Annual Conference Plenary Speakers
 Filmmaker and Survivor: Sasha Joseph Neulinger
Private Screening of award winning Documentary: Rewind
Followed by 45 minute Q and A Session with Sasha Joseph Neulinger
Made up of home video footage that reveals a long-kept secret, Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s Rewind is a brave and wrenching look at his childhood and his journey to reconcile his past. By probing the gap between image and reality, the film depicts both how little and how much a camera can capture.
For as long as Neulinger can remember, a video camera was ever-present, with his father constantly filming—from birthday parties and hockey games to holidays. But his father’s camera, trained on the frequent gatherings of a tight-knit family, was also documenting a hidden secret, the revelation of which would lead to a media firestorm, a high-stakes court battle, and a generational reckoning. An intensely personal project six years in the making, featuring first-hand interviews with Neulinger’s family, and the law enforcement and mental health professionals on the front lines of subsequent legal battles, Rewind reframes the perspective on traumatic events from Sasha’s childhood, this time placing him in control of the camera, firmly at the helm of his own narrative.
As each frame of footage unfolds, so, too, do the layers of this complex and affecting survivor story, the heartbeat of which is Neulinger’s vulnerability, bravery, and enduring positivity, against all odds.
Sasha Joseph Neulinger is the co-founder and head of production at Step 1 Films. After finishing film school at Montana State University, he discovered the raw materials that would propel him to tell the story of his life. An autobiographical film years in the making, Rewind premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival where it received a special jury mention. The film was Sasha’s feature-length directorial debut.
 Dr. Stacey Patton
Spare the Kids
Dr. Stacey Patton is an adoptee, child abuse survivor, and former foster youth turned award-winning author, journalist and child advocate.
Her reporting on issues of child welfare, race relations, and higher education has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Al Jazeera, BBC News, TheRoot.com, The Chronicle of Higher Education, ForHarriet.com, and Dame Magazine. She has made appearances on CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, FOX News, CBS, and Democracy Now. Dr. Patton has won numerous journalism awards and citations from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, Society of Professional Journalists, National Association of Black Journalists, Scripps Howard Foundation, New York Women in Communications, and the Education Writers Associations. In 2015, Dr. Patton was awarded the Vernon Jarrett Medal for her national commentary and reporting on race.
As a nationally-recognized child advocate, Dr. Patton travels the country delivering keynotes and professional trainings focused on combating racial disparities in child abuse cases, criminal prosecutions for child abuse, foster care placements, the over prescribing of psychotropic medications to children of color in foster care, the school- and foster care-to-prison pipelines, corporal punishment in public schools, diversion and restorative justice programs. She works as an intermediary between social service and law enforcement agencies seeking to improve services to communities of color.
 Jessica Brustad, The Funny Yogi
The Playful Mind Project
Improv for Stress Management in an Un-Funny World
If the word “Improv” just made your stress levels go up...don’t worry that’s everyone’s reaction. Learn how to apply the rules of Improv comedy to dealing with everyday, (and not-so-everyday), stress. Jessica will shift you from over-reaction to mindful-response.
Both organizationally and personally, Jessica will teach exercises and we will all play games together to help create a lasting approach to dealing with uncomfortable feelings and the dreaded S-word...STRESS!
Learn how to adapt, shift, and respond positively in the moment instead of reacting, hesitating, or worst of all avoiding: people, conversations, or major changes in life. Stressful situations are unavoidable, being stressFULL is a choice. Jessica’s mindful practices as well as the rules of Improv provide a framework for a true lifestyle approach as opposed to a temporary quick fix. What’s more, she might even make you laugh! Shift Happens...so let’s play!
Jessica Brustad is an Improv & Stand-Up Comedian, Yoga Instructor, and Laughter Yoga Leader. Yup, you heard right she actually teaches people how to Laugh! Professional Motivational Speaker, Reality TV Star, and Former Member of The National Comedy Theatre’s Sunday Company. Her unique style of high energy mixed with mindfulness practices are sure to entertain, educate, and motivate you on your own path to wellness, balance, and most of all Joy!
