This session will explore and analyze the words of women over 60, from a series of interviews on personal safety conducted over twenty years ago. Old women face a unique set of obstacles in their quest for empowerment. The most significant factors that impede an old woman's sense of safety and control include oppression, primarily ageism and sexism, along with violence and fear. Thirty-nine women over sixty were self-selected for semi-structured interviews as a result of their participation in a personal safety workshop. Interviewees ranged in age from sixty to eight-three, were of diverse cultural backgrounds, and most resided in a metropolitan area. The content of these interviews provide a rare inside view of the struggles and strengths of old women. Through discussion and small groups, we will challenge our assumptions and stereotypes of old women, working toward becoming a more effective advocate and facilitator of empowering old women. You will be moved by their words - their humor, fears and determination to continue as vital members of their communities, despite so many obstacles.

Half of all social service workers are case managers, and they get trained the same way - follow this person for a week until you get it. Our clients deserve better, and we can be better! But how? Here's the latest research to make you a great case manager. Delve into theories and models that support client empowerment and capture motivation. Learn how to efficiently manage a case, a caseload, and your career. Prepare yourself and your team for ethical dilemmas and random occurrences. This dynamic presentation will challenge your beliefs, inspire your practice, and defend you from burnout.

The focus of this presentation is to support families, educators, county case managers and providers who serve children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related conditions. This session will provide listeners a clearer understanding of Minnesota's system of supports across the state agencies of Department of Health, Department of Education, Department of Employment and Economic Development and Department of Human Services. Representatives from DHS will provide an overview of what services are available in education, health care, public health, and social services – and how to best access those services, including the funding necessary for families to access these services. An emphasis will be placed on how to determine which services and supports are best suited for which person and family and how to coordinate the services a person is receiving. Information will be provided on the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) benefit, efforts to address the shortage of qualified healthcare workers in MN, the new Autism Portal website and other projects that are currently being facilitated at the state level to better serve individuals with ASD and related conditions.

James Marthaler survived a rare genetic illness for which the only treatment was pain management with opioids. Between 1998-2008 James slowly sunk into his disability, mental illness and prescribed opiates. In 2008 James was offered a partial cure to his genetic illness and fought his way out of his opiate nightmare. Today James is a Supervisor with Rice County Social Services and a private consultant throughout the Midwest sharing his story, insights and guidance on how to effectively combat the opioid crisis. Since 2010 James has consulted throughout the Midwest for numerous hospitals and clinics, human/social service agencies, law enforcement, and for the American College of Physicians Midwestern Conferences (2013 & 2014), Mayo Clinics Grand Rounds (2016), University of MN Medical School (2013-Present). With his story James offers attendees a personal glimpse into the opioid crisis but also as a professional in the field of mental health and county social services an analysis of this epidemic and why the United States has become Ground Zero. James shares his experiences with the medical profession, his perspective from the "client's" seat and how we can all be more effective in pushing back this tide. Participant's ideas and beliefs are challenged, valuable information related to the opioid crisis is shared and answers to questions one could never ask a client are honestly answered by someone who has lived through it.

This session will cover some tips on how to work with individuals and teams with Intellectual Disabilities and/or Mental Illness. How do we as staff, providers or practitioners work with teams and/or guardians that are "over-protective"? How do we support individuals with teams and/or guardians that are unwilling to explore the goals of the individuals we are supporting? This session will cover tips on conflict mediation, and how to remain strengths-based and person-centered throughout our approach to best empower the individuals we work with to reach the goals they have in life, such as pursuing their own apartments/housing, getting a new job, going on a date, and more. This session will also include tips on how to navigate difficult or 'heated' conversations and situations, and maintain working relationships.

Tyler Reitzner is a husband, a father and an impassioned advocate for everyone’s right to thrive. In long-term recovery from Developmental Trauma, that includes PTSD and substance use disorder, Tyler has put his experience in branding, consulting and networking to use in the field of behavioral health. His professional life, his recovery and his lived experience have given him a deep understanding of the influence adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have on our abilities to work, to grow, and to have authentic relationships throughout life. He provides training and consulting services to help other professionals apply trauma-informed insights to the work they do. This presentation weaves psychological research and theory with Tyler’s experiences of developmental trauma from childhood to adulthood. Joining trauma-informed theory, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and neurobiology with real-life examples, Tyler will take you beyond the diagnosis and into the human experience. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the power of trauma in human relationships. Tyler is former Executive Director of MN Trauma Project, an ACE Interface trained Presenter, a trainer of Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) through the Mitchell Hamline School of Law Cohort, and the Principal Consultant at Thriver Institute. Tyler and his wife Bethany are happy parents to two boys, Logan and Lucas. They live in Eagan, Minnesota.

