained

LGBTQ liquor serving establishments. It will also clarify effectiveness with different demographics within the

LGBTQ community and if the scope of the work can be broadened to prevention of other substances.

By the end of this training participants will be able to:

1. Identify the research design utilized to evaluate the community level intervention2. Discuss initial findings from this study and what it demonstrates in terms of program effectiveness3. Identify methods of evaluation that can be used at an agency or community coalition level to study the

effectiveness of integrated on other treatment or prevention efforts specifically for the LGBTQ

community.

Presenter Bios

Jason Vail Cruz is the Chair for both the Safe Out subcommittee for the LGBTQ Consortium of Arizona. In the

coalition he works to better the community through utilizing internal strengths of individuals to prevent

community wide harms. He has worked for TERROS, Inc. since 2005 in various capacities. These include in the

intensive outpatient treatment for adults struggling with co-occurring diagnoses, prevention manager, and as a

continuing care clinician. As manager of the ANEW (Assessing and Nurturing Effective Wisdom) program, he

worked collaboratively with several different agencies and representatives from government to prevent the onset


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Afternoon Workshop 1 Selectionsor relapse of Substance Abuse, HIV infection, and Hepatitis infection, in ethnic minority communities. His current

focus is the reduction of excessive drinking in the LGBTQ community of Phoenix.

Raised in Upstate New York, Jason has lived in the valley since 1992working in corporate America prior to joining

TERROS in 2005. Jason was the co-chair of the Phoenix World AIDS Day event for two years and currently is the

Teams chair for the second year with Aunt Ritas Foundation for the AIDS Walk Phoenix and 5k Run. An active

member of his faith community and Executive Director for the Muslim American Society-Arizona Chapter, Jason

has a passion for social justice and addressing health disparities in the treatment of different communities. He

actively works towards better interfaith relations and social justice for all.

Veronica Harners substantive interests are at the intersection of LGBTQ community activism, Trans* and non-binary identifying communities, cultural competency, and queer research. Veronica received a BFA from Arizona

State University in 2010. Currently, they are pursuing a Masters in Social Work with emphasis on community

organizing and mixed methods research, with plans to complete a PhD.

Over the past 9 years, Veronica has been working for social justice in the LGBTQ community via prevention,

education, and community needs assessment. With a background including the Nebraska AIDS Project, Veronica

has experience providing safer sex education. Since March of 2012, Veronica, has served as a Prevention Lead at

Terros, Inc, working with the Safe Out program, an effort to curb problematic alcohol use in the LGBTQ community

through marketing, program coordination, data collection, and norms changing. Moreover, they have been the

Public Relations Chair of the LGBTQ Consortium since July 2012. To expand substantive expertise, Veronica has

been active in community research efforts. As a co-founder of the research collaborative, InQUEERy, Veronica has

developed a research trajectory including efforts to examine the experience of sexual minority women and their

alcohol use as well as the lived-experience of providers practicing in queer spaces.

Veronica is also highly invested in the role of performance arts in community building, emotional health, and

expression of LGBTQ* individuals. Ultimately, Veronica provides a high level of familiarity, knowledge, and

awareness in the area of LGBTQ* issues, with a mission to raise consciousness, strengthen inclusivity within the

community, and fight for social justice.

Currently the lead on the Ally Experience for Public Allies Arizona, an AmeriCorps program of the ASU Lodestar

Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation, Emerson Kuhnspends his days planning and implementing

trainings and professional development workshops for about 40 Public Allies every other week. He also coaches a

third of the Public Allies cohort through the program. As an alumnus of the Public Allies Arizona program himself,

Emerson was an Ally placed at Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development as an Education Tutor and Job

Developer. He loves this work, this program, and feels that this work is crucial to making change in the community.

Previously working as an Outreach Case Worker was one of the most rewarding and challenging jobs hes ever had.

He was challenged every day to provide resources to street youth and various youth serving organizations. He

developed a passion for it and hopes to continue this kind of work again someday. He got his start in outreach

through his Public Allies placement at Tumbleweed, and after his term of service, he was offered a position to stay

on with the organization in that capacity.