 Shrounda SelivanoffDirector of Public Policy, Children's Home Society of Washington
Breaking the Stigma: Relating to a Parents Journey Towards Reunification
Research shows that parent-child visitation is the number one predictor if a family will reunify during a Child Protection Services proceeding. Why do some parents visit their children and other parents do not? Many reasons exist, and a large percentage are outside of a parent's immediate control as reunification is dependent on a limited resource array and state welfare workers as gatekeepers to essential resources necessary. How do race and limited resources converge in the child welfare system impacting visitation? These considerations can be obscure as stigma rises, and seeing the entire person outside of an event can be challenging. Compassion, knowledge, and understanding are essential in supporting parents on their journey. In this session, let’s talk about how stigma appears and the simple shift in thinking that supports safe visits between families. Shrounda will elicit curiosity and provide an invitation to bring forth compassion in supporting families through visitation moving towards reunification.
Shrounda brings a fierce and passionate voice advocating for systemic change for parents and their children involved with the child welfare system. She was previously involved with the system due to a severe drug and alcohol addiction. Through life challenges, she has preserved. At present, she continues to learn more about the child welfare system from a kinship caregiver's perspective to her grandson.
Shrounda' s child welfare experience birthed an advocate seeking to destigmatize parents and move towards a system that empowers and values parents as partners. Shrounda' s work prioritizes marginalized and disenfranchised families and relentlessly pursues policy change and system reform towards preserving and strengthening families. She has a keen understanding of change agents' power, the impacts and barriers of policies, and the overall importance of personal and societal transformation.
Shrounda has extensive work experience with the King County Parents for Parents Program, Washington State Office of Public Defense's Parent Representation Program, and other programs such as the Perinatal Treatment Services and the University of Washington Fetal Alcohol Drug Unit Parent-Child Assistance Program.
Shrounda is the recipient of the 2021 Casey Excellence for Child Award and the 2021 Unsung Hero Award by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families Strengthening Families in partnership with Seattle Child. She is also a member of the Washington State Parent Ally Committee, a founding member of the Birth Parent National Network, Executive Board member of Family Treatment Court of King County, the Co-Chair of the Department of Children, Youth and Families Oversight Board, a national consultant for Casey Families and the Children's Trust Fund serving multiple jurisdictions across the United States. She provides a parent lived experience perspective on the state, local and national platforms, all in pursuit of justice and family preservation.
On Site Special Lunch Plenary Game
 The Brain Architecture Game
Lori Wymore-Kirkland, MPA
Fairfax County Supervised Visitation and Exchange Program
Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Services
Join us for this fun interactive experience that will illustrate resilience in action. This is something that every professional providing supervised visitation services can benefit from.
"The Brain Architecture Game is a team game experience that builds understanding of brain development – what promotes it, what derails it, and what the consequences are for society. Your goal is to work together with the team at your table to build a brain that is as tall as possible, which represents functionality, and as sturdy as possible, which represents the ability to withstand stresses. It will take coordination, cooperation and communication to build this brain tall and strong. There will be experiences that help your brain along and there will be set backs. This activity will help you work with your teammates as you embark on a powerful experiences that highlights brain development from early childhood and beyond. Are you up to the challenge to build stronger brain?"
Developed by University of Southern California, copyright 2020 in partnership with Center on the Developing Child @ Harvard University, Clinical & Translational Science Institute @ University of Pittsburgh and Frame Works-changing the conversation on social issues
Lori Wymore- Kirkland has more than 30 years’ experience working with families and children. She has witnessed first-hand the importance of supporting healthy parent-child relationships through adopting a trauma informed approach to human services. Lori has worked with children as a mental health specialist, as a social worker in Texas and New Mexico, and worked in early education running childcare programs in Maryland and Virginia. Since 2007, Lori has been the program developer and manager of the Stronger Together Supervised Visitation and Exchange Center for the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. This program was developed at the request of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Lori took the Stronger Together from concept to implementation through collaboration with Juvenile Court Judges and countywide stakeholders. Over the years Lori has taught parenting and child development education classes, worked with domestic violence programs, done extensive work in program development, assisted in obtaining grant funding and has worked with court-wide family engagement initiatives. On a national level, Lori currently serves on the Supervised Visitation Network as a board member. Locally, she is an active member of the Fairfax County Domestic Violence Network and collaborates on multiple Fairfax County teams. Lori is strongly supported through the local Fairfax interagency and community Advisory Board developed to support responsive community services for supervised visitation. The advisory board is made up of 25 members from across Fairfax County agencies, JDRDC Judges, local law enforcement and private community partners. Lori provides trainings and mentorship to local community partners, volunteers, interns, and supervised visitation
Annual Conference Workshops
Hidden in Plain Sight (Part 1):
Recognizing When Domestic Violence Tactic Have Crossed Your Threshold
Jen Johnson, Executive Director
Kasey Baker, Director of Community Outreach
Safe Avenues
Are you able to recognize and respond to classic domestic violence behaviors in your parenting time center? Those working in parenting time centers play a critical role in providing safety for the clients they serve. Through a series of interactive scenarios, participants will explore ideas for prevention and intervention and tips for interacting with a victim survivor.
