Categories

Join us at a Family Engagement Event! 

The research is clear: The most successful schools, prevention programs, and social emotional learning initiatives include a family engagement framework.

A child's learning and development do not stop at the walls of your school or agency. Help build a bridge between your work with youth and their lives at home by upskilling yourself and sharing knowledge and skills with families to bolster protective factors and support resources. 

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Our current offerings include: 

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Workshop 
  
• Family Engagement Program Training 
  
• Social Emotional Learning Workshop
  
• Social Media 101 
  
• Domestic Violence 101 
• The Basics of Substance Abuse 
• Teen Dating Violence Prevention Workshop 
• Trauma-Informed Practice 

Select from our upcoming Family Engagement Events below to learn more and register. If you have a special request, we encourage you to contact us. 

(Looking for events for youth? Check out our Student Presentations!)

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Support for Today's Student Athletes!

Coach-to-Athlete trainings that model respect and promote healthy relationships.

Coping and Support Training (CAST) provides a foundation for coaches and student athletes by building relationships, bolstering school attendance and achievement, discouraging substance use and developing skills to manage moods. CAST reinforces a variety of coping skills and teaches students to identify stressors and practice healthy responses. CAST is carefully aligned with both Coaching Boys into Men (for male student athletes) and Athletes as Leaders (for female student athletes), two nationally-utilized programs that we train your coaches to deliver. 

Athletic coaches (including Coaches, Athletic Directors, Cheer Coaches, and others in athletic leadership positions) play an extremely influential role in the lives of student athletes. Because of these relationships, coaches are poised to positively influence how young men and women think and behave, both on and off the field.

These interactive, hands-on trainings prepare any coach to use their positive influence with middle and high school male and female student athletes to:

• build character
• promote healthy relationships and
• prevent sexual and dating violence

Contact us to bring one or both of these programs for Today’s Student Athletes to your team or school.

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Join us at a Professional Development Workshop! 

We specialize in Professional Development (PD) Workshops aligned with the Strategic Prevention Framework (SAMHSA). The main goals of our PD Workshops are to keep you up to date on current prevention trends, to help you to develop new skills for advancement in your field, and to help you create safer, healthier communities.

Our Workshops are created as a blended-learning experience. They include asynchronous, self-paced, interactive lessons, and live online, cohort-based webinars with practice and feedback. These engaging experiences empower participants to implement new strategies immediately.

Each Workshop is scheduled for 3-4 hours (including independent learning), depending on group size.

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Our current offerings include: 

• The Strategic Framework for Healthy, Safe Communities
• Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
  
• Emotional Intelligence & Self-Care for Adults
  
• Trauma-Informed Approaches with Youth
• Developing Adult Allies 
• Safe vs Unhealthy Relationships

Select from our upcoming PD Workshops below to learn more and register. If you have a special request, we encourage you to contact us. 

You can learn more about our PD Workshops on our website: Professional Development Workshops – Reconnecting Youth. 

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Join us at a Family Engagement Training! 

A family-centered, trauma-informed intervention, the Family Engagement Program is designed to foster partnerships with the parents and guardians of middle or high school-aged youth to boost their child's success.

Through four parent sessions, these important adults learn skills to support their child with the common challenges of adolescence in today's world. Parents learn the importance of: 

• speaking up
• listening
• expressing feelings
• building self-esteem
• Setting and monitoring goals
• offering needed support

Select from our upcoming Family Engagement Trainings below to learn more and register.

Each Presentation is scheduled for 90 minutes-2 hours, depending on group size.

Now scheduled on demand. Contact us to inquire or to schedule. 

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Our current offerings for youth include: 

 

• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) 
  
• Teen Dating Violence Prevention 
  
• Taking STEPS to Healthy Decision Making 

Select from our upcoming Presentations for Students below to learn more and register. If you have a special request, we encourage you to contact us. 

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What is CAST?

Coping and Support Training (CAST) is an evidence-based prevention program for middle or high school-aged youth. It consists of twelve interactive, 55-minute lessons and is used by schools, community centers and other youth-oriented agencies all over North America. The CAST Program combines a positive peer group culture with skills training in four essential areas:

• Building Self-Esteem 
• Decision Making
• Personal Control
• Setting Goals and Monitoring Progress

What are the goals?

