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2022 SVN Annual Conference Speakers and WorkshopsPlenary Speakers
Lundy Bancroft has spent the last thirty years of his career specializing in abuse, trauma, and recovery. He is the author of Why Does He Do That?, the largest-selling book in history on domestic violence, and his professional book The Batterer as Parent won the 2005 literary award from the North American Resource Center for Child Welfare. His latest book, The Joyous Recovery, is his first for a general audience, gathering into one volume his 30 years of experience and wisdom regarding emotional healing. Lundy was a counselor for abusive men for over a decade, and then devoted himself to taking what he had learned from that experience and sharing it with abused women, and with the friends, family, and professionals who assist them.
Charles Clark, the creator of the Thrive Planner and the Thrive Tribe Podcast, is an expert in habit improvement, discovering purpose, vision creating and goal setting. After he became the 6th fastest man in the world, a devastating injury left him searching for his identity. Charles developed techniques that brought clarity to his life’s purpose while establishing massive confidence. Charles’ modern transformation strategies, empowering presentations, and high-performance mindset hacks have made him a sought-after motivational speaker and coach for leading organizations like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nike, Raymond James Financial, Frontier Communications, iHeart Radio, US Army, and FSU.
Dr. Marsha D. Brown is a Licensed Psychologist and mental health expert with specializations in forensic and clinical psychology. Whether conducting forensic psychological evaluations for family, criminal, and civil court matters, or working clinically as a therapist with those adjusting to crisis and trauma, Dr. Marsha works with people who are struggling and helps them to cope with and overcome challenges. Dr. Marsha speaks at conferences and venues across the United States and delivers presentations on Deconstructing Stress, as well as mental health management and assessment.
Scheduled WorkshopsKATCH - Kids & The Changing Home Children, especially those in Supervised Visitation are often left in the dark about what is going on with their family during divorce/separation, or they are pulled in between their parent’s conflict, causing children anger, frustration, divided loyalties, and an inability to feel they can safely love both parents. Evidence based interventions such as children’s psycho-educational groups have shown to reduce risk factors, build competencies and promote children’s resilience of conflict (Pedro-Carroll, Sutton, & Wyman, 1999). K.A.T.C.H (Kids & The Changing Home) is a 6 week program evidence based intervention that is proven effective in helping increase coping skills and reduce anxiety for children. This workshop will present the program, the research and how you can use this to enhance and support your Supervised Visitation organization. Valya Roberts is the Executive Director for Supervised Access Centre's in 3 court districts in Ontario Canada. Valya is also the past President of the Supervised Visitation Network (SVN). Valya is a former Professor in Human Services at two community colleges (Social Work, Recreation Therapy). Valya is currently Chair for the Mohawk College Ethics Board. Valya provided consultation and expertise to several organizations including; Ministry of the Attorney General; U.S. Justice Department (VAWO); Safe Havens National Review Committee. Valya is a graduate of Mohawk College (Recreation), University of Waterloo (Social Development Studies) and Nipissing University (Masters of Education). Valya also received the Governor General of Canada Gold Medal Award for her academics at Nipissing University and received Alumni of the year 2018 for Mohawk College. Valya also published research with Nipissing University to examine whether there is a need for supervised access centres to keep victims of domestic violence and their children safe and what are the variables that affect the effectiveness of supervised access centres in Ontario. More recently Valya co-authored a Practice paper on the KATCH program for Recreation Therapy Journal. The Use of Technology to Stalk Stalkers are creative criminals who use – and misuse – a variety of technologies to locate, surveil and monitor their victims. This workshop will address common technologies utilized by stalkers, discuss evidence preservation concerns as well as identify effective safety-planning strategies. Jennifer is the Director of the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), a project of AEquitas. SPARC is an initiative aimed at ensuring first responders and other allied professionals have the specialized knowledge to identify and respond to the crime of stalking. SPARC also provides the tools, resources, and support needed to promote victim safety and offender accountability in stalking cases. Jennifer has been an advocate and educator on the issues of stalking, domestic violence, and sexual assault for 24 years and has her Masters of Science degree in Criminal Justice. Thriving & Surviving