Early Intervention Technical Assistance Portal

Pennsylvania 2021 Early Intervention and Family Support Program Virtual Event

Event Sessions

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

(11am – 12:15pm) Welcoming Remarks and Opening Keynote

CHANGING MENTAL MODELS, CHANGING SYSTEMS   
Joshua Sparrow, MD, DFAACAP, Executive Director of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital

Dr. Sparrow will take a look at mental models, how our automatic thinking and our social networks reinforce them, and how we can use deliberative thinking to see beyond our mental models to new solutions, new ways of thinking and being.  In today’s world of clashing mental models, we need more than ever to be able to look carefully at our own way of thinking. Dr Sparrow will invite participants to explore common ground with those who think or seem to think differently.

(1:30 – 2:30pm) Concurrent Sessions

  1. Equity Resources to Support Your Work
    Camille Catlett, Consultant and Toni Miguel, Consultant, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    A recent survey of faculty and professional development providers revealed strong interest in increasing the emphasis on diversity and equity in their work. During this sessions, participants will explore high quality resources that are readily available. Participants will use a self-reflection tool to examine the extent to which their current practices reflect an emphasis on equity and identify ways in which to enhance their practices.
  1. Mindfulness: Automaticity and Judgement
    Dr. Jennifer Furness and Brandi Binakonsky, Consultants, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    Through this highly interactive, at times humorous session, participants will move beyond the basic foundations of mindfulness and take a deeper dive into understanding how automatic patterns of behavior are connected to the judgements that we make every day. As we embrace efforts of diversity and inclusion, this session aims to teach participants how to become aware of their own biases and reactions with purposeful self-reflection and provides easy-to-implement strategies on how to begin to shift our mindset to embrace everyone equally.
  1. Exploring Resources for Infant Mental Health
    Shannon M. Fagan, MS, Consultant Early Intervention Technical Assistance; Brandy Fox, LCSW, IECMH-E ®-Director of Cross Sector IECMH Initiatives, The Pennsylvania Key; Dina Hartford-Stipetic, Consultant, Early Intervention Technical Assistance; Ann Litzelman, Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services, OMHSAS
    In this session, panelists from a variety of disciplines will help explore resources that are available in the realm of Infant Mental Health. Participants will learn about Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation and the endorsement process, Infant Mental Health resources to local practitioners within Early Intervention and the services and supports that can be offered via the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
  1. Balancing ACEs with HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences)
    Dina Burstein, MD, MPH, HOPE Project Director, Tufts Medical Center and Amanda Winn, MSW, West Coast HOPE Project Director
    Participants will gain an understanding of background information on the adverse health effects of ACEs and the research showing how key positive childhood experiences prevent and mitigate the effects of ACEs and toxic stress.  Participants will also learn about the 4 building blocks of HOPE and participate in skill building exercises that will enable them to begin to incorporate the HOPE framework into their work with families.
  1. A Family’s Testimony to the Pennsylvania Family Engagement Framework
    Dr. Sadia Batool, Family Leader and Mary Mikus, Consultant, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    This session will follow the transformative journey of a family as they navigate the services and supports for their daughter on the Autism Spectrum, beginning with their experiences in Early Intervention. It will focus on the implementation of the Pennsylvania Family Engagement Birth through College, Career, Community Ready Framework as it relates to the family’s personal experience of successful Family Engagement and Leadership. Multiple aspects of diversity and equity will be explored to promote meaningful, sensitive, and responsive relationships between families and professionals.
  1. Be Strong Families Parent Café’s & Vitality Café’s: Engaging Families & Growing Family Leadership In a Virtual World
    Nicole Durler, Family Leader, and Ilecia Voughs, Ashley Ankeny, and Heather Powell, Consultants, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    In this session, participants will be introduced to the Be Strong Families Parent Café’s and Vitality Cafes. These café’s are emotionally safe spaces where parents and caregivers talk about the challenges and victories of raising a family as well as how to develop a holistic approach to their own health and wellness. Participants will also learn how implementing Parent Café’s and Vitality Café’s in local programs is a proven way to foster family engagement and leadership development within families.
  1. Using Video Conferencing and Related Technologies to Provide Home Visiting Services
    Larry Edelman, Early Childhood Consultant, Video Producer, and Senior Clinical Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine
    This session will share key themes gleaned from interviews with early intervention home visitors and family members from several states as well as recordings of home visits delivered through video conferencing. The session will review tools, strategies for effectively delivering home visits via video conferencing. The participants will be able to describe why practitioners may need to and want to provide home visits using video conferencing; self-assess their technical, environmental, and interactional video conferencing skills and describe how to apply the rule of three to home visiting services.
  1. Substance Use Coercion and the Impact on Birthing People
    Jessa Winas and Mae Reale, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence
    Substance use coercion is a tactic of intimate partner violence(IPV) that is often overlooked due to the heavy stigma attached to the way society views survivors and views substance use; placing these individuals at a place of predisposed objectification. Intimate partner violence impacts birthing people with a high risk of escalation that can lead to significant risks while seeking prenatal or perinatal care. This session will discuss the intersection of intimate partner violence, substance use coercion, and the health of birthing people to better support families experiencing IPV. Participants will be able to recognize substance use coercion as a tactic of abuse and explain the impact of intimate partner violence on the health of birthing people.

