Willa Tsao

Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force 2022 Karen Avery Forum
— Awards Presentation —

In partnership with Milwaukee Turners Vel Phillips Forum

Empowering Families: Peer and Community Mental Health Support for Child Welfare Involved Parents and Families.

Listening to the voices of lived experience at the intersection of race, gender, mental health and child welfare.

Tuesday November 15, 2022
2:00 – 4:30 PM

Register for the 2022 Karen Avery Forum here.

Forum Information

This year’s Karen Avery Forum is the first in a series of discussions on supporting parents and families for success in the Child Welfare system. In Wisconsin over 3000 children annually are removed from their parents’ homes for alleged child neglect or abuse, in a process that may include foster care placement and termination of parental rights. Involvement in this process may be traumatic for parents and their children. It is particularly challenging when issues of mental health and racial and economic inequities affect subjective judgments of risk, safety and parental fitness. Our speakers will share other models that include peer support and a strength-based approach to support parents and families.

• Agenda for the 2022 Karen Avery Forum (accessible PDF).
• 2022 Karen Avery Forum Flyer and Speaker Bios (accessible PDF).
• 2022 Mental Health Task Force Award Recipients (accessible PDF).

The Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force thanks the following:

• 2022 – 2023 Mental Health Task Force Supporting Members (list in formation) (accessible PDF).
• 2022 Karen Avery Forum Planning Committee (accessible PDF).
• 2022 Mental Health Task Force Steering Committee Members (accessible PDF).

Opening Session: Lifting up the Voice of Lived Experience: Peer Support and Empowerment

Rise is an organization that supports and works with impacted parents to shift conditions that harm families and build new collective care networks of peer support. Rise Magazine has been a leader nationally in supporting parents and families with peer support and with an emphasis on listening to the voices and the needs of parents with lived experience. Speakers from Rise will share their philosophy of peer support and empowerment.

• Rise’s Peer Supporter Model: Powerpoint for Session 1 (PDF)
• Rise Resources
  • Peer Supporter Program: Someone To Turn To
  • Parent Platforms Program: An Unavoidable System
  • Parent Advocate Program: Reunification Collaborative

Panel Discussion: A Strength Based Approach: Involving the Court and Parents in Family Preservation

More and more judges who preside over child welfare matters are engaging with justice involved individuals in a more collaborative, therapeutic and problem-solving way. It is often career defining for the judge and can be quite transformative for the individuals. It starts out as an understanding of human suffering and is always fueled by sheer perseverance and hope. Milwaukee’s Drug Treatment Specialty Court at Children’s Court has demonstrated the power of a holistic and collaborative approach, for parents whose addiction and mental health challenges may otherwise have led to permanent family separation. Meet a judge and two dynamic women who will tell their stories of that perseverance and hope.

Community Resources

• Mental Health America of Wisconsin Mental Health Resource Directory
• Mental Health America of Wisconsin Fact Sheets
• Mental Health America of Wisconsin Strong Families Healthy Homes Program
• Disability Rights Wisconsin – 800-928-8778

Accommodation Requests

The forum will be captioned and ASL interpreters will be available. To request other disability related accommodations, email barbara.beckert@drwi.org as soon as possible. We will do our best to be responsive to all requests received.

Continuing Education

• Certified Parent Peer Specialists and Certified Peer Specialists may receive 2.5 Continuing Education Hours for attending the entire training and submitting a completed evaluation.
• All participants can request a Certificate of Participation for 2.5 hours by attending the entire training and submitting a completed evaluation.

Thank You to Our Members

The Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force annual membership drive is underway. Your membership will support our work as a positive force for systems change, cover a portion of staff costs to coordinate the task force, fund programmatic and communications expenses, and ensure our programs are open to all. We need your support to sustain our important work – please join or renew your membership.

At the forum, we will recognize the Supporting Members of the Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force.

Membership materials are posted on the 2022-2023 Membership Drive page.

 

Please join us for the October Mental Health Task Force meeting on Tuesday, October 11th, from 3 – 5 PM via Zoom. The meeting will feature speakers about Granite Hills Hospital, Market Place Open Enrollment, Equity, and updates on DHS 75 that will impact standards for substance use prevention, intervention, and treatment services. Bring your questions!

Meeting Agenda

View the meeting agenda here.