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Afternoon Workshop 1 SelectionsA couple of years ago Emerson left the nonprofit sector to travel abroad and domestically for about six months. He

worked as a manager in the for-profit sector saving up enough money to tour Italy for two consecutive months.

Shortly after his travels abroad he found a position that would challenge his ski lls working with youth at a summer

camp. Camp demanded a lot and pushed him to learn and try many new youth development techniques through

outdoor education. Emerson taught on the high ropes course, rock c limbing, archery and drama. He was trained to

facilitate these activities and fell in love with all of them in the process. He now sees the importance of and the

role that outdoor education can play in a child's (or anybody's) life.

Emerson carries professional experience and education in the dramatic arts and theatre for social change, as well

as 10+ years of professional and volunteer experience in community advocacy and activism work within both the

community at large and the LGBTQ community.


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Session 8

InQUEERy: Examining Resources for Locating, Utilizing, and

Conducting Queer Research

Presented by: Natasha Mendoza, PhD, Arizona State University

Beverly Wohlert, University of Arizona

Session Abstract

InQUEERy is a recently formed research collaborative housed in the College of Public Programs, School of SocialWork at Arizona State University. Representing multiple disciplines and institutions, the working mission of the

collaborative is to 1) build a scholarly community invested in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer

(LGBTQ) population research, 2) raise consciousness about the importance of this inquiry, 3) share resources and

knowledge about LGBTQ research, and 4) conduct scholarly activities (collaborative research projects, refereed

publication, presentation).

The workshop will include the following components: 1) a broad introduction to the research specialization in

social science, 2) a primer on building this research component into a) a career trajectory b) a behavioral/mental

health setting, 3) examples of national research clearing houses for LGBTQ research, 4) an introduction to the

collaborative and ongoing projects, and 5) an exercise in developing salient research questions.


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Session 9

Assessment, Advocacy, and Community-Based Care: Addressing the

Needs of Gender-Variant and Gender-Questioning Youth

Presented by:

Ian Ellasante, MA, University of Arizonas Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW)

Joe Nutini, LMSW, CODAC

Session Abstract

iTEAMs six-agency collaboration aims to increase housing stability, improve mental health status, expand linkages

to community resources, decrease substance use, and reduce HIV risk behaviors among its participants, who are

ages 15 to 23, 60% of whom identify as non-white and 74% as LGBTQ. iTEAM project staff conduct outreach at the

Eon Youth Lounge (a drop-in center for LGBTQA youth and a one-stop shop for iTEAMs comprehensive services),

streets and hangouts, and selected high school gay-straight alliances (GSAs) to identify and enroll unstably-housed

LGBTQA youth into the project.

This workshop session will briefly describe the strategic development of a community-based network of care,

inclusive and supportive of LGBTQA youth. It will also outline iTEAMs participant demographics (self-identified

ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and age) and will use preliminary outcome data to examine the

impact of iTEAMs interventions in the areas of housing stability, physical and mental health, and pro-social

behaviors.

Primarily, this workshop session will focus on changes in gender identity and sexual identity over time among

iTEAM participants. Currently, 56% of iTEAM participants report some change in gender identity over the course of

six months. Workshop attendees will engage in facilitated discussions and activities about assessment tools

designed to capture this information as well as the unique mental health and emotional support needs that youth

may experience when they are questioning their gender identity. The session will also explore approaches for

addressing the needs of gender-variant or gender-questioning youth from iTEAMs evidence-based MET/CBT-

adapted curriculum, developed specifically for LGBTQA youth and implemented weekly in a therapeutic group.

By participating in this session, attendees will be able to accomplish the following:

1. Suggest at least two existing or potential community-agency partnerships within which they or theiragencies can increase outreach and support to LGBTQA youth.

2. Apply effective assessment methods for asking about gender identity.3. Describe some of the unique emotional support needs of gender-variant or gender-questioning youth.4. Identify and demonstrate constructive approaches for addressing the needs of gender-variant or gender-

questioning youth.