in Supervised Visitation Marcus Ogden, former NFL player and motivational speaker an author, will share his unique experiences as a child who used Supervised Visitation services to see his mother and then later in life as a step parent helping his own daughter deal with the Supervised Visitations she experienced with her biological father Growing up in a single-parent home with a father that inspired perseverance and fairness, Marques learned how to define his values and set goals. In this workshop Marcus will share how these values helped him survive these challenging moments as a child and his struggle to find success after his football career ended A little background about Marques, in 2003, he was drafted into the NFL as an offensive lineman, after 5 years of playing in league, he decided to retire and pursue a career in construction and contracting. At the age 27, Marques founded a construction company called Kayden Premier Enterprises. The company had fast growth and in 2010, but eventually his business went bankrupt, losing almost 2 million dollars on one project in a matter of 90 days. During his darkest hours, he pulled himself together, got a part-time job as a custodian and with hard work and determination became an inspirational keynote speaker, executive coach, best-selling author and marketing leader, helping to build the success of others. Improve your Communication: One of the biggest challenges for professionals who work with families in the field of supervised visitation is having to assist clients who are in very vulnerable and unstable positions, both mentally and logistically. Now, more than ever, your ability to connect and communicate with your clients is tremendously impaired by social distancing, masks, work regulations, and the added emotional and/or financial stress your clients may be experiencing. Regardless of how much our environment changes, what always remains constant is our ability to improve the way we collect, comprehend, and share information. Join Liz Becker, Communication Skills Coach & Trainer and President and Co-founder of the National Association of Divorce Professionals, as she uncovers the critical communication mistakes professionals make that often lead to impasse and resistance. During this session, Liz shares valuable insight to help you ensure productive conversations and ultimately better outcomes for both you and the families you serve Liz Becker is President & Co-founder of the National Association of Divorce Professionals and Senior Trainer of the CDS Program. Liz is also a Licensed NLP Master Practitioner, Communications Skills Coach & Trainer, and has more than a decade of experience in working with both divorcing clients and the professionals who serve them. Having worked in the divorce industry for many years, she has a keen sense of detecting specific issues that create obstacles for all parties involved in the process. Whether she was conducting NLP Certification Trainings, co-parenting workshops, coaching clients, or speaking at conferences, Liz has always found great reward in educating people on how to communicate more effectively and achieve positive change both personally and professionally. Creating an Action Plan: Starting or expanding services can be an exciting and challenging time. This webinar is designed to assist you in thinking through the challenge each step of the way. You will learn how to plan, set goals, and take action on those goals. From start to finish, we hope to help you plan for success. Emilyn Haugen has worked in the supervised visitation field for 17 years, starting out her career as a monitor of supervised parenting times and then as the Director of Parenting Time Centers. Emilyn now operates 5 centers in West Central Minnesota. Emilyn has extensive knowledge in respectfully working with families going through a turbulent time in their lives. Emilyn enjoys teaching Parents Forever, a divorce education program mandated by the Minnesota judicial system. Emilyn is also passionate about affordable housing and has an 18-year History in volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, currently serving on her Local Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors. Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyn-haugen-682a7b105/ Dana Cahn, LCSW, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Founder and CEO of f.a.c.e.s. (Family and Coparenting Enrichment Services), and the non-for-profit entity f.a.c.e.s. for children (Facing Adverse Childhood Experiences for Children) f.a.c.e.s. provides many services to families going through divorce and or separation in the tri-county area. These services include coparenting programs, parenting, supervised visitations, therapeutic supervised visitations, monitored exchanges, therapy, including free therapy, due to faces affiliation with four local major universities. These include FAU, FIU, Barry University, and Nova Southeastern University. Testing: Psychological Evaluations, Substance Abuse Evaluations, Mental Health Assessments and Trauma Assessments are provided for families by request as well as a Fathers and Teen support groups. Dana is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, Guardian