Spring Prevention Specialist Conference– March 28-30, 2023 9 am- 4:30 pm (CDT)
Staff Competency! There is a difference between knowing something and being able to do it. Knowledge is important and when combined with skills prevention professionals are even more competent.
Schedule
March 28th
1) 9:00-10:30- Operation Prevention: A NEW Curriculum on Counterfeit Drugs, Fake Pills, and Fentanyl (ATOD Specific)
2) 10:30-12:00- One Pill Can Kill (Opioid & Fentanyl- ATOD Specific)
3) 1:30-3:00- Policy and Messaging Approaches for Cannabis in the Era of Commercialization (ATOD Specific)
4) 3:00-4:30- Paws Off Those Meds
March 29th-
5) 9:00-12:00- Ethics and Social Media
6) 1:30-3:00- Music! Does it Move Our Choices?
7) 3:00-4:30- When the Grant Goes Away
March 30th-
8) 9:00-10:30- Shared Risk and Protective Factors: A Collaborative Approach to Prevention
9) 10:30-12:00- Healthy living and wellness for Professionals. Where do we start?
10) 1:30-3:00- What do mental and emotional issues look like when based on trauma?
11) 3:00-4:30- Climate Crisis from a Prevention Perspective
All virtual workshops are scheduled in Central Time, CST/ CDT. Use the time zone converter , then enter Texas, Houston
Course Descriptions
March 28th-
1) Operation Prevention: A NEW Curriculum on Counterfeit Drugs, Fake Pills, and Fentanyl is a set of NO-COST curricula, for students in grades 3-12, and for the workplace. She will then present an in-depth look at Operation Prevention’s newest module on Counterfeit Drugs, which includes a video topic series and digital lesson bundle for high school students. These science-based resources equip students in grades 9-12 with an understanding of what counterfeit drugs and fake pills are, and why they are so harmful to individuals and communities. This curriculum engages students in positive steps they can take to manage stress in healthy ways and empower others to be aware of the dangers of fake pills and fentanyl, while looking at the issue from four different perspectives: Identifying Counterfeits; Effects on the Brain and Body; The Community Impact of Counterfeits; and Cultural Solutions. Information about the science of addiction and additional DEA resources will be included.
Presenter: Cathleen Drew 1.5 hrs in Domain 6: Professional Growth and Responsibility
Objectives- Participants will gain knowledge of the Operation Prevention curriculum and the Counterfeit Drugs module
2) DEA’s One Pill Can Kill
DEA’s One Pill Can Kill public awareness campaign was designed to educate the public of the dangers of counterfeit pills and urges all Americans to take only medications prescribed by a medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist. This program will provide an overview of the signs and symptoms of opioid and fentanyl use/misuse, information on the law enforcement efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis, and identify resources available in your community.
Presenter: Dawn Nunley- Mathis 1.5 hrs in Domain 6: Professional Growth and Responsibility
Objectives- Participants will be able to list signs and symptoms of opiod & fentanyl use/ misuse.
3) Policy and Messaging Approaches for Cannabis in the Era of Commercialization will present tips and strategies prevention professionals can use when engaging at the local level around cannabis policy, whether it be with municipalities, schools, or other local institutions. There can be multiple perspectives and opinions about cannabis within municipalities and organizations, this webinar will also include guidance on how to message the scientific facts about cannabis, to build acceptance of the need of public health-informed cannabis policy.
Presenter: Scott Gagnon 1.5 hrs in Domain 6: Professional Growth and Responsibility
Objectives- Participants will be able to list strategies about cannabis policy recommendations.
4) “Paws Off Those Meds”
Partnering with Your Local Veterinary Profession to Reduce Diversion. In this interactive session participants will gain a multi-perspective understanding of how individuals seeking illegal access to controlled substances may victimize both animals and local veterinary clinics, and how to build collaborative partnerships to deploy effective prevention measures and reduce access
Presenter: Bill Gibson & Dr. Meggan Graves 1.5 hrs in Domain 2 – Prevention Education and Service Delivery
Objectives- Participants will be able to: A) Understand and describe the problem of diversion of animal prescriptions to human misuse. B) Form community level partnerships and collaborations with the Vet profession to deploy strategies and provide educational tools and technical assistance to reduce diversion at the local level.
