Centerstone To Host Free, Virtual Identifying Drug-endangered Children Training On 8/25

WEST FRANKFORT – Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral health care, will host a free, virtual training on Identifying Drug-Endangered Children: A Collaborative Approach on August 25 from 10-11:30 a.m. CEUs are available.

Ignored, abused, and abandoned are some of the chronic conditions experienced by children raised in environments where there is substance use or illegal drug use, manufacturing, cultivation, and distribution. Drug-endangered children are part of a very large, and growing population of children whose lives have been seriously and negatively impacted by dangerous drugs.

Thousands of these children across our country go unnoticed and do not receive the necessary care and treatment to heal from these abusive environments. If ignored and left unsupported, these children continue to be victims caught in a cycle of drug abuse. The primary challenge with illegal substance abuse and drug-endangered children is in aligning the agencies and systems responsible for preventing, intervening, and treating these issues to increase the chances of better outcomes, and this training focuses on that challenge to change the trajectories of the lives of drug endangered children and break multi-generational cycles of abuse and neglect.

Objectives of the training include:

• Understand the many opportunities (often missed) to identify children living in dangerous drug environments and the benefits of intervention at the earliest possible point when endangerment is suspected to reduce physical and psychological harm to children
• Gain awareness about drug-endangered children and the risks they face so that professions interacting with these victims recognize the need to facilitate multi-disciplinary, collaborative responses to better meet the needs of these children
• Learn what a multidisciplinary collaborative response looks like and how it incorporates the unique and often limited resources within a community and applies them in a manner that provides better care for drug endangered children

The presenter of the training will be Amber Anderson with Prevent Child Abuse - Illinois. Anderson has completed at least 250 hours in trainings dedicated to trauma-informed work including trainings on “Paper Tigers,” resiliency, foster care PRIDE trainings, monthly trauma-informed trainings provided by Caritas, and 40 hours of domestic violence education. Anderson has been in her current role as Prevention Specialist with Prevent Child Abuse Illinois since August 2020. While in this role, Amber has delivered approximately 25 hours of training and prevention education to community partners, providers and other stakeholders on topics such as childhood trauma, domestic violence, child sexual abuse prevention, poverty and trauma, and secondary trauma. Prior to this role, Anderson was the Volunteer Coordinator for the Egyptian Area Agency on Aging where she worked closely with PCA-Illinois to train grandparents on issues regarding foster care and childhood trauma. Finally, Anderson has been a foster parent to two young children for two years and has had several short-term placements as well.

This training has 1.5 hours of continuing education approved for IL LCPC / LPC, IL LCSW / LSW, and IL Nursing (LPN, RN, APN) under IDFPR Professional Counselor CE License No. 197.000263 and IDFPR Nurse CE Sponsor License No. 236.000184.

To register, visit http://bit.ly/082521. For more information, contact Megan Ragan at megan.ragan@centerstone.org or call 1-877-HOPE123 (877-467-3123), ext. 7875.

This training is sponsored by the CT3 program.

Other CT3 training events in 2021 include:

• Aug 25 – Identifying Drug-Endangered Children: A Collaborative Approach
• Sept 29 – Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
• Oct 27 – The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children
• Nov 10 – Secondary Trauma
• Dec 8 – Trauma 101

“CT3’s aim is to increase access to trauma-focused treatment for children, adolescents and their families who have experienced traumatic events, including children and adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system and children of veterans,” said Ragan, CT3 Trauma Training and Care Coordinator.

The counties covered in the CT3 program include Franklin, Jackson, Madison, Perry, Randolph, St. Clair, Union, Washington and Williamson.

CT3 services include:

• Direct trauma and treatment services
• Therapy
• Care management
• Professional training and community education
• Outreach and engagement
• Screening and assessment
• Linkages to services and supports

CT3 develops and maintains local capacity to implement trauma-informed practices and provide evidence-based, informed trauma treatment interventions. The goals of the program are:

• Establish a community-based, culturally competent, quality, accessible program to provide and increase access to effective trauma-focused treatment and services systems for children, adolescents, and their families who witness or experience traumatic events.
• Develop a sound infrastructure and increase community capacity to implement trauma-informed services for the focus population.
• Improve the health status and outcomes for young children – ages 2 to 9 years old, adolescents – ages 10 to 17 years old, and families as measured at intake, 6 months and discharge follow-up.
• Develop and disseminate a thoroughly documented model with measurable objectives for statewide and national replication and adoption.

About Centerstone

Centerstone is a not-for-profit health system providing mental health and substance use disorder treatments. Services are available nationally through the operation of outpatient clinics, residential programs, the use of telehealth and an inpatient hospital. Centerstone also features specialized programs for the military community, therapeutic foster care, children’s services and employee assistance programs. Centerstone’s Research Institute provides guidance through research and technology, leveraging the best practices for use in all our communities. Centerstone’s Foundation secures philanthropic resources to support the work and mission of delivering care that changes people’s lives.

WHAT: “Identifying Drug-Endangered Children: A Collaborative Approach” training

WHEN: August 25

10-11:30 a.m.

WHERE: Zoom

DESCRIPTION: Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral health care, will host a free, virtual training on Identifying Drug-Endangered Children: A Collaborative Approach on August 25 from 10-11:30 a.m. CEUs are available. To register, visit http://bit.ly/082521. For more information, contact Megan Ragan at megan.ragan@centerstone.org or call 1-877-HOPE123 (877-467-3123), ext. 7875.

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