(3:00 – 4:00pm) Concurrent Sessions

  1. Approaching Equity with Care, Contemplation, and Mindfulness
    Beth Coleman, PhD student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    This session will address the relationship between mindfulness and equity in early childhood education. Participants will engage in contemplative practices as a way to explore topics such as identity, culture, care, and belonging. Participants will be able to define equity, identify the connection between mindfulness and equity-based practices in early childhood education and identify mindfulness practices that promote equity in early childhood education. 
  1. Teleintervention and Coaching: A Perfect Match for Families
    Sarah Holland, Special Assistant for Family Engagement, OCDEL, Danielle Hagenbuch, Family Leader, Mary Mikus and Donna Miller, Consultants, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    Just over a year ago, we entered into a new world of tele intervention, and in many areas this continues to be primary way in which services are delivered. In this session, we will review and celebrate the positives we have experienced with the virtual world and explore strategies to support the cons. Join us as we explore ways to enhance teleintervention as well as resources to support ongoing learning from home and strategies for a gradual transition back into face-to-face learning.
  1. That Hot Stove is a Danger to All of Us! Why We Must Embrace Discussions of Race in Early Care and Education.
    Dr. Aisha White, Director of the P.R.I.D.E. Program
    In this session we will discuss the ways race impacts early care and education, making the case for caregivers and educators to commit themselves to helping young children understand and make sense of race in America. The session will cover the ages at which young children notice and respond to physical differences, as well as the developmental reasons racial understanding is healthy and necessary.
  1. Each and Every Family Can Lead: Building Capacity and Informed Advocacy
    Heidi Allen and Sheronda Crabbe, Family Leaders and Toni Miguel, Consultant, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    The Early Intervention field has long recognized that families need to be able to advocate effectively. In this session, participants will explore ways to ensure families are full team members who participate in all aspects of assessment, evaluation, planning, and intervention. We will consider ways to empower racially, ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse families on EI teams and focus on specific programs available to support family leaders in Pennsylvania.
  1. Delivering High Quality Early Intervention Services in Pennsylvania
    Mike Brink, Project Manager, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    OCDEL Announcement EI-20-03 Early Intervention Service Delivery: Coaching Across Settings outlines the expectations for how services are to be delivered in Pennsylvania. This session will examine key elements of the announcement and share resources available to promote implementation in our birth to 5 system.
  1. BEST in CLASS: A Tier-2 Intervention for Young Children with Challenging Behavior
    Maureen A. Conroy, PhD, University of Florida; Kevin S. Sutherland, PhD, and Kristen Granger, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University
    This session will provide participants with an overview of the BEST in CLASS intervention program. The BEST in CLASS intervention targets young children (ages 3-5 years old) with challenging behavior and has been found to be effective for use in early childhood settings to prevent and ameliorate young children’s challenging behaviors, promote positive teacher-child interactions, and increase child engagement and learning. Through practice-based coaching, practitioners will learn to implement the BEST in CLASS practices, which leads to improved classroom quality and self-efficacy.
  1. How to Teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Concepts to Babies and Young Children
    Dr. Aimee E. Ketchum, OTD, OTR/L, CNMI Pediatric Occupational Therapist
    Babies begin to explore and learn as soon as they are born. Participants will learn how to capitalize on this early curiosity to teach babies early STEM concepts in a developmentally appropriate way to help meet early learning standards for kindergarten readiness and identify how sensory development allows for early STEM learning.
  1. The Power of Families at the Table using Data to Advance Equity
    Michelle Lewis, Jenna Nguyen and Lauren Jackson DaSy Center
    This session will equip participants with strategies to engage families and community members in equity-driven data conversations through a data team process.  We will share guiding questions participants can use to identify the data they have and the data they need to address inequities. This stakeholder-driven and collaborative process is intended to meaningfully engage families in reviewing and interpreting data to understand what’s going well, what could be improved, and strategize together on how disparities and inequities could best be addressed in their communities.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