March 29th-
5) Ethics and Social Media (Prevention Ethics Specific)
As use of social media as a communications tool grows, so too has its use in the prevention and health promotion. Prevention practitioners currently use social media to connect and collaborate with colleagues, partners, and service recipients; to design, deliver, and evaluate our prevention efforts; and to promote our wellness messages and our interventions. In doing so, it is important that we utilize in this venue the same code of ethics that we apply to our face-to-face encounters. It is strongly recommended that participants have completed the basic 6-hour course in Prevention Ethics. This workshop highlights some considerations for applying the Prevention Code of Ethics to our social media activities in our prevention work.
Presenter: Sandra Del Sesto 1.5 hrs in Domain 6: Professional Growth and Responsibility
Objectives- Participants will be able to: A) Define social media and describe its use in the culture. B) Identify three ethical issues in prevention related to social media and list guidelines for using social media in prevention work.
6) Music! Does it Move Our Choices? Music is all around us, and we hear it all the time, but do we really listen? Words and melodies are an instrumental part of our lives but do they influence choices? For most people the discovery of music and how it fits into our personality begins during adolescents, but what if how we decipher song meaning has an impact on the rest of our lives? Whether you like country, rock or rap, this presentation will have you movin’ and groovin’. No matter what generational-gap you fall into, you’ll have a new understanding about the impact of lyrics and the meaning of music to the soundtrack in our lives.
Presenter: Steve Miller 1.5 hrs in Domain 3: Communication.
Objectives- Participants will be able to: A) identify how music reflects the voice of a generation and may influence choices regarding substance abuse or violence. B) Interpret song meaning beyond lyrics or the beat, and how this can help with prevention initiatives.
7) When the Grant Goes Away- The majority of funding for prevention programming comes from federal, state and local government grants. Often local foundations and businesses contribute financial support for programs aligned with their interests and goals. Inevitably the funding comes to an end, although the problem does not go away. Organizations must constantly pursue funding streams in order to sustain the level of services they are committed to. Planning for sustainability must begin at the onset of the development of a program or strategy and continue throughout the implementation and evaluation of all activities. This workshop will discuss predictors and barriers to sustainability, and strategies to ensure the continuation positive outcomes.
Presenter: Julie Stevens 1.5 hrs. in Domain 4: Community Organization.
Objectives- Participants will be able to: A) Identify keys to increasing organizational capacity for sustainability. B) Understand the value of community support in ensuring coalition or program sustainability.
March 30th-
8) Shared Risk and Protective Factors: A Collaborative Approach to Prevention. Current research affirms that behavioral health problems have risk and protective factors that are actually common to both. Being able to identify them provides several opportunities: The possibility of addressing several priority community problems simultaneously; Incentives for additional partnerships and collaborations and a more efficient use of limited funds.
Presenter: Sandra Del Sesto 1.5 hrs in Domain 1: Planning and Evaluation
Objectives- Participants will be able to: A) Define shared risk and protective factors. B) List reasons for addressing shared risk and protective factors. C) List strategies for overcoming common barriers to collaboration around shared factors.
9) Healthy living and wellness for Professionals. Where do we start? This training will provide professionals healthy living and wellness recommendations. Motivation and maintenance will be discussed and participants will be provided an opportunity to come with up with a plan of action.
Presenter: Dr. Marcia Baker 1.5 hrs in Domain 6: Professional Growth and Responsibility
Objectives- Participants will obtain healthy living and wellness recommendations and create a plan of action for healthy living and wellness.
10) What do mental and emotional issues look like when based on trauma? This training will discuss trauma and how it is manifested in childhood through adulthood. Specific mental health issues will be discussed and how they are trauma based.
Presenter: Dr. Marcia Baker 1.5 hrs in Domain 6: Professional Growth and Responsibility
Objectives- Participants will be able to list specific trauma related mental health issues and how they manifest in childhood through adulthood.
11) Climate Crisis from a Prevention Perspective. When a preventionist is working in communities, in schools, and with youth and families, conversations around the future are frequent. What do you want to do after high school? Will you have a family someday? Where do you see yourself in ten years? How can substance use now impact your future? In these conversations, young people are encouraged to think about the world and their world down the line. With climate change on the minds of so many young people, the subject is a likely point of conversation for young people who are considering the weight of choices made now to their future outcomes. For young people whose minds are programmed to seek immediate reward over long term satisfaction, a grim perspective on the future may make choices to use substances now more appealing, so preventionists should be ready to talk about the climate crisis from a prevention perspective.