As the Executive Director of Safe Avenues, Jen is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of all organizational programming and internal operating functions as well as fulfilling the mission and vision of the agency. Johnson is also proactive with expanding and strengthening the relationships the agency has within the communities it serves and is responsible for mobilizing the community to take action on projects and initiatives identified by the Board of Directors.
As the Director of Community Outreach, Kasey assists staff in further developing their personal and professional skills and provides education about the topics of domestic and sexual violence to the community through presentations, public service announcements, and community activism. Baker also uses her experience providing domestic and sexual violence victim advocacy services to assist human service providers, medical professionals, and criminal justice professionals to develop strong victim centered policies and practices that address their response to domestic and sexual violence.
Hidden in Plain Sight (Part 2):
Recognizing When Domestic Violence Tractics Have Crossed Your Threshold
Jen Johnson, Executive Director
Kasey Baker, Director of Community Outreach
Safe Avenues
This is a continuation of the conversation from Hidden in Plain Sight: Recognizing when domestic violence tactics have crossed your threshold (Part I) Now that you recognize classic domestic violence behaviors, participants will view real life examples of those tactics being used within a parenting time center. Participants will explore trauma informed responses to appropriately respond to safety concerns.
As the Executive Director of Safe Avenues, Jen is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of all organizational programming and internal operating functions as well as fulfilling the mission and vision of the agency. Johnson is also proactive with expanding and strengthening the relationships the agency has within the communities it serves and is responsible for mobilizing the community to take action on projects and initiatives identified by the Board of Directors.
As the Director of Community Outreach, Kasey assists staff in further developing their personal and professional skills and provides education about the topics of domestic and sexual violence to the community through presentations, public service announcements, and community activism. Baker also uses her experience providing domestic and sexual violence victim advocacy services to assist human service providers, medical professionals, and criminal justice professionals to develop strong victim centered policies and practices that address their response to domestic and sexual violence.
Visitation Planning in the New Normal
Kelly Sachter, LCSW, Director of Programs
Family Connections
Family Connections utilizes Visitation Plans and Visitation Planning Meetings to create an individualized family plan. While COVID wreaked havoc on the plan that was in place for at least weekly in person visits at that time, it also provided an opportunity to look at the breadth of visitation services, and how to use multi-faceted options for families to meet their attachment needs in times of quarantine and times of open contact.
Kelly Sachter, LCSW, is Director of Programs at Family Connections, a non-profit organization which provides services for families and children in NJ. Addressing trauma is at the core of all of Family Connections’ programs, including the various visitation programs. Kelly Sachter has provided presentations and trainings for various agencies and organizations with the topics of child welfare, visitation, supportive housing, and trauma at national organizations such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Child Welfare League of America and Supervised Visitation Network. Kelly Sachter is dedicated to partnering with the stakeholders in the child welfare system to ensure that families can heal and repair from the trauma that has occurred in their lives. Kelly Sachter is also invested in bringing the latest research and evidence based and informed practice into the supervised visitation field to ensure the most quality services are provide.
Embracing Diversity and Inclusion into Program Practices and Policies
Shelly La Botte, J.D., CA Access to Visitation Grant Program Coordinator
Judicial Council of California
Why diversity and inclusion? What does it mean to exercise the principle of cultural humility in our practices? How as supervised visitation professionals can we be more responsive to the cultural needs of our parents and children? This workshop will explore these various concepts geared towards looking at existing program policies to create greater inclusiveness through the lens of the families using the service. By examining our own understanding of culture and cultural humility, we can develop better ways of working with parents and children and enhancing supervised visitation practices that are more diverse, inclusive, and equitable for families.