Ad Litem for the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, and a Qualified Parenting Coordinator. She obtained her master's degree in Social Work at Barry University in 1992 and has served the South Florida Community for over 27+ years. Dana has experience as Director of Social Work at Harbor Beach Convalescent Home; Director of Social Work Department at Coral Ridge Psychiatric Hospital; Program Director and Clinical Director of Miami Treatment Resources. She is a member of NASW, SVN, NADP, the AFCC, and currently president elect for KidSide, a non-profit organization that provides funds for Family Court Services in Miami-Dade County. She was asked to be a participant in the first Collaborative Court Pilot Project by the Judges in Miami Dade, 11th Judicial Courts, and took the lead in bringing the project to Broward county 17th Judicial courts. Dana oversees f.a.c.e.s. daily administrative and clinical operations in the tri-county area and has extensive experience assisting families going through divorce, separation, paternity, and post-dissolution issues involving children. Managing Grief and Loss in the Visit Room Emotional, physiological, relational, and behavioral responses to grief are often difficult and overwhelming to navigate particularly when there is ongoing stress and uncertainty when involved in the visitation system. Also due to Covid-19, there have been many changes in how families visit, along with experiencing collective grief and loss. This presentation will provide visitation service providers ways to better identify and understand how grief and loss impact families during supervised visitations and strategies in supporting families struggling with grief and loss. Jessica Hong, LMSW, is the Assistant Manager of Clinical Services for The NYSPCC and has been with the agency in various roles since 2013. Jessica has been providing trauma informed care and therapy for the entirety of her social work career, along with providing Therapeutic Supervised Visitation services at The NYSPCC since 2013. Her practice comprises of various trauma-informed, attachment and relational-based modalities including TF-CBT, ARC model, Theraplay, and Somatic Experiencing practices. Jessica earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University, a Master of Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, and a certificate as a Provisional Somatic Experiencing Practitioner from The Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. Gabriela Spósito, LMSW, is a Bilingual Assistant Manager of Clinical Services at The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children where she provides trauma therapy and therapeutic supervised visitation services. She also facilitates child sexual abuse prevention workshops and crisis debriefings to child protective service workers following child fatality and critical incidents. She holds a Master of Social Work from Hunter College School of Social Work. Working with Fathers in Supervised Visitation Working with fathers does not have to be a challenge when you consider taking a thoughtful approach to your connection with fathers who are utilizing services is key to safe visitation services. People are more than what they have done, where they have come from and we must believe that all have the capacity to improve. During this engaging and informative session, we will discuss personality types to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses in working with clients. You will discover new ways to engage your clients, specifically fathers, to ensure these fragile families have the chance to meet their long-term goals, through accountability, support and understanding. Shon Hart is the Executive Director of InvolvedDad, which focuses on building strong families through the power of an InvolvedDad. We have served over 100 families in three years through various resources, collaborations, and strategic programming. Mr. Hart travels throughout the country helping organizations set up successful fatherhood programs, and train staff on how to engage dads to strengthen fragile families. Shon has worked with men for over twenty years and gave his life to empower them to create healthy homes, children, and communities. Children's Corner- One element to providing support for meaningful parenting time, is the ability for service providers to engage with the children and adolescents coming through services. Connecting with children is essential for a trauma informed approach that supports emotional and physical safety for the family. During this break-out session we will provide hands-on activities that can be utilized by any provider to navigate connecting with children. We will spend a portion of this presentation on child orientation and intake, attachment considerations, resiliency, support for in-person, as well as virtual visits, and overcoming the some of the challenges of child-refusal. Articles, parent tip sheets and evidence informed information will be shared with attendees so that they can implement realistic strategies in their own programs. Attendees will have the opportunity to "practice" strategies for connecting with kids during the session. Lori Wymore-Kirkland