Presenter: Sarah Johnson 1.5 hrs in Domain 4: Community Organization
Objectives- Participants will be able to: A) Understand more about a subject that is very influential to the lives of young people and future generations through a prevention lens. B) Identify ways prevention specialists can include this global impact problem in their perspective when delivering prevention services.
Presenters:
Cathleen Drew- Cathleen (Catie) Drew joined the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2006 as the Education Director for the DEA Museum. She is currently a Senior Prevention Program Manager in DEA’s Community Outreach Section. In this capacity, she develops and implements national partnerships with other organizations that help educate the public and communicate the Administration’s drug prevention messages. She is responsible for the oversight of the Operation Prevention drug prevention curriculum (in collaboration with Discovery Education) and the numerous drug prevention publications provided by DEA’s Community Outreach Section. Catie previously worked as an Interpretive Science Park Ranger for the National Park Service, an Environmental Education Specialist for the Smithsonian Institution, and a Marine Biologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Catie has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado, and a Master’s Degree in Museum Education from the George Washington University. She lives with her family in Northern Virginia.
Dawn Nunley-Mathis– Dawn is currently a Public Affairs Program Specialist with the Drug Enforcement Administration, located in the Houston, Texas Division. In 1989 Ms. Nunley-Mathis received a B.S. degree in Criminology and Corrections from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. While attending Sam Houston University, Ms. Nunley-Mathis completed her student internship at the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 1990, Ms. Nunley-Mathis joined the DEA as a Diversion Investigator. In this capacity Ms. Nunley-Mathis conducted regulatory investigations on manufacturers, and distributors. Ms. Nunley-Mathis also investigated Doctors and Pharmacist who prescribed or dispensed pharmaceutical drugs illegally.
Ms. Nunley-Mathis was re-assigned as Demand Reduction Coordinator in the Houston Field Division. This position was established to help reduce the demand for drugs by planning and implementing a wide variety of programs related to drug law enforcement, drug prevention and youth development. Through her efforts a network of organizations across the state of Texas collaborate to educate, train, and expose the public to the benefits of drug prevention.
Scott Gagnon– Scott is a Certified Prevention Specialist, Associate Executive Director of AdCare Educational Institute of Maine, Inc., and Director of SAMHSA’s New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC). Scott is a national speaker on a variety of prevention topics, including cannabis policy and prevention, opioid prevention, and prevention workforce development. Scott currently serves as a Co-Chair of the national Technology Transfer Center SBIRT Coordination work group, and previously served as Chair of the national PTTC Network Cannabis Prevention Work Group. Scott serves as a board member of the Maine Recovery Coach Certification Board and is a member representing public health on Maine’s Marijuana Advisory Commission. Scott has previously served as Co-Chair of the Prevention Task Force for the Maine Opiate Collaborative, and has also previously served on the SAMHSA, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention National Advisory Council.
Scott’s work has been recognized with awards from multiple organizations, including the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse, Healthy Androscoggin, and the Maine Public Health Association. In 2017, Scott was the recipient of the Patrick J. Kennedy Outstanding Advocate Award from Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
Bill Gibson JD, CPS II. Bill served as a Police Officer for 10 years and District Attorney General for the 13th Judicial District of Tennessee for 18 years. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with degrees in Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice and the Nashville School. He has served as Project director for the Middle Tennessee Methamphetamine Prevention Task Force and Coalition Director for Power of Putnam.
He is a Certified Prevention Specialist II and frequently conducts statewide trainings on Prevention Ethics, Substance Abuse Prevention Skills and boot camps for leaders of newly organized coalitions. He has served as Adjunct Criminal Justice Instructor for Nashville State Community College.
Bill is licensed to practice Law in Tennessee and serves as a family mediator and collaborative divorce practitioner
Meggan Graves, DVM- Clinical Associate Professor of Large Animal Emergency Relief for Field Service | Large Animal Clinical Sciences Education and Training. Dr. Meggan Graves grew up riding Hunter Jumper horses and showing Suffolk sheep with 4-H in Cookeville, Tennessee. Upon graduation from veterinary school in 2001, Dr. Graves went into equine practice treating both ambulatory and hospital cases. She served clients in coastal South Carolina and Georgia, and western Tennessee. Dr. Graves opened her own private practice in western North Carolina in 2008, providing emergency relief services for seven large animal practices in the area. Dr. Graves was excited to join the Field Services team at the University of Tennessee in the fall of 2013. She is currently offering emergency relief services for large animal practitioners in the Knoxville area, while teaching and mentoring veterinary students and interns.