(10:00 – 10:45am) Welcoming Remarks and Keynote

The Importance of Our Stories in Collaboration and Family Engagement
Bethany Van Delft Moffi – Comedian, Storyteller, Parent Advocate

Bethany Van Delft Moffi, mother of two children, comedian, storyteller and Parent Advocate uses humor and family stories to highlight the importance of storytelling and collaboration. Participants will learn from family stories how to further inclusion and support meaningful, real life

(11:00am – Noon) Concurrent Sessions

  1. Tackling Implicit Bias
    Dr. Jen Newton, PhD, Assistant Professor in Special Education, Ohio University
    Implicit biases are unconscious, deeply held, and often do not align with our declared beliefs!  But, we can reduce them, and their impact on our families.  In this session, we will tackle our own implicit biases and develop skills and strategies for strengthening and sustaining an anti-bias approach to children and families. Participants will identify personal and professional biases, ways those biases negatively impact family centered practices and engage in reframing techniques to identify family strengths and opportunities.
  1. Crafting Slam Style Stories
    Bethany Van Delft Moffi – Comedian, Storyteller, Parent Advocate
    StorySlams events where tellers perform short 5 minute stories on a theme, live with no notes – are enjoying huge popularity. We use stories in our advocacy as parents, family, teachers, service providers. Participants will gain an understanding how painting a picture for medical professionals, legislators, decision makers can often shift perspectives, leading to important conversations. In this workshop we’ll discuss slam story format, generate compelling stories using writing prompts, get tips for live performance and discuss ways to use in our advocacy. Participants will also have the opportunity to share in front of the group.
  1. An Introduction to WIDA Early Years: A Framework for Multilinguistic Learners
    Jodie Holmberg, Consultant, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    This session is designed to introduce participants to the WIDA Early Years framework for providing quality instruction to young multilingual children in early childhood settings.  Resources created for young multilinguistic learners will be shared, and some resources created specifically for Pennsylvania will be highlighted.  A detailed tour of the resources and instruction on how to access them will be provided.
  1. Using the LifeCourse Framework and Tools to Engage Families
    Chou Hallegra Gabikiny, Parent, Advocate, Consultant, Grace & Hope Consulting, LLC; Lisa Snyder, Include Me Preschool Family Engagement Consultant; Melissa Mecke, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    The “Charting the LifeCourse” Framework and Tools are designed to be used to support families – in your own life, for your family members, and/or in the work you do. During this session, you will learn how the framework and tools can help engage families in organizing their ideas, vision, and goals. Participants will also learn from family members using the tools and how you can support families in using these resources.
  1. A Family’s Testimony to the Pennsylvania Family Engagement Framework
    Dr. Sadia Batool, Family Leader and Mary Mikus, Consultant, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    This session will follow the transformative journey of a family as they navigate the services and supports for their daughter on the Autism Spectrum, beginning with their experiences in Early Intervention. It will focus on the implementation of the Pennsylvania Family Engagement Birth through College, Career, Community Ready Framework as it relates to the family’s personal experience of successful Family Engagement and Leadership. Multiple aspects of diversity and equity will be explored to promote meaningful, sensitive, and responsive relationships between families and professionals.
  1. Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: Helping through Relationship
    Robert Gallen, Ph.D., IMH-E, Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology, University of Pittsburgh
    In this session, infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) and its key principles will be reviewed and defined.  We will identify relationships as critical for attaining optimal developmental mental wellness outcomes.  Risk factors, including toxic stress and trauma will be identified as will protective factors such as secure, nurturing and responsive interactions with caregivers.  Engaging caregivers within relationships that establish safety, regulation and reflection will help frame the IECMH helping approach.
  1. Balancing ACEs with HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences)
    Dina Burstein, MD, MPH, HOPE Project Director, Tufts Medical Center and Amanda Winn, MSW, West Coast HOPE Project Director
    Participants will gain an understanding of background information on the adverse health effects of ACEs and the research showing how key positive childhood experiences prevent and mitigate the effects of ACEs and toxic stress.  Participants will also learn about the 4 building blocks of HOPE and participate in skill building exercises that will enable them to begin to incorporate the HOPE framework into the work with families.
  1. “Monty’s Day in Court”, A Resource for Child Victims of Abuse
    Jessica Miles, Parent and Author
    “Monty’s Day in Court” is the first children’s book written from the perspective of a child who testifies in court against his abuser. Participants will learn from the perspective of a child going through this process, the outcome and resources for children who have survived abuse. This story and the accompanying discussion guide serve as an aid for those on the front lines helping young people through challenging times.