Shelly La Botte, J.D., is the State of California Access to Visitation Grant Coordinator for the Judicial Council of California, Operations and Programs Division, Center for Families, Children & the Courts. She is responsible for managing the state (federal funding) grant program, which supports funding to the superior courts (approximately 24 of the 58 counties) to facilitate and increase noncustodial parents’ access to and visitation with their children through the grant-related activities of supervised visitation and exchange services, parent education, and group counseling services for family law cases. Ms. La Botte has made numerous presentations and is a national and state trainer on issues of grant management, supervised visitation and safe exchange services, and domestic violence. She works on various public policy initiatives and assists with the development of statewide standards of practice for court-based best practices and Rules of Court related to supervised visitation and domestic violence services. Ms. La Botte holds a Juris Doctorate degree.
Business and Professional Considerations When Setting Up A New Supervised Visitation Program
Shelly La Botte, J.D., Ca Access to Visitation Grant Program Coordinator
Judicial Council of California
JaDawn Bean, Owner
Destined for Greatness Consulting Services
There is no right or wrong way of setting up a busines. Building a business, building a supervised visitation program takes lots and lots of work, commitment, dedication, and pain and Joy. As they say entrepreneurship is a journey whether creating this individually or setting up as a non-profit, for-profit services. Program ideas, trends, and strategies constantly change and are revised. But if you are thinking of taking the plunge, then this workshop will help with putting your foot in the door. The presentation will discuss general steps for how to get started, professional and business considerations for the provider, a checklist to determine whether you are ready, and a road map to assist towards successful implementation. The workshop will concentrate on the building stage of program development and how to think through your approach to determine whether this is a good match—will this work for me / or my agency.
Shelly La Botte, J.D., is the State of California Access to Visitation Grant Coordinator for the Judicial Council of California, Operations and Programs Division, Center for Families, Children & the Courts. She is responsible for managing the state (federal funding) grant program, which supports funding to the superior courts (approximately 24 of the 58 counties) to facilitate and increase noncustodial parents’ access to and visitation with their children through the grant-related activities of supervised visitation and exchange services, parent education, and group counseling services for family law cases. Ms. La Botte has made numerous presentations and is a national and state trainer on issues of grant management, supervised visitation and safe exchange services, and domestic violence. She works on various public policy initiatives and assists with the development of statewide standards of practice for court-based best practices and Rules of Court related to supervised visitation and domestic violence services. Ms. La Botte holds a Juris Doctorate degree.
JaDawn Bean, MSW, PPSC is the founder (fiscal year 2011) of Destined for Greatness Consulting Services, a premier professional supervised visitation and exchange boutique site in the County of Alameda, in California. She provides both family law and dependency supervised visitation services in both the Southern and Northern California regions, and parts of the state of Nevada. Destined for Greatness Consulting Services is the only center-based center in Alameda County that has received formal training instruction through the Supervised Visitation Network and the Judicial Council of California, Center for Families, Children, & the Courts. Ms. Bean holds a master’s degree in social work and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential (PPSC) for school-based therapy and a Bachelors in Sociology. She has been a social worker for over 20 years working with substance abuse, outpatient mental health, inpatient medical, inpatient psychiatric, incarcerated youth, and adults, homeless, foster youth, domestic violence, and child abuse populations. Her work includes supervising college interns interested in social work at several California Bay Area domestic violence agencies. Ms. Bean transitioned her services in 2019 from solo practitioner to an on-site facility-based practice. She has a plethora of tips, tricks, and lessons learned regarding practice operations of supervised visitation services as well as the experience of setting up a business and new program.
Nurturing Parenting Skills for Families in Supervised Visitation
Joe Nullet, Executive Director
Supervised Visitation Network
This workshop will be an overview of the Nurturing Parenting Skills for Families in Supervised Visitation, an innovative program designed to empower parents and parent educators in creating customized, competency based parenting programs to meet the specific needs of families.
