We recently went to the 2014 Georgetown Institutes in Maryland. Every time we go to a conference, we get the opportunity to bring a youth who is involved with FAST TRAC. This year we brought Trent, who is in the Clermont TIP program. He has prepared a small article on what he did and learned while at the conference….

If I had to say one thing about the 2014 Training Institutes it would be that it is awesome and educational. I went to Washington, D.C. to attend the 2014 institutes. With that said I would like to share some of the things that happened. When I went to the workshops and institutes I learned a lot there about different things like, different youth services, how to make youth services better, and trusting and rebuilding relationships.  I even got to learn a little bit of kick boxing, which was my favorite part. I got to meet two guys named Kevin.  They shared some of their stories, which were very inspirational to me. On the other hand, we got to stay in the nicest looking hotel I have ever stayed in. I did a lot of fun things with the people I was with. For example, I went to the space museum with Danny from the TIP program, saw the Washington Monument, saw the Capitol Building, ate at the best tasting restaurants, and rode the water taxi. Overall I had the best experience at Washington, D.C.

I have two children with special needs. Christopher, age 20, who is now a graduate of Amelia High School and working full time with Smyth Automotive. I supported him in getting his driver’s license, as well as, securing job opportunities and independent living arrangements. He now lives on his own in a one bedroom apartment. William, age 11, just finished elementary at Holly Hill Elementary School and started middle school in August. I worked through the system to ensure he was able to secure special financing to have specialized day care in my home.

I have been involved in my children’s education and advocating for them so they can be successful in life beyond school. I feel the success of Christopher’s growth to independence.

A bit about me: I am married and live in Amelia with my husband, son and three dogs! I earned my Bachelor’s of Science in accounting from University of Cincinnati, and a Masters of Business from Xavier University. I have been employed for 16 years as tax accountant for Roto Rooter Services.

I have attended numerous trainings/seminars through FAST TRAC, as well as, others offered throughout the region.  I became a Board member of Families Connected in 2013. I had been asked to attend a System of Care conference in the past but was unable to do so. This year I was honored to attend the System of Care Conference (SOC) in Washington in July, 2014.  It was a wonderful experience. There were several good workshops and the information was easy to apply as a parent, as well as, an advocate to help children with mental health and behavioral challenges.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Patty Wilson, Parent/Advocate for children

Over the past five years the UC Evaluation Team’s efforts have evolved from determining which outcomes are important and how to capture necessary data, to assuring that the data that are collected from programs are accurate and meaningful, to refining our data collection methods and the ways in which we analyze data and share the results with stakeholders, to developing a plan for how FAST TRAC can use this data in order to sustain services. To this end, our Team spent the spring and summer months examining data, tools, and resources from the perspective of sustainability Considerable effort has been directed towards obtaining data related to service costs that we anticipate will help explain the financial benefits of FAST TRAC services to key decision-makers. Recently, our team engaged in a technical assistance process with the University of Washington related specifically to sustaining Wraparound services. By the end of summer we hope to have a solid plan about how best to achieve sustainability for all FAST TRAC programs as we approach the final year of the grant.

In April, much of our efforts went into preparing for the May 8^th Evaluation Workgroup meeting in which we presented findings from our evaluation of the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) program. Results indicated TIP participants improvement in physical wellbeing, mental health symptom management, and securing independent housing after receiving services. Last fall FAST TRAC purchased a new data system that will be helpful for future data processing, analysis, and report-writing. The UC Evaluation Team has been learning this new system in our effort to assist FAST TRAC to identify efficient and effective ways to use the system for ongoing program evaluation. By June, we began working with the School-based Mental Health Services program and provided them with technical assistance for developing strategies about how best to analyze and present their data for the August Evaluation workgroup meeting. All of this has been in addition to creating our usual Evaluation Briefs, meeting and presenting information to FAST TRAC stakeholders, and presenting our work at national conferences and workshops including the Georgetown Institutes in Washington, D.C. (Jonathan Sutter) and the Childhood Mental Health Initiative’s national “Evaluation Talk” webinar (Rachel Smith).