is a certified family mediator that hold a master’s in public administration from George Mason University. Over more than 30 years she has experienced working with families and children in education, through court services and social services. Over the course of her career, Lori has worked in Texas, New Mexico, Maryland, and Virginia as a social worker, parent educator, family counselor in mental health systems and in early childhood education. Since 2007, Lori has been the program manager of the Stronger Together Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Program for the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. Lori took Stronger Together from concept to implementation through collaboration with Juvenile Court Judges and countywide stakeholders. She is an active member of the Fairfax County Council to End Domestic Violence and collaborates on multiple Fairfax County teams. Lori provides trainings and mentorship for community stakeholders, volunteers, interns, and supervised visitation providers in the DC metro area and across the country as the training chair, and active board member for the Supervised Visitation Worldwide Network. Ranwa Bakhazi is a Case Manager with Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court’s Stronger Together Supervised Visitation and Exchange program. Ranwa started her career in supervised visitation as a volunteer back in 2014. She quickly proved to be an asset to the organization and was hired on as a case manager. Prior to joining the team Ranwa worked with female offenders in a transitional living program. Ranwa holds a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology/Anthropology with a minor in Psychology and a Masters of Science in Criminal Justice. Ranwa is originally from Jordan and has traveled the world. She speaks three languages and has a unique perspective on culture and connecting with families. When not at work she can be found hiking or sampling the best local bakeries and pie shops. Ranwa lives in Bluemont Virginia with her dog Winnie. Listening to Children’s Voices within Supervised Access and Exchange Services: There is a heightened awareness that children’s views and preferences must be taken into consideration when decisions are made that impact them. This workshop will highlight key themes emerging from studies that have explored children’s perceptions of supervised access and exchange services and will present results based on semi-structured interviews with 23 children between the ages of 7 and 18 about their experiences. Based on the views of the children interviewed, suggestions for improving services will be offered as well as tips for further engaging children within these services. Professor Michael Saini holds the endowed Factor-Inwentash Chair in Law and Social Work. He is the Co-Director of the combined J.D. and M.S.W. program with the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. His scholarship addresses the advancement of children and families’ wellbeing in systems governed by law. He has over 200 publications, including books, book chapters, government reports, and peer-reviewed journal articles. In 2019, He was awarded AFCC’ Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award, sponsored by the Oregon Family Institute. Neurodiversity and Supervised Visitation About 30% of the population is considered neurodiverse, which simply means that people's brains work differently. This session explores the types of neurodiversity and its impact on behavior and communication, both generally and within a supervised visitation environment. Lyndi Bradley is the Program Manager for the Institute for Family Violence Studies. Bradley graduated with a Master’s in Social Work and a certificate in Leadership and Executive Administration Development from FSU’s College of Social Work in May 2018. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership & Policy. Her research interests include child welfare, domestic violence, and student well-being. Advanced Concepts in Coercive Power and Control While coercive control has been part of the lexicon of domestic violence for more than a decade, the legal system has been much slower to formally recognize it. In the past few years, countries and states in the United States have added varying laws on coercive control. But how does this play out in child visitation? Child custody and visitation can be used as a pretext to engage in further abuse even after separation. Supervised visitation can be seen as default option for deterring further abuse, but coercive control can be harder to identify and manage in this context. This presentation will provide information on coercive control from current legal and social science perspectives. Building off this foundational understanding, the focus will turn to ways in which a supervised visitation provider might be able to identify coercive control and how they can best manage and document this form of abuse for the court. Andrea has her BA in Psychology, MS in Educational Counseling, JD, and is a doctoral candidate pursuing her PhD in Forensic Psychology with an emphasis in Victimology. In addition to her work with FVAP, she runs a child and family welfare agency in