2016 ACEs Symposium details becoming available

The Third Annual Capital District Symposium on Adverse Childhood Experience(s), Trauma, and Response will be held on Tuesday, April 12th, 2016 at the University at Albany’s Performing Arts Center (uptown campus) in Albany, NY.

This year’s symposium will have Melissa T. Merrick, Ph.D as a keynote speaker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The topic will be the CDC’s growing public position and statistics on adverse childhood experiences and the impact on health and other factors related to school completion, household poverty, and unemployment. Dr. Merrick serves as the Science Lead for the ACEs study, and leads the CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention’s surveillance of safe, stable, nurturing relationships in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence.

Marjorie Sims, managing director of the Ascend Program of the Aspen Institute professional will discuss two-generational approaches as an emerging practice that is both preventive and cost effective. Sims has more than 20 years of experience in advancing the status of women and families at local, state, national, and international levels. She served as executive director of the California Women’s Law Center and as a policy analyst with the International Center for Research on Women. Sims leads Ascend’s Two-Generation learning network developing approaches for trauma and ACE resiliency responses.

The afternoon program will feature a presentation on the growing knowledge of Vicarious Trauma, with a focus on strategies supporting staff experiencing trauma as part of their work with children and families will round out the day.

This year’s symposium will also examine the realistic possibilities of introducing protective factors post trauma experience, and illuminate the long term effect of trauma without protective factors. Attendees will receive encouraging information that even after an adolescent has been through a trying and traumatic experience that the treatment he / she receives post trauma is very important. That it is not too late!!!

The logistics and agenda are currently underway. Further details will continue to be made available at the LaSalle School website as soon as they are finalized.

LaSalle School is a leader in programs and services for youth and families in crisis offering a variety of programs designed to meet their needs including specialized residential placement, day service education, and alternative to detention services. The Counseling Center at LaSalle is an OMH and OASAS licensed outpatient behavioral health clinic located at LaSalle School, and currently implementing ACE treatment practices with youth and families. LaSalle is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), and affiliated with the Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA), and the national Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.