(1:30-2:30pm) Keynote

Understanding the Impact of Poverty and Disparities on Families and the Community
Veirdre Jackson, EdD., Living Strong Consulting, LLC

This session allows participants to reflect on how their own experiences shape the lens we gaze through at others. Participants explore topics such as race, equity, poverty, inclusion and bias and how they intersect with childhood trauma. Participants examine ways in which to plan supportive environments for diverse children and families impacted by the allostatic load of embedded social inequities. Emphasis is placed on the importance of enlisting and including families in the process. Engaging content identifies barriers and strategies to supporting family-teacher interactions/ communication and examines how the program climate does/ does not utilize impact sensitivity with children and families experiencing poverty and adversity.

(2:45-3:45pm) Concurrent Sessions

  1. Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Poverty on Child Development and Family Dynamics
    Veirdre Jackson, EdD., Living Strong Consulting, LLC
    Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can have a devastating impact on children, altering their physical, emotional, cognitive and social development. In this session, participants investigate how Adverse Childhood Experiences and poverty impact the child and the family. Participants will gain a better understanding of how to support them with trauma informed responses, practices and policies that foster a journey toward growth and assist the parent in understanding one of the most impactful factors on life expectancy, parenting, mental and physical health, and academic performance.
  1. Teaching Diversity, Education and Inclusion to Young Children
    Dr. Aimee E. Ketchum, OTD, OTR/L, CNMI Pediatric Occupational Therapist
    Children are noticing cultural differences as early as 6 months, but they do not have the language skills to talk about it. Parents and teachers can start having discussions in a positive and affirming way to help children develop their racial identity, racial literacy and understanding of diversity. This session will provide the foundation of early child development and the evidence base for teaching young children about DEI. Participants will also learn how to spark conversations about differences, race and equity with young children.
  1. Effective Teaching Strategies for Facilitating Social-Emotional Skills for All Children
    Lisa Gragg and Aimee Newswanger, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    In this session we will identify key social emotional skills to teach and match them with strategies to teach those skills.  We will review general guidelines for teaching and address how to refine teaching strategies to increase intentional instruction and/or practice for children with more intensive needs. Participants will self-identify practices they wish to strengthen in their work, both in classrooms and in supporting other adults.
  1. Relationship-Focused Family Engagement
    Dr. Annie White, Senior Research Associate, and Dr. Dana Winters
    Director of Simple Interactions and Academic Programs, Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College
    Family engagement is created from relationships among families, helpers, and the community in support of children. In this session, we will explore the importance of simple, everyday interactions for building family engagement partnerships. We will also reflect on how empathy and using a strengths-based approach can deepen relationships between families and helpers.
  1. “You have mom’s crinkly ears: A pilot program for grieving preschoolers.”
    Alexa Livelsberger, LCSW and Patrick McKelvey, MS, LPC, NCC, Outreach & Education Coordinators; Child Grief Specialists, Highmark Caring Place
    The period between 0-5 is critical for the development of social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral functioning. Close familial death during this time period is a significant and potentially traumatic adverse life event. This workshop will describe a support model that addresses the impact of early loss while strengthening the primary attachment relationship through meaningful, emotionally rich caregiver-child interactions. Participants will learn about the developmental impact of a familial death on the developing preschool-aged child and understand the impact through an attachment and trauma-informed theoretical perspective.
  1. Getting to the Root of a Problem: Root Cause Analysis and Tools
    Christina Janosky, Family Support Program Specialist, Bureau of Early Intervention Services and Family Supports
    Have you ever had a problem and found yourself stuck with no solutions? Sometimes it can be helpful to look at the problem’s root cause. In this sessions, participants will learn how to apply systematic processes to identify root causes, analyze findings to determine where to focus resources; and understand when change strategies are targeted, they will be more successful.
  1. Reflective Supervision: An important component of trauma informed care
    Stacey Carpenter, Psy.D., IMH-E® and Una Majmudar, MSW, LCSW, IMH-E ®
    This presentation will highlight the core concepts of reflective and trauma informed supervision practices.  We will explore the impact of trauma on providers and how supervision can be an effective trauma informed tool to support staff.  We will also share the many benefits of this type of supervision including staff retention and overall staff wellness.
  1. What Am I Missing on the EITA Portal and EITA Mobile?
    Mary Montgomery and Stephanie Redmond, Consultants, Early Intervention Technical Assistance
    Come learn about the tools and resources on the EITA Portal and EITA Mobile that can support you in your work. You will have time to explore resources and materials based on your interest. There is so much information here that you might have missed a few things! Join us to get a great overview of these valuable assets and see what’s new.

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