Southeast Tennessee providing various services to include supervised visitation and safe exchange. Andrea is also a pre-licensed mental health professional at Journey Psychotherapy Center where she specializes in forensic mental health care services for parents and children. Arati Vasan is a Senior Managing Attorney at Family Violence Appellate Project (“FVAP”). She represents survivors of gender-based and family violence on appeal and oversees FVAP’s training and law clerk/fellow programs. Arati provided full-scope family/civil court representation to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the Bay Area for almost a decade before joining FVAP. She has been a national faculty trainer for the Vera Institute on Justice, and a training consultant for the national Casa de Esperanza. Arati has given trainings for a wide range of stakeholders at the local, state and national level. In 2009, she received her California Domestic Violence Counselor certification through San Francisco’s Asian Women’s Shelter. Since 2008, Arati has been a volunteer with Narika, a domestic violence agency primarily serving South Asian survivors. Prior to FVAP, Arati coordinated the domestic violence program at Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach for many years. During this time, Arati served as a co-chair of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium for three years. While an active member of the SF Police Department's Language Access Working Group, Arati worked to improve law enforcement interactions with survivors who are limited English proficient and those cross-reported to child protective services. Earlier she had a solo family law practice representing survivors of domestic violence. Arati was a pro bono and contract attorney for Bay Area Legal Aid and is a past recipient of their Individual Pro Bono Leadership Award. Arati has been licensed to practice law in California since 2008. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Law. Testifying in Court: Ryanne Seyba, Esq. As a Supervised Visitation Provider, testifying in court, and maintaining the SVN standard of neutrality, can be challenging and stressful, but with the proper knowledge and perspective of how the legal system functions, you can testify with confidence. In this session, you will learn how to prepare, what to expect, and how to testify through a hands on "mock testimony". Join us for a crash course in legal terminology, expectations, boundaries/limitations to our testimony and walk away with the self-assurance needed to answer your next subpoena. Ryanne N. Seyba, Esq. is the owner of Seyba Law in Hollywood, FL a boutique family law firm, partner at The Upgrade Lawyers, a low fee family law document drafting company in Florida, partner at Peacetime Mediation a Florida family law mediation firm. Ryanne graduated from Pace University with a Bachelors Degree in Marketing with a concentration in Advertising and Promotions. Later receiving her Juris Doctorate from St. Thomas University, Ryanne is a member of the Florida and New York State Bars. Originally from New York, Ryanne has called South Florida home for the past 13 years. She enjoys spending time with her husband Jamie, and their son Noah and daughter Lyla. Meaghan K. Marro is one half of Marro Law, PA. Meaghan’s side of the practice focuses on the areas of marital and family law litigation and appellate work. She is also partner at The Upgrade Lawyers, a low fee family law document drafting company in Florida and partner at Peacetime Mediation a Florida family law mediation firm. Meaghan graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology, and went on to receive her Master’s Degree from Western Michigan University’s Behavior Analysis Program. Later receiving her Juris Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University, Meaghan is currently a member of the Florida and New York State Bars, and is admitted to practice before U.S. District Court in the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida. Meaghan represents clients from all walks of life and zealously advocates for individual’s rights under Florida law. She also donates her time by providing pro bono legal services, particularly to the Mission United Veterans Project under Legal Aid Service of Broward County. Originally from Iowa, Meaghan has called South Florida home for the past 25 years and intends to remain warm. When not working, which is rare, Meaghan enjoys spending time with her husband and law partner, John, their 6 year-old son Hunter, and their big “horse” dog Utah. Working with Fathers Who Use IPV This interactive workshop will present a relational and systemic accountability framework for working with fathers who have caused harm through intimate partner violence (IPV). It will include practical strategies for supervised visitation practitioners to engage fathers safely and introduce a new workbook for fathers that can be used in multiple settings. Juan Carlos Areán, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized activist, public speaker, trainer and facilitator, and published author. Since 1991, he has worked to engage men across different cultures to become better fathers, intimate partners, and