Poised to learn more, teach more

As LaSalle’s eNewsletter readers are well aware, LaSalle’s in-depth study of brain science and the delivery of treatment to our youth and families has been evolving over the last several years. In collaboration with key partners, presentations at professional conferences continue to increase, the intense interest in the first two Capital District symposiums on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Trauma, and Response demands that it become an annual event, and localities are recognizing and seeking LaSalle’s expertise as they navigate the challenges of administering programs and services.

Locally, a request for proposals issued by the University at Albany on behalf of Albany County Department of Children, Youth, and Families resulted in LaSalle being selected to contract with the department to provide, upon request, complex information in understandable, tangible terms from instructors and trainers who can relate to the challenges and obstacles their peer professionals face when treating youth suffering from severe trauma. This ACDCYF contract is also in cooperation with the NYS Social Work Education Consortium, and offers LaSalle yet another opportunity to disseminate information about the importance of ACEs and the role of trauma informed approaches, including the issue of vicarious trauma in the workplace, to a larger audience.

Nationally, LaSalle’s selection for two cohorts sponsored by the Alliance for Stronger Families and Communities is providing LaSalle with valuable information that is improving services. Now entering the final year of the two-year Residential Transformation Cohort, the agency is one of 15 residential treatment agencies collaborating to identify ways to become less dependent on residential care while also assuring that the residential care provided is consistent with the best practices in the field. At LaSalle, results have contributed considerably to strategic planning efforts to embed the best practices of family engagement into programming. ‘Change in Mind’ is the second cohort and focuses on the study of brain science. Announced to LaSalle eNewsletter readers in June 2015, this cohort will convene 10 United States and five Canadian sites to ‘demonstrate the larger impactful role of the nonprofit sector as educator, advocate, and true influencer of getting appropriate systems aligned to the science.’ The formal press release was issued earlier this month, and the first convening of the sites will take place next month in Chicago. Funders of both cohorts are committed to working with the Alliance to improve the health and health care of all Americans. They include the Annie E. Casey Foundation (Residential Transformation Cohort); and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Norlien Foundation (‘Change in Mind’ Brain Science Cohort).

All of these initiatives continue to elevate LaSalle’s profile as a provider of trauma-informed treatment practices in capable, efficient child care settings. There promises to be much more to tell with regard to the lightening quick speed of the demand for residential treatment and brain science information. Updates on initiatives both underway, and in the pipeline, will be provided in future eNewsletter editions and on LaSalle’s website – www.lasalle-school.org.

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 licensed outpatient mental health clinic located at LaSalle School, and currently implementing ACE treatment practices with youth and families.