Executive Director Joe Nullet, a graduate of Harvard University, has led the Supervised Visitation Network since December 2007. Before that he was the Executive Director of the Family Nurturing Center of Florida, a Supervised Visitation and Parent Education program in Jacksonville, Florida. During his tenure at FNC, he led the organization through an exciting growth period, helped reshape the organizational culture and design to better serve the needs of clients, and has served locally and nationally on numerous task forces, advisory boards, and collaborative partnerships as an expert in the field of supervised visitation. Joe is a former Board Member of SVN who has presented at SVN Annual Conferences, and has been a member since 2001. Joe has served on the statewide Committee that developed an innovative Supervised Visitation database and is currently a member of State of Florida Standards Committee that was formed as a result of legislation to establish statewide standards. Joe is also a Recognized National Trainer/Consultant with the Nurturing Parenting Programs, working with organizations that wish to incorporate the Nurturing Parenting Programs by assisting with the functions of administrative support, grant writing to fund a program, development of facilitation skills, and marketing of the concept. Joe has completed Graduate Coursework at the Kennedy School of Government, a Nonprofit Executive Program at the Harvard Business School, as well as completing the Jessie Ball duPont Fund's Community Coaches Program.
Building A Trauma-Informed Approach For Parent-Child Visits
Laura Orlando, MSW, Strive Project Director
Partners for Our Children, University of Washington
Shannon Selland, Director of Programs
Family Impact Network
Adopting a trauma-informed approach to how we approach transportation and visit supervision, including the visitation environment for families has the potential to improve the well-being of all involved. While becoming a trauma-informed visitation agency can be time and resource intensive, there are relatively simple, foundational steps that providers can take as they move toward fully adopting a trauma-informed approach to visitation. This workshop offers practical suggestion for visitation individuals/agencies looking to create a more welcoming environment for families who have experienced trauma.
Laura works with child welfare agencies and others to bring innovative practice improvements to support families involved with the child welfare system and to measure their effectiveness. Early in her career, Laura worked for several Head Start Programs, providing family support and parenting services to low-income families with young children. Laura has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Loyola University Chicago and a master's degree in social work from the University of Washington.
Shannon is the Director of Programs for Family Impact Network. Family Impact Network is the network administrator for Family Time and Combined In Home Services in Eastern Washington.
She works with providers on capacity to provide quality services in the network as well as training, Strive and pilots that test different ways to provide services. Prior to joining FIN, Shannon worked as a social worker with Adult Protective Services, which allowed her to engage with providers and resources in the community. She has spent most of her career with the Department of Children, Youth and Families as a social worker in Child Protective Services, Child Welfare Services and CPS Intake. She has a Sociology Degree from Whitworth University and has completed numerous trainings on forensic interviewing, investigation procedure, child development and cognitive behavioral training.
Enhancing Custodial Parent Support in Therapeutic Supervised Visitation
Danelle Hussain, LMSW, Trauma Therapist
Anne Rosenberg, LCSW, Assistant Director of Clinical Services
The New York Society for The Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Custodial parents participating in mandated visitation frequently play a role in the family trauma history - as well as have their own history of trauma –both factors that can deeply impact their ability and willingness to effectively support their children through the visitation process. As custodial parents play a critical role in ensuring successful visitation outcomes, visitation programming should include ongoing sessions with custodial parents focused on providing psychoeducation, emotional support and linkages to community resources.
Danelle Hussain, LMSW, has been with The NYSPCC since 2018. She has experience in settings that serve survivors of familial and interpersonal violence. In her role as a Trauma Therapist, she provides no-cost, evidence-based trauma therapy and therapeutic supervised visitation to low-income families throughout NYC. At the NYSPCC, Danelle has also held the role of Training Specialist and developed child abuse prevention and trainings to support other professionals and the community.
Anne Rosenberg, LCSW, joined The NYSPCC in October 2020 as Assistant Director of Clinical Services. She is a national trainer in Practice Self-Regulation™, a trainer in Trauma Systems Therapy, and certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has worked clinically with survivors of interpersonal trauma for over 10 years across multiple New York City boroughs. The past seven years, Anne has served as clinician, clinical and administrative supervisor, and program director of outpatient child and adolescent mental health clinics and school-based clinics throughout the Bronx.
Solo to Center:
Making the Transition as a Provider of Supervised Visitation and Exchange Services
JaDawn Bean, MSW, PPSC, Founder
Destined for Greatness Consulting Services
Are you an off-site private provider looking to shift gears and go full steam ahead into creating an on-site center for supervised visitation and exchange services? If so, this presentation by JaDawn Bean is designed especially for you. She'll share her story of her 2019 transition from solo to center in the months leading up to the pandemic, what considerations to now account for in the aftermath, as well as what led up to the decision to make that professional transition. She'll also share with you her visions for the profession of supervised visitation and exchange services.