allies to end domestic violence and achieve gender equity. He presently works as a Program Director at Futures Without Violence. Previously, he served as Director of the National [email protected] Network at Casa de Esperanza and as a Sexual Assault Prevention Specialist at Harvard University. Dr. Areán is a founding member of the United Nations Network of Men Leaders to combat violence against women created by former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He is an active trainer and facilitator, who has led hundreds of workshops and presentations throughout the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean, as well as in Europe, Asia, the US Congress, and the United Nations in New York and Geneva. Six Degrees of Visitation: From Observational to Therapeutic Practices This workshop will examine the full range of intervention options possible during supervised visits. A panel of specialized presenters will discuss and clarify the spectrum of visitation practices that are beneficial for our clients. Interventions for discussion will include: Observing and Reporting, Supportive Interventions, Parent Education and Coaching (including a description of the Nurturing Parenting Curriculum), Periodic/Situational Therapeutic Interventions, Therapeutic Supervised Visitation Services and referral for Re-unification/Re-engagement Therapy. Howard Yaffe, MSW, LICSW is the current President of the Board of Directors for the Supervised Visitation Network. He is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with more than 30 years of experience in various settings. Most of his clinical work has focused on supporting children and families. He has been the director of Meeting Place, one of the first supervised visitation programs in Massachusetts, for 20 years. He is currently the program director of Domestic Violence Services for Riverside Community Care; a large social service agency in the Boston area. This position includes full oversight of Meeting Place as well as two other domestic violence-related programs. In his private practice, he focuses on supporting children and families through the divorce process and has recently taught a High-Conflict Co-parenting class through William James College of Psychology. He has presented and/or facilitated a number of webinars, workshops and trainings over his years with SVN and has had a role in writing and editing modules of the SVN Training Manual. Carrie Pekor Jasper, M.S.Ed., LICSW is a child and family therapist who holds an undergraduate degree in multicultural education, and master's degrees in both early childhood special needs education and clinical social work. Over the course of her career, she has been a director of child trauma treatment, child abuse, and domestic violence intervention programs. She has advanced post-graduate training in the treatment of traumatized children, special needs advocacy, neurodevelopmental disorders, forensic child and family mental health, family mediation, and supervised visitation, and has been a clinical instructor at both Boston University and Harvard Medical School. Her current private practice, located in the Boston area, serves children and parents experiencing separation and divorce. She has particular interests in therapeutic work with families who struggle with resist/refuse dynamics, and the use of attachment-focused interventions in parent-child treatment. Carrie Short, LCSW is a Licensed clinical social worker specializing in counseling and assessment for attentional issues, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, grief, and infant mental health issues. Ms. Short provides individual, family, blended family, and co-parenting counseling utilizing a strength-based approach. Ms. Short will accept parenting coordinator assignments from the court with prior agreement when the family includes young children under the age of five. Ms. Short also provides reconciliation counseling when ordered by the court. Ms. Short graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1984 with a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work. She is a certified divorce and family mediator and a diplomat in the American Psychology Academy for Psychotherapy. Ms. Short has completed postgraduate training in Family Systems Theory sponsored by the Georgetown School of Medicine, Georgetown University and specializes in the treatment of family adjustment issues. She has testified as an expert witness in Tulsa, Creek, Mays, Rogers, and Ottawa Counties. As a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Oklahoma since 1987, Ms. Short is a board-approved supervisor, providing clinical supervision to candidates seeking licensure and has served as an assistant clinical professor for the University of Oklahoma’s School of Social Work. Ms. Short has recently completed a Master of Legal Studies degree with a certificate in litigation at Washington University Law School in St. Louis, Missouri. When Ms. Short has free time, she enjoys golfing, gardening, and spending time with her husband and family. Dacia Thompson, MSW, has worked as a licensed social worker for over 15 years. She graduated from Amherst College in 2000 with a BA in Psychology