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Afternoon Workshop 1 SelectionsPresenter Bios

Ian Ellasante, MA

Ian Ellasante is an Assistant Research Social Scientist with the University of Arizona's Southwest Institute for

Research on Women (SIROW) and the Program Coordinator of the comprehensive and collaborative network of

care for LGBTQQIA youth provided by the federally funded iTEAM project. Ian has worked with youth from

marginalized groups since 2004 and specifically with LGBTQA youth since 2008. Originally from Memphis, Ian

studied Sociology and English at the University of Memphis before moving to Tucson, where he completed his

M.A. at the University of Arizona.

Joe Nutini, LMSWJoseph Nutini is a therapist with CODAC Behavioral Health Services. He currently works with LGBTQ youth on the

iTEAM project in Tucson, AZ. Joe has an MSW from Arizona State University and a BA in Womens Studies from

The University of Arizona. He has spent over 10 years working and volunteering with LGBTQ youth and with the

broader transgender population. Joe is also an ordained interfaith minister, a reiki practitioner and is certified to

practice hypnotherapy. His story was published in a book titled Trans People in Love. He strives to include as

much fun as possible in both his work with youth and his personal life.


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Session 10

Protecting the Rights and Safety of Gender Non-Conforming and

Transgender Students in School

Presented by: Michael Carr, GLSEN Phoenix

Chelsea Elijah Palles, GLSEN Phoenix

GLSENs biennial National School Climate Survey (NSCS) documents the unique challenges LGBT students face;

survey findings also point to effective interventions that improve school climate for all students, regardless ofsexual orientation or gender identity/expression. This interactive workshop will focus on how to create a safe,

respectful and healthy learning environment for gender non-conforming (GNC) and transgender (trans*) students,

who face severe levels of harassment and violence in the school community. These high levels of victimization

result in GNC and trans* students missing more school, receiving lower grades and feeling isolated and not part of

the school community.

By the end of the workshop, educators, behavioral health providers, and administrators will be able to 1) connect

school climate data with educational outcomes and student well-being; 2) identify the needs of GNC and trans*

youth in K-12 schools; 3) prioritize effective policy reforms and other interventions for their community; 3) learn

about student resources such as GLSEN's Trans-Students Rights a grassroots student-created organization,

dedicated to creating safe schools for all, regardless of gender identity and expression; and, 4) access educational

resources for further professional development. In short, this workshop will help participants better understand

the policies and actions required to create a school where every student -- GNC and trans* students, and their

classmatescan expect to be treated with dignity.

Presenter Bios

Elijah Palleshas worked in the behavioral health field for five years primarily with children, youth and families. He

began his work in DDD services and then moved to case management at Southwest Network and then at Arizona's

Children Association. He has helped formulate LGBTQ sensitivity trainings in numerous jobs and has helped to start

an LGBTQ group at AzCA before he left. Elijah is currently a graduate student at Arizona State University and is

working on his MSW with a concentration in Planning, Administration and Community. Elijah is also a male

illusionist in the LGBTQ community and has worked with several organizations across the state in raising

awareness and funds. Elijah is currently working towards assisting in providing trans* inclusivity in GLSEN and

other organizations around the valley. Elijah is the Adult Coordinator for the Jump Start team.


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Session 11

Rainbows and Cages: Immigration Detention, Prisons, and Health(REPEATED in Afternoon Session 13)

Presented By: Ral Alcaraz Ochoa, The Rainbow Defense Fund

Marco Galdino, The Rainbow Defense Fund

Frida Espinosa, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pblica (Mexico) & Alliance for Global Justice

Stephanie Quintana, The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project

Session Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender migrants in Arizona compose a highly vulnerable population in Arizona

immigration detention centers and private and public correctional facilities. LGBTQ migrants in detention often

face a higher level of harassment, discrimination and trauma at the hands of fellow detainees and detention

personnel, compared to non-LGBTQ migrants. Limited legal resources, primary and mental health resources as well

as advocacy, is available for this subpopulation, which leaves individuals to fend for themselves during their

detention.

The group of panelists will present testimonies from formerly incarcerated LGBTQ community members, and

provide a forum for activists, organizers, legal advocates, and mental health professionals who are interested in

improving conditions and services for this resilient LGBT population.

Often, LGBT migrants arrive to Arizona after fleeing from violent persecution lived in their native countries due totheir LGBT identity, but are tragically re-victimized when they arrive to an Arizona correctional facility and if not

immediately deported, during their reintegration to an Arizona community.