Another MAJOR success worth mentioning is that the national longitudinal study reached its goal over the summer of recruiting 220 families. These data will continue to be critical in our evaluation of FAST TRAC services and, equally as important, published findings based on these data will serve to advance the science of children’s mental health prevention.

As always, FAST TRAC Evaluation Briefs describing FAST TRAC evaluation results are available for download at http://clermontfasttrac.org/category/evaluation.

From your UC Evaluation Team… have a wonderful Fall season!

This year’s Family Mental Health Conference focuses on Understanding Trauma: Recognizing and Treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). The Conference is on Saturday, May 10, 2014 from 10am-3pm at (check-in/networking: 9:00-9:45) at The Wildey School 2040 State Route 50, Wildey Center in Owensville, Ohio.

Conference Facilitators

Tracey DuEst M.Ed., RAD Coalition

Anne Mangold, Positive Pathways, owner, LISW-S

Morning session: 10:00a-12:00p

Building Understanding & Empathy for Children with PTSD & RAD

During the morning session participants will learn how to identify the symptoms of both PTSD and RAD. They will be introduced to different treatment approaches to address both aspects. In addition, participants will learn about trauma and the resulting issues that emerge. They will identify what happens to the brain that makes changes to the functions. They will witness several objective tests that show the results to the body through utilizing Neurogistics’ urine sample results and seeing the neurotransmitters and how they are affected. They will look at Brain Balance’s complete report and the learning lags (academically, socially, and emotionally) that are clearly identified. Finally, they will journey with Nancy Thomas and other experienced practitioners to discover why children with PTSD & RAD act the way they do.

Lunch: 12:00-12:45:

Afternoon Session: 12:45p-2:45p

Practical Applications & Strategies for Parenting Children with PTSD and RAD

The afternoon session will focus entirely on strategies to help parents continue to build healthy, loving relationships with their children. A parent panel will also be featured to help gain additional insight about strategies that have been both successful and ineffective with their children. Demonstrations, handouts, & other resources will be provided.

Those who should attend:

Parents, foster parents, other family members, and service providers supporting youth with challenges due to the effects of trauma

Cost: $10 for training. CEUs available @ $ 10.00…registration will be posted on Child Focus website. Sponsored by Families Connected of Clermont County, Clermont County Developmental Disabilities, Child Focus, Inc. and Common Threads Network. For information, call jean Houston @ 513-732-5034

The Youth Conference/Independence City Experience is on May 10, 2014 at Child Focus from 11:30am-3pm.   This simulation is a way for youth, ages 15-21, to explore “real life” opportunities, successes, and challenges they will experience as an adult.   This experience will engage youth in problem-solving techniques in achieving self-sufficiency and bring awareness to the process of preparing for adulthood.

Don’t Miss This Exciting and Fun Event from 11:30am-3pm.  Click her for more information.

Free for Clermont County youth ages 15-21.  $10 for Out of County youth.  Registration is required and includes Independence City and lunch.  SPACE IS LIMITED   Sponsored by Clermont FAST TRAC.

Call or Email to Register:

732-5400 or jscardina.fcf@ccmhrb.org

Location of Youth Conference/Independence City

Child Focus Training Center

555 Cincinnati-Batavia Pike

Cincinnati, OH 45244

It’s been a busy end of Winter and beginning of Spring!  Here’s a recap of what FAST TRAC has coming up…

