TRANSFORM- 2020-2021 Events
Past Webinars (2020-2021)
Early Life Adversity and Adolescent Development: A Focus on Brain Development and Substance Use
Caregiving deprivation and maltreatment during childhood have impacts on adolescent development, including neural and behavioral development. This webinar reviewed what has been discovered in research examining the impact of institutional orphanage care and child maltreatment on brain development and the development of substance use and disorder. These findings were then discussed in the context of adolescence and how this developmental period is a crucial time of risk and opportunity following early life adversity.
Click here to access a recording of this webinar.
Presenters: Elizabeth Handley, Ph.D., Director of Research at Mt. Hope Family Center and an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester. Max Herzberg, Ph.D., post-doctoral research scholar in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Crisis as Opportunity: Building Community Bridges to Address Trauma
Across the United States, communities suffered from the consequences of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Black communities and communities of color grappled with the collective trauma brought on by systemic and institutional racism. This webinar highlights the impacts of those traumas on our communities and ways to work towards community resilience. At TRANSFORM, we believe to address the many complex issues facing our communities, we must work across systems, sectors, and disciplines to build bridges to foster solutions.
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Child-Centered System Change: Improving Mental Health For Kids In The Child Welfare System
The TRANSFORM Research Center led a virtual cross-sector forum exploring ways to improve mental, emotional and behavioral health for kids involved with the Child Welfare System in Rochester, NY. U.S. Congressman Joseph Morelle and Director, Monroe County Systems Integration Project (SIP), Laura Gustin, provided an overview of SIP’s efforts to be an interconnected human centered delivery of services system. The Forum spotlighted SIP’s Youth Behavior Health Pilot and provided space for cross-sector Community of Practice breakout discussions regarding community needs and possible collaboration.
A recording of this webinar will be accessible shortly.
Click here to access the Community of Practice breakout discussion summary notes.
Using Adolescent Developmental Science to Transform the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems
01/21/2021
In 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued a ground-breaking report, The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth. In this presentation, Susan Vivian Mangold, an author on this report, presented her findings and described how adolescent developmental science can be applied to child-serving systems, including the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Through the findings of the report, Ms. Mangold discussed many of the leading issues for youth, families, and advocates working to transform the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
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Susan Vivian Mangold is Chief Executive Officer at Juvenile Law Center. She is a Professor Emeritus at University at Buffalo School of Law, where she taught for over 20 years and served as Vice Dean for Academics. Her teaching and scholarship focused on Children and the Law. Ms. Mangold was also Chair of the University-wide Strategic Strength in Civic Engagement and Public Policy, and brings her expertise in community-based research to Juvenile Law Center. She is co-editor of West Publishing’s casebook, Children and the Law: Doctrine, Policy and Practice (7th Edition, 2020).
Child Abuse and Neglect Meets the Press: Responsible News Coverage of Difficult Topics
12/17/2020
The way that sensitive topics are covered by the media has an impact on those directly involved and on the community. This is especially true for stories involving child abuse and neglect. In this webinar, two experienced reporters shared their experiences with covering stories involving child abuse and neglect. For professionals who work in the field of child abuse and neglect, and for researchers who study child maltreatment, this webinar shared insights on how to best interact with journalists and the media.
Click here to access a recording of this webinar.
Speakers:
Steve Orr was a Democrat and Chronicle watchdog reporter, meaning he focused his attention on institutions and people who engage in activities that affect the public and who may, at times, prefer that details of those activities not see the light of day. Over a long career at the Democrat and Chronicle, he wrote countless investigative and explanatory stories. Some have had major impact on the community. Others may have touched only a handful of people. All of them were important in their own way.
Gary Craig is a member of the Democrat and Chronicle’s Watchdog team, and focuses on public safety and criminal justice. He has worked at Rochester newspapers since 1990, covering City Hall, politics and federal courts before joining the newspaper’s investigative team. He has won state and national investigative writing awards.
Child Maltreatment and Resilience: From Science to Schools
09/17/2020
Youth who are maltreated might face a number of difficulties in the classroom, including social and academic problems. However, some maltreated youth show resilience, or the ability to overcome their adversities and succeed. This webinar reviewed the science of resilience and its applications to classroom settings. It also reviewed potential consequences of childhood maltreatment that teachers might see in educational settings as well as the ways that teachers can foster resilience among youth who have undergone child abuse and neglect. Further, presenters discussed how teachers can support traumatized youth in the age of COVID-19.
Click here to access a recording of this webinar.
Speakers:
Erinn Bernstein Duprey, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Rochester Medical Center in the Department of Psychiatry, and has a PhD in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Georgia. Her research examines the developmental processes linking childhood maltreatment with mental health outcomes for youth. Overall, her goal is to produce research on the consequences of child maltreatment that can be effectively translated into interventions and prevention programs.
Melissa Heatly, Ph.D. is a clinical child psychologist specializing in integrative and interdisciplinary approaches to child mental health. She directs the Expanded School Mental Health Initiatives at UR Medicine, which provides comprehensive school-based behavioral health services, consultation, and training to youth and educators across the Greater Rochester region. Her work includes the dissemination, implementation and program evaluation of comprehensive school mental health systems, mental health training for educators and community members, and increasing access to evidence-based mental health for youth and families.