Sandra Puerini Del Sesto M.Ed, ACPS, CPSS. Sandra is a consultant and master trainer in behavioral health and strategic planning for non-profits. She is a member of the advisory boards of the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC), the National Latino PTTC and the New England School of Addiction Studies. Sandra serves as the RI delegate to and the former Prevention Committee Co-Chair of the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC), which certifies professionals working in behavioral health. Sandra is a co-author of SAMHAs Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training (SAPST) and its basic and advanced Prevention Ethics courses as well as many other face-to-face and online courses in prevention.
Steve Miller MAPS, CRPS, In addition to his role as the Director of Mid-America PTTC (Prevention Technology Transfer Center), the presenter has a radio and television background, and is a graduate of Wichita State University with a degree in Marketing. Drawing on his diverse experience to help shape the message of this presentation, the seeds of this work were born out of his own personal recovery journey and is reflective of his innate curiosity about the impact of music in our lives. In his spare time, he is active in the historic preservation of the north-side Springfield, Missouri neighborhood where he lives, and in the development of the Moon City Creative Live-Work-District.
Dr. Marcia Baker PhD LPC, LCDC ACPS Marcia has a PhD in Psychology with a specialty in Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, Master Addiction Counselor Advanced Certified Prevention Specialist and Registered Yoga Teacher. She is currently owner of Third Coast Counseling and Wellness where she is a practicing therapist. In addition, she is a college professor, yoga instructor for Lakeview Health and coordinator of a federal grant for mental health services with Santa Maria Hostel, Bonita House. She has developed programs and worked as a therapist in the substance abuse treatment, prevention and behavioral health field for over 30 years. She utilizes her education and experience to provide a holistic approach when treating emotional/physical health issues for all ages. Her research expertise is in psychosocial oncology with families of children that had cancer and substance use prevention. She is a trainer for Strengthening Families Training Certification, Towards No Drug Abuse Certification, Prevention Skill training program for substance abuse prevention professionals and teaches/ trains adjunct in the field of substance abuse, prevention and mental health for numerous colleges and educational institutions. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher and has been a Yoga practitioner for over 25 years.
Julie Stevens MPS, ACPS, ICPS. Julie is an Advanced Certified Prevention Specialist and was a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor for 20 years. She has served as Director of Prevention for the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and Training Specialist for the University of Oklahoma’s Southwest Prevention Center, and most recently as Executive Director of LifeSteps Council on Alcohol and Drugs. She is currently Member At Large of the Board of the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium. Ms. Stevens serves on the Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals and is chair of the Prevention Subcommittee. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Baylor University and a Masters of Prevention Science from the University of Oklahoma. In addition, Ms. Stevens is an adjunct professor for the University Of Oklahoma College Of Liberal Studies.
Sarah Johnson Sarah is the New England PTTC Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator. Sarah has worked in the prevention field in a variety of roles since 2014, including outreach and communications for a Drug Free Communities grantee, coordinating child abuse and neglect prevention efforts county wide, and her current role in training and technical assistance for the New England substance misuse prevention workforce. Sarah has a BA in Social Science and a BS in Public Administration from the University of Maine at Augusta, and a MAIS with a concentration in Peace and Reconciliation Studies from the University of Maine. Sarah is a certified prevention specialist in the state of Maine. She was the 2021 winner of the Maine Public Health Association Public Health Rising Star Award, and is honored to co-chair the ORN Prevention Stakeholders Marketing and Communications workgroup.
Mitchell Moore BAT, LCDC, ACPS, ADC. Mitchell is a dynamic educator who has a passion for training people and serves those who serve by designing and delivering training and across America. He is an advanced certified prevention specialist and licensed chemical dependency counselor who has extensive experience working with youth and families in both prevention and recovery settings. He has served as a counselor, prevention specialist and executive director of a charitable organization. In 2019, he was awarded the Texas Prevention Specialist of the Year.