• Independence City!   This is a simulation for youth to explore the  “real life” opportunities, successes and challenges they will experience as an adult.  Youth will become another person for the afternoon – they will have a job and a budget on which they must live.  They will visit various tables that represent life as an adult – a bank, a landlord, a nurse, the electric company.  Their task for the day is to determine how to live on their budget and see how their decisions impact one another (i.e. They may learn that it’s not financially possible to live alone in the apartment that they want to rent.  They may find that there are unexpected costs along the way -a parking ticket, a trip to the ER- that they need to figure out how to fit into their budget.).  Independence City has been implemented in various places throughout the country and is a fun way for youth to learn about what is to come as they become adults.  For more information, see Danny Little’s article in the newsletter.
• My Feelings Are a Work of Art (MFAWA) applications are in!  Those who applied for MFAWA funding for an art project that promotes mental health awareness have been notified of their award.  This is FAST TRAC’s 5th year working with the community to raise awareness of mental health through artwork.  Last year, we had our 3rd annual MFAWA Art Gallery at Eastgate Mall with youth, family members, schools and agency partners from all over the community joining us for the opening reception.  Look for information in late summer regarding the 4th annual MFAWA Art Gallery, which will display the artwork created through this year’s projects.
• Families Connected is hosting a Mental Health Conference on May 10th.  This is a time for family members and professionals to get together and learn more about PTSD and Reactive Attachment Disorder.  For more information, call Jean Houston at 513-732-5034.
• Our last family fishing event was a HUGE success, so another fishing event is scheduled for Friday, June 27th 6-9pm at the Mt Carmel Social Club.  We will be grilling out, so it’d be great if you could bring a side dish to share.  Remember to bring your fishing equipment and bait.  I hear they are stocking the lake for the event, so it should be a GREAT time!  Call Jean Houston if you’d like to attend this event.  513-732-5034
• Don’t forget about our Cultural Conversations book club discussion, coming up on April 29nd 12-2pm.  If you haven’t requested the book, Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving, call Mary Wolff to request a FREE copy.  513-732-5415

Wanakee Brown

I am from Elkhart, Indiana and I have a B.A. in Psychology from Indiana University. I have 10 years of experience in healthcare management and administration.  I am well versed in Social and Community psychology research techniques. I co-authored the “2009 HIV/AIDS Prevention Gap Analysis” for the Indiana Health Department.  My research findings in the field of Psychology of Religion are published in text book The Psychology of Prayer (Spilka, Ladd 2013).  I enjoy taking walks in nature, teaching dance, and reading books about religion and indigenous cultures.  Joining Family & Children First as a Wraparound Facilitator has been very rewarding.  It has allowed me the opportunity to be a part of creating community change. I love that this program is unconditional, which extends a sense of hope and support for the families we work with. I am truly blessed to be a part of Wraparound and I look forward to learning more about how Clermont County serves the community.

The UC Evaluation Team spent the winter months examining data from multiple sources in our continual effort to evaluate the effectiveness of FAST TRAC services, as well as provide real-time feedback to FAST TRAC program leadership. We are becoming quite adept at “matching” datasets, which is allowing us to use data collected through the national longitudinal study to examine (or even statistically predict) FAST TRAC participant outcomes and shed light on question such as, “To what extent are FAST TRAC services working? “For whom do FAST TRAC services appear to work best? Which types of FAST TRAC families may need extra support in order to be successful?”

We also spent time this winter fine-tuning an instrument developed collaboratively with the Peer Support Partner (PSP) program that measures the intended goals of the PSP program: (1) Assist families to identify their natural supports; (2) Enhance families’ sense of empowerment to navigate the children’s services system; (3) Provide emotional, social, and practical support to families; (4) Prepare families to be efficient and effective service users; and (5) Positively impact overall family stability. Preliminary results indicate that families who received PSP services at least four months or more experienced a significant positive change (i.e., ranging from a 27% to 81% increase) across all goals since enrolling in the program. Results of this “PSP Outcomes Survey” were presented at the February 2014 Evaluation Workgroup meeting along with results from the PSP satisfaction survey, which includes participant narrative comments about strengths of the program and areas of need.

Evaluation Briefs describing these and other results in detail will be disseminated in May 2014 (please go to http://clermontfasttrac.org/category/evaluation to download copies of existing Evaluation Briefs). Other dissemination efforts include presentation of FAST TRAC evaluation findings at national venues, such as the 27^th Annual Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy Conference in Tampa, FL (oral presentation) and the 2014 National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health Training Institute in Washington, DC (poster presentation).

Recruitment for the national longitudinal study continues to be strong, with 184 families (i.e., youth and/or caregiver) currently enrolled.  We want to acknowledge and thank the daily efforts of Clermont FAST TRAC program staff and our family interviewers who administer surveys and interview youth and caregivers. Without their efforts, we would simply be left to guess about the impact of FAST TRAC services.

From your UC Evaluation Team, have a wonderful spring!