While in detention, LGBT migrants have reported trauma-inducing systemic practices and conditions that include:

being housed with detainees of a gender with which they dont identify, inadequate medical care, inadequate

mental health resources, detention staff divulging confidential information, segregation placements, and physical

and sexual violence.

The Rainbow Defense Fund is a Tucson-based group that focuses support for LGBTQ detainees. Through visitations,

pen pal letter-writing, and bond support, the Rainbow Defense Fund has led successful campaigns to have LGBTQ

detainees released from detention.

The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project provides free legal services and related social services to

indigent individuals detained in Arizona for immigration removal proceedings. The Project has assisted LGBT

migrants in obtaining political asylum status to lawfully remain in the U.S.

The lack of knowledge, resources, improved policy, and political will geared towards this population adds to the

health consequences suffered by this group of LGBT individuals and their families. The Rainbow Defense Fund and

its supporters recognize that when detention time is minimized, trauma is minimized, and so are negative health

consequences.


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Panelist Bios

Ral Alcaraz Ochoawas born in Jalisco, Mxico to two loving parents. Ral grew up in Richmond, California where

his struggles as a migrant child fueled his passion for social justice and community power. Ral has organized

around educational justice, youth power, queer justice, and migrant rights issues. After graduating from the Ethnic

Studies Department at San Francisco State University in 2006, Ral left life and work in the Bay Area to live in the

desert/borderland of Tucson, Arizona where he organizes towards LGBTQ and migrant liberation with families and

youth. Evident through his work with the Rainbow Defense Fund, the Southside Worker Center and Corazn de

Tucson, Ral imagines a world free of oppression and continuously struggles towards creating a world where

many worlds fit.

Marco Galdinowas born in So Paulo, Brazil. He fled his country due to intense persecution he was experiencing

based on his sexual orientation. Marco filed for asylum and was detained in immigration detention for 8 years,

until he was finally bonded out last year with the support of the Rainbow Defense Fund. Marco is now an active

member of the community providing support for incarcerated people and recently released individuals. He resides

in Tucson, AZ.

Stephanie Quintana-Martinezwas born and raised in Puerto Rico and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the

University of Puerto Rico. After graduating in 2012, Stephanie moved to Arizona. Since then, she worked as a

community organizer and volunteer for the Southside Worker Center and the Tucson Protection Network

Coalition. She holds experience working with domestic violence and sexual aggression survivors and advocating

for womens right at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Since August 2013, Stephanie hasbeen working for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Project. The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project

is nonprofit organization providing free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children detained by

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Arizona where an estimated 86 percent of immigrant detainees go

unrepresented. The Florence Project strives to address this inequity through direct service, partnerships with the

community, and advocacy and outreach efforts. Stephanie is especially interested in LGBT community members in

immigration detention.

Frida Espinosa Crdenasis a Latin American woman from Tucson, Arizona. She holds a Masters in Public Health

from the National Institute of Public Health (Mexico). She has collaborated with Alliance for Global Justice for the

past three years doing work around health, prisons, and human rights, and began to independently study prisons

and incarceration as a Social Determinant of Health when she came across the work of Liliany Obando and her

collection of testimonies of women and mother political prisoners in Colombia. She has presented her

collaborative work in the US, Mexico, Colombia, and Uruguay. She currently is the Cultural Competency and

Customer Service Coordinator at CODAC Behavioral Health Services


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Session 12

LGBt: Keeping The little t In LGBT Issues(REPEAT OF MORNING SESSION 5)

Presented by: Amy DArpino, Community Partnership of Southern Arizona

Rae Strozzo

Session AbstractThere is a gap in services and a lack of culturally competent providers for transgender and gender diverse children.

Many children across Arizona would benefit from an awareness of their needs. An integrated approach to care for

and to help these children is greatly needed.

This training will create awareness about transgender and gender diverse children, and how to help them when

needed. Participants will become familiar with definitions, clinical implications will be addressed, information on

how to support the children and families will be provided, and local and national resources will be given. Several

personal stories will be shared.

afternoon workshop 1 selections

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