1. Welcome, Mary Neubauer and Christine Apple, co-chairs
   • MHTF Annual Membership Drive.
   • Karen Avery Forum is November 15th at 2 – 4:30 PM.
   • Karen Avery Awards.
2. Granite Hills Update, Jennifer Bergersen, Chief Executive Office, Granite Hills Hospital
3. Healthcare.gov Market Place Open Enrollment, Chery Isabell, Milwaukee Community Engagement Lead, Covering Wisconsin
   • Getting Ready for Healthcare.gov Open Enrollment – Covering Wisconsin
4. Life-course and the Invisibility of African American Males, Curtis Marshall, The Marshall Group LLC
   • Overview: African American men experience marked disparities in health and wellness starting early in life and persisting through the life course until advanced ages. This talk will offer an overview of life-course and invisibility experiences of African American males important to understanding African American male health.
   • Presentation slides: Racism over the Life-course of African American Males
   • Bio: Curtis Marshall recently retired as a Public Health Strategist/Consultant for the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. He led strategic partnership development and worked has recently been reassigned as the health equity consultant for the Wisconsin State COVID-19 Response Team. He provided technical assistance, and health equity consultation to local health departments, health consortiums, and a multitude of community-based organizations and national workgroups. Curtis has over twenty-five years of experience of assessing organizational capacity and readiness for leading population-based health improvement strategies. He is recognized as an engaged change leader and continues to support and facilitates healthcare and community partnerships, necessary to make sustainable progress on community health issues.
5. DHS 75 Update, Teresa Steinmetz, Bureau Director, Bureau of Prevention, Treatment & Recovery; Division of Care and Treatment Services; Andrea Jacobson, Deputy Bureau Director, Bureau of Prevention, Treatment & Recovery; Division of Care and Treatment Services
   DHS 75 sets the minimum standards for substance use prevention, intervention, and treatment services. The revised Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 75 takes effect October 1, 2022.
   • Revised DHS 75 Implementation, Wisconsin Department of Health Services
   • DHS 75 Presentation slides
6. Milwaukee County Budget Concerns / November 8th Election Updates, Barbara Beckert, Disability Rights Wisconsin
   • Milwaukee County Budget Concerns
     • 2023 Milwaukee County budget – review the requested budget.
     • Contact your County Supervisor – Find your District and Supervisor here.
     • County Board Finance Committee: Standing Committee and Calendar.
   • November 8th Election Updates
     • Absentee Ballot Return Assistance for the November 8^th Election
     • My Vote Wisconsin
     • Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition
     • Make Your Plan to Vote
   • DRW Voter Hotline: call 844-347-8683 or email info@disabilityvote.org
7. Mental Health Task Force Membership Drive Kick off, Kathie Eilers (4:50 – 5)

Please join us for the September Mental Health Task Force meeting on Tuesday, September 13th, from 3 – 5 PM via Zoom. September is a month with major transitions in the Milwaukee County mental health system. Our agenda will include updates on these transitions from Granite Hills staff, and from Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Services. Wisconsin Department of Health Services will provide an overview of the new 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. We will also take action to appoint new members to the Mental Health Task Force Steering Committee.

To request the Zoom link for this meeting, complete the form below.

Meeting Agenda

View the September 13th, 2022 meeting recording here (YouTube).

1. Welcome – Mary Neubauer and Christine Apple, co-chairs
   • MHTF annual membership drive
2. 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
   • Brianne Zaborowske, Lead Crisis Coordinator, Division of Care and Treatment Services, WI Department of Health Services or Caroline Crehan Neumann, Wisconsin DHS Crisis Service Coordinator
   • Materials and Resources
     • 988 in Wisconsin Presentation (PDF)
     • WI DHS – 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Handout (PDF)
     • WI DHS – 988 Frequently Asked Questions
3. Granite Hills Update – Deanna Meyer, Director of Business Development
4. Plans for Karen Avery Forum and Annual Awards Nominations – Pete Koneazny
5. Update on Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health Emergency Center Transition – Michael Lappen, Behavioral Health Services Administrator
6. Steering Committee Appointment Process (4:35 – 5:00)
   • Steering Committee applicants each briefly introduce themselves and their interest in serving, then are appointed.
   • Steering Committee Applications (PDF).