and earned a MSW from Simmons University on 2022, with certifications in SIMPACT and Urban Leadership. In the beginning of her journey, Dacia mentored and supported young adults in social justice action planning as well as learning about and understanding racialized issues. For almost ten years, Dacia worked with families within the Massachusetts State Child Protective agency. In that time, Dacia advocated for all individuals to be able to tell their stories from their perspectives rather than have societal labels define their futures. For the last four years, Dacia has trained and built social justice curriculum for young adults, undergraduate and graduate level students, and working parents. Dacia is currently the Director of the Community Service Agency Services of the Children’s Services of Roxbury, sits on the Board of Trustees of Cambridge Montessori School and is the and Founder and lead facilitator of Truss Training Institute LLC. Dacia has served as Assistant Director of Children’s Services of Roxbury Family Visitation Program and the co-chair for the Massachusetts Coalition of Supervised Visitation. Dacia takes a personal approach to the content and is a living testimony, as a Black female, regarding cultural responsiveness and changing the lens, creating a more humane perspective and way of working with people and families of color. When not being an agent of change, Dacia enjoys planning and engaging in family events, taking long bike rides, and going to the gym. Decisions, Decisions...The Challenge and Reality of Preparing Policies and Procedures There is so much to consider...developing a set of written and easy to follow policies and procedures is a challenging task. A good set of policies and procedures provides structure and clarity for families, the justice system and for you and your staff and volunteers. It mitigates risk and sets you and the families your serve on the path to success. Every provider has to consider what works for them in their setting and jurisdiction. This hands on, limited attendee workshop will send you home with an actual policy and procedure and practical suggestions for your practice. Judy Newman MSW, RSW from Toronto, Ontario Canada is the former Manager of the Supervised Access Program, Ministry of the Attorney General. Judy oversaw the funding contracts with the non-profit organizations hosting the supervised access services funded by the Ministry and worked with them to develop practice standards, policies and procedures and training. Judy was actively involved in the development of supervised access services before taking on her position in the government program. Judy is a registered professional social worker who previously worked at the Office of the Children’s Lawyer working with children and families involved in high conflict custody and access disputes conducting investigations and assisting children’s counsel to represent the interests of children before the court. She has been a field instructor and adjunct lecturer for the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto and a field instructor for Ryerson University social work program and York University. Judy is Past President of the Alumni Association for the Factor Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, organizing outreach and fundraising activities. She is the proud recipient of an Arbor Award in 2018 for her activities as Alumni Association president. .Judy is a volunteer presenter at the Family Court Mandatory information Sessions (MIP). As a consultant she continues to conduct research and be an active member of local and international non-profit organizations including the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), AFCC-Ontario, and the Supervised Visitation Network (SVN). She is also a frequent workshop presenter at professional conferences. Judy is on the Board of the Supervised Visitation Network and actively involved in several working committees of the organization.
Pre Conference InstituteLegal Considerations for Supervised Visitation Programs Wednesday, May 25, 2022 Court proceedings are an inevitable part of providing supervised visits. These proceedings often result in requests for records, subpoenas, and even providing testimony at trials. Handling these legal considerations effectively starts with the underlying best practices and policies that are the foundation of your program. This session will cover the legal-adjacent topics relevant to supervised visitation programs, and will discuss best practices for data documentation, creation of program policies, responding to subpoenas and records requests, and testifying. Katherine Kelsey is the Chief Legal Counsel for Kids' Voice of Indiana, an organization providing supervised parenting time for families through its Safe Child Parenting Time Program. Kids' Voice also provides GAL and CASA representation for children. Katherine has been an attorney with Kids' Voice since 2009, and has assisted the SCPT Program with legal matters since then. As Chief Legal Counsel, she acts as the program's main attorney, and represents the program in court, assists with legal matters, and helps develop and grow the program with new policies and best practices. |