The goals of the CAST program are to build coping skills, increase time spent in healthy activities, and enhance social support resources. The intended outcomes are:

• Decreased suicide risk behaviors (i.e., decreased depression, anger/aggression, anxiety, hopelessness)
• Increased school achievement (i.e., grades, credits earned, attendance, school bonding), and
• Increased drug use control (i.e., staying drug free or decreased drug use, drug use control problems and adverse drug use consequences).

How does it work?

This program combines skills training and group support (6-7 students per class). Students meet twice per week for six weeks or once per week for twelve weeks. Students work together to learn and practice skills to enhance self-esteem, decision making, anger management, reinforcement of coping and help-seeking behaviors, and increased access to social support.


Who can Participate?

CAST is designed to serve middle & high school-aged youth who:

• Are having a poor school experience,
• Are behind in credits, have slipping grades,
• Are skipping school or at risk of dropping out, and
• Report depressed mood and/or have had thoughts about suicide

Pay-Offs...

CAST works to reduce suicide-risk behaviors, depression, hopelessness, anxiety and anger, reduce drug involvement, and increase school bonding and social resources (family support).

• Increase Mood Management – depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and anger.
• Decrease Drug Involvement – alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use, drug use control problems and adverse drug use consequences.
• Decrease Suicide Risk Factors – global suicide risk behaviors, ideation, threats, attempts and positive attitudes toward suicide.
• Increase Protective Factors– personal control, problem-solving and coping, family support, and decreases in school problems (dropouts, absenteeism, and dissatisfaction with school).

CAST Training Road Map

We have a robust training framework, based on the latest adult learning science, for all members of your prevention/intervention team, with the aim of program sustainability in your school, district or agency. We are eager to customize your training experience to your needs. If you have questions, please contact us.

What is Reconnecting Youth?

Reconnecting Youth (RY) is an evidence-based prevention program for teens at risk for school dropout and co-occurring problems. RY includes a semester-long class, with just 10-12 students, that can be integrated into any middle or high school setting and offered for a grade and credit. The RY Class combines a positive peer group culture with skills training in five engaging modules:

• Getting Started
• Self-Esteem Enhancement
• Decision Making
• Personal Control
• Interpersonal Communication

What are the goals?

The goals of RY are to help youth build coping skills and competencies, increase time spent in healthy activities, and enhance social support resources. All RY students work on and support others in the RY Program Goals:

• Increased School Achievement
• Increased Mood Management
• Decreased Drug Involvement

How does it work?

The Reconnecting Youth Program has been rigorously tested and is included on multiple Evidence-Based Programs listings.

• The RY program begins with an individual invitation to join. Youth must be offered an option and not mandated to take RY.
• RY is taught in a small-group context with a teacher-to student ratio of 1:10-12.
• A trained Facilitator teaches the RY class within the regular school day.
• Class structure and process includes student participation and responsibilities for decision making and problem solving.
• RY is a skills training curriculum embedded in a positive peer group culture.

Who can Participate?

An RY Class is designed to serve middle & high school students who:

• Are behind in credits for their grade level
• Are in the top 25th percentile for absences
• Have a GPA of less than 2.3 or a recent steep drop in grades
• Have a prior dropout status
• Or are referred by school personnel & meet 1 or more of the above criteria

RY also incorporates several social support mechanisms for participating youth:

• Bonding activities to improve teens’ relationships and improve their repertoire of safe, healthy activities
• Development of a crisis response plan that details the school’s suicide prevention approaches
• Active parental consent for their teen’s participation and ongoing support of their teen’s RY goals

Pay-Offs...

RY works to reduce suicide-risk behaviors, depression, hopelessness, anxiety, anger, and drug involvement; while increasing school bonding and social resources (family support).

• Increase School Performance – grades, attendance, and credits earned.
• Increase Mood Management – depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and anger.
• Decrease Drug Involvement – alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use, drug use control problems and adverse drug use consequences.
• Decrease Suicide Risk Factors – global suicide risk behaviors, ideation, threats, attempts and positive attitudes toward suicide.
• Increase Protective Factors – personal control, problem-solving and coping, and access to support.

RY Training Road Map

We have a robust training framework, based on the latest adult learning science, for all members of your prevention/intervention team, with the aim of program sustainability in your school, district or agency. We are eager to customize your training experience to your needs. If you have questions, please contact us.