I chose to work in mental health for the outcome, not the income. Then I felt angry and betrayed when I saw my friends making a lot more money in marketing, sales, and engineering. Social work wasn’t going to give me a raise any time soon, so I had to figure out how to make more money or keep complaining about it. In this interactive presentation, I’ll take you behind the scenes of my journey toward financial independence with a content-packed session that is designed to give you all the tools you need to build a fulfilling and successful relationship with money based on foundational principles and strategies proven to propel you toward your life’s purpose. Transform your anxiety into confidence as you challenge and dispel your personal money myths, define key financial terms, create a unique vision for your life, and implement a step-by-step strategy for achieving financial freedom. Then you'll have to answer for yourself - what can you do for this world when you don't have to worry about money?

From its inception with the passing of the 1935 Social Security act much of what we believe about retirement was strongly influenced by a well thought out marketing program created initially by the Federal Government and quickly followed by the insurance industry. Suicide rates, especially among men, have been on the rise for the recently retired yet nearly all of the support and discussion revolves around finances and insurance. As a society that works long hours and takes little vacation time we are ill prepared for the abrupt social and emotional changes that come to identity, ego and purpose. Who will you become when you no longer are who you have always been? This session is intended to pull back the curtain on the mythology that surrounds what may be one of life's more significant transitions. I then focus on key elements that will have a direct and immediate positive impact on our quality of life including physical, emotional and social well-being. Finally the focus shifts to discussing practical and actionable tools that one can begin incorporating into their lives to begin implementing changes which will ease the otherwise abrupt transition to retirement.

This half day session engages learners in an interactive discussion and role-play based workshop on the application of Motivational Interviewing principles to the process of supervision. Practical examples of manager/supervision conversations are used to explore the core principles including understanding the person's motivation, listening with empathy, and empowering the individuals concerned. Topics • A continuum of supervisory styles and guiding • Principles of Motivational Interviewing • Ambivalence about change and “MI Moments” • Resisting the "righting reflex" in common supervisory situations • Case examples and analysis

This presentation presents a neurobiological framework for understanding the nature of upset encounters and discusses common mistakes that people make in attempting to diffuse them. The intervention begins with “checking oneself” and establishing good control of one’s nonverbal communication, including pace and tone of voice. From there, the session examines and practices some verbal responses that can reduce the temperature of intense encounters while avoid being confrontational. Topics •Common situations and communication traps •Looking at System 1 and 2 (Daniel Kahnemann) •Nonverbal de-escalation •Verbal de-escalation and a reflective toolbox •Setting limits

This seminar will introduce an innovative and transformative model for improving the way leaders sustain equity and inclusion efforts across their organizations and/or communities. Attendees will have the opportunity to actively engage with the material through self-reflection, captioned videos, small group work, and action-planning. We will walk through an organizational assessment, giving attendees the chance to reflect on their current efforts. We will facilitate a conversation around current events and key scenarios that equity and inclusion leaders often face and provide context and strategies on how to develop as a diversity and inclusion leader using this new model.

There are multiple dimensions of power and control exerted by perpetrators of intimate partner violence—the use of intimidation, emotional abuse, isolation, children, privilege, economic abuse, coercion and threats and minimizing/denying/blaming. Similarly, left unchecked, domestic violence shelter policies can reproduce the very dynamics of power and control that victims/survivors of intimate partner violence are fleeing. This presentation examines one shelter’s effort to eliminate the rule book and replace it with a Voluntary Services Model. The Voluntary Services Model (VSM) is considered a “best practice” in providing transitional housing services to survivors of domestic violence by the U. S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (2016). “Voluntary services, as opposed to mandatory services, means that clients do not need to complete a program or take part in other services as a condition of receiving housing. Services are offered based on each person’s specific needs” (U. S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, 2016, p. 6). Despite the fact that the VSM is considered a best practice in transitional housing services, the implementation of a VSM is an emerging and promising approach for addressing power and control within domestic violence shelter environments.