JaDawn Bean, MSW, PPSC is the founder (fiscal year 2011) of Destined for Greatness Consulting Services, a premier professional supervised visitation and exchange boutique site in the County of Alameda, in California. She provides both family law and dependency supervised visitation services in both the Southern and Northern California regions, and parts of the state of Nevada. Destined for Greatness Consulting Services is the only center-based center in Alameda County that has received formal training instruction through the Supervised Visitation Network and the Judicial Council of California, Center for Families, Children, & the Courts. Ms. Bean holds a master’s degree in social work and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential (PPSC) for school-based therapy and a Bachelors in Sociology. She has been a social worker for over 20 years working with substance abuse, outpatient mental health, inpatient medical, inpatient psychiatric, incarcerated youth, and adults, homeless, foster youth, domestic violence, and child abuse populations. Her work includes supervising college interns interested in social work at several California Bay Area domestic violence agencies. Ms. Bean transitioned her services in 2019 from solo practitioner to an on-site facility-based practice. She has a plethora of tips, tricks, and lessons learned regarding practice operations of supervised visitation services as well as the experience of setting up a business and new program.
Taking a Cultural Approach to Supporting Native Families During Visits
Madeline Nichols, Cowlitz Tribal Health Seattle
Serena Rice, Cowlitz Tribal Health Seattle
Laura Orlando, MSW, University of Washington, Partners for Our Children
We will describe efforts to adapt a supervised visitation parent support and education program for use with Native families, specifically sharing ways in which the program materials and content provide cultural grounding for families. We will share ways in which this work can provide useful strategies to support Native families in the context of visits.
Madeline Nichols is a citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Nation, as well as being Ojibwe, Wyandotte and Seneca-Cayuga. She currently works as a STRIVE Family Time Visit Navigator within the Mental Health Department at Cowlitz Tribal Health. In that role, she partners with families involved in the child welfare system who are on the journey toward reunification. She has worked within the Native community for over eight years, particularly with children and families; it is both a natural progression of her professional career as well as an incredible honor as a fellow community member to work with and serve her people. She is passionate about supporting her community and looking to our Indigenous teachings in order to further healing, knowledge and resiliency in a culturally-informed way. Nichols attended the Evergreen State College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies. She is also a graduate of the Tulalip Vocational Program and has studied substance use at the Northwest Indian College.
Serena Rice is a Supervised Visitation specialist for Cowlitz Tribal Health Seattle. She attended Ultimate Medical Academy where she obtained her Associates of Arts in Health and Human Services. Growing up in the foster care system has greatly influenced her career path, and enhanced her passion for serving children, youth and families. She specializes in parent and child relations, child development and trauma informed practices. With 5 years’ experience serving vulnerable communities, she continues to grow and thrive each day, while leaving an everlasting impact in the lives of the families she serves.
Laura works with child welfare agencies and others to bring innovative practice improvements to support families involved with the child welfare system and to measure their effectiveness. Early in her career, Laura worked for several Head Start Programs, providing family support and parenting services to low-income families with young children. Laura has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Loyola University Chicago and a master's degree in social work from the University of Washington.
Working with Fathers in Supervised Visitation
Shon Hart, Executive Director
InvolvedDad
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.
The Art of the Intake
Joanne Karolzak, MAEd., Associate VP of Family Support and Education
Casa de los Niños
All services begin at the beginning with the intake. Done well, the intake can not only inform a provider about case history, alert a provider to potential risks and offer an opportunity to inform a parents about policies and procedures. The intake is the point at which the relationship with the client begins. It is the time to lay the foundation for successful service provision. The opportunity comes only once, take the time to do it well.
Joanne is currently the Associate Vice President of Family Support and Education at Casa de los Niños in Tucson, AZ. Joanne was one of the founding members of the Supervised Visitation Network and served as the third president. She assisted in drafting the Council on Accreditation standard of practice for Supervised Visitation and Exchange and her agency was the first accredited program in the world. Joanne has previously received the Judith Wallach President’s award from former SVN President Aaron Wimmer. Joanne has a passion for visitation work stemming in part from the fact that her now grown children used visitation services pre-adoption. She often says that being a recipient of services opened her eyes in a way being a practitioner never could. Joanne is pleased and proud to be speaking at the SVN conference once again.
Key Concepts: Ethically Speaking
Howard Yaffe, LICSW, Program Director of Domestic Violence Services
Riverside Community Care
Lori Wymore-Kirkland, Program Developer and Manager
Stronger Together Supervised Visitation and Exchange Center for the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court
Jennifer Garst, MSW, Associate Director
Supervised Visitation Network
At the foundation of supervised visitation is our SVN Code of Ethics. Join us while we explore the code of ethics and unpack our 12 ethical principles and then get to the nitty gritty by exploring real life ethical dilemmas straight from the field of supervised visitation.
Howard Yaffe 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 and has been the director of Meeting Place, one of the first supervised visitation programs in Massachusetts, now for approximately 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 program. 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 is returning to the SVN Board of Directors after a one year hiatus and 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. He is happy to lend his support to SVN during this challenging time.
Lori Wymore- Kirkland has more than 30 years’ experience working with families and children. She has witnessed first-hand the importance of supporting healthy parent-child relationships through adopting a trauma informed approach to human services. Lori has worked with children as a mental health specialist, as a social worker in Texas and New Mexico, and worked in early education running childcare programs in Maryland and Virginia. Since 2007, Lori has been the program developer and manager of the Stronger Together Supervised Visitation and Exchange Center for the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. This program was developed at the request of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Lori took the Stronger Together from concept to implementation through collaboration with Juvenile Court Judges and countywide stakeholders. Over the years Lori has taught parenting and child development education classes, worked with domestic violence programs, done extensive work in program development, assisted in obtaining grant funding and has worked with court-wide family engagement initiatives. On a national level, Lori currently serves on the Supervised Visitation Network as a board member. Locally, she is an active member of the Fairfax County Domestic Violence Network and collaborates on multiple Fairfax County teams. Lori is strongly supported through the local Fairfax interagency and community Advisory Board developed to support responsive community services for supervised visitation. The advisory board is made up of 25 members from across Fairfax County agencies, JDRDC Judges, local law enforcement and private community partners. Lori provides trainings and mentorship to local community partners, volunteers, interns, and supervised visitation
Jennifer Garst, as the Associate Director of SVN, supports supervised visitation professionals around the globe to provide child focused, trauma informed and safe visitation and exchange services. Jennifer has worked in the non-profit sector for almost 15 years, previously directing a domestic violence/child abuse focused visitation center in a major metropolitan area. As an advocate for families, she has dedicated her career to ending social injustices and creating safety for survivors of family violence and child abuse. Jennifer served for 7 years on the Executive & Workshop Committees for Mental Health America of Greater Dallas’ Adolescent Symposium of Texas; which hosts over 800 mental health providers from around the US. Previously, Jennifer has served on local coalitions for Child Abuse Prevention and Domestic Violence. Before her current role at SVN, she was an SVN scholar, chosen to present workshops at multiple SVN Conferences, held membership in the Training and Technology committees and was chosen as a trainer for the SVN certificate program. She graduated with honors earning Bachelors and Masters degrees in Social Work from the University of Texas-Arlington and uses her educational background as a foundation to providing training, education and technical assistance to SV providers globally.
Misery Loves Company: Barriers and Strategies related to Therapeutic Supervised Visitation
Carrie Short, LCSW, BCD, Therapist
Rebound Mental Health
If you or your agency has a Supervised or a therapeutically supervised visitation program, you are aware of all the dangers and pitfalls regarding the provision of these services. Families who come to us for TSV services are typically infused with anxiety and/or have just been told that they are not allowed to see their children. These families call typically in a panic state and really don’t know the lingo and are experiencing life at the end of a “dead-end road.” How can we successfully interface with these families and how can we gain their trust to provide therapeutic goal-oriented services?
The next big question, how does one put together a successful program. All this plus some discussion about preventing provider burnout and some real-life interviews with a clinician who provides TSV services and some clients who have successfully accomplished co-parenting work. Please join up for an interactive experience.
Ms. Short is a Licensed clinical social worker specializing in counseling and assessment for Attention Deficit Disorder, 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. 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 the family adjustment issues. She has testified as an expert witness in Tulsa, Creek, 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 is currently obtaining her Master's in Legal Studies with a certification in litigation in the Law School at Washington University in Saint Louis.
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