Dare to Act - Invitational Conference

Pre-Conference Institutes | Post-Conference Institutes | Agendas | Schedule

Dare to Act Invitational Conference

Listen: Offer opportunities for trauma survivors with mental health and substance histories to inform the knowledge base in the fields of mental health, substance abuse, family and children services, and other systems such as criminal justice and domestic violence from which women survivors and their children receive services and support.

Learn: Provide a forum for practitioners, researchers, survivors of physical and sexual abuse with histories of mental health and substance abuse, and decision-makers to encourage and support the applicability of the trauma paradigm (centrality of trauma) in mental health, substance abuse, and family and children’s service systems.

Act: Develop networks within geographic areas and interest groups, to develop action steps for program and systems change.

Pre-Conference Institutes

Trauma Champions: An Institute by and for Consumers/Survivors/Recovering Women
November 29, 2004 - Agenda
Baltimore, MD - Renaissance Hotel
This institute for and by consumer/survivor/recovering women will provide an opportunity to review and reflect upon the work of the SAMHSA funded national study on Women, Violence, and Co-occuring Disorders from an array of targeted perspectives. This institute will prepare consumer/survivor/recovering women to participate in all aspects of the 2-day Dare to Act conference and the pre and post conference institutes and to act as trauma champions on the national, state, and local level. Agenda

Trauma-Informed Services and Supports
November 30, 2004 - Agenda
Baltimore, MD - Renaissance Hotel
This institute will review ten principles of trauma-informed services and how to implement these principles in a culturally sensitive, person-centered way in eight different human service areas: outreach and engagement, screening and assessment, resource coordination and advocacy, crisis intervention, mental health and substance abuse services, trauma-specific services, parenting support, and health care. We will discuss integrating consumers into the design and evaluation of programs as well as integrating different services and broader systems. Agenda

Children Affected by Family Violence
Co-Sponsored by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
November 30, 2004 - Agenda
Baltimore, MD - Renaissance Hotel
This institute will offer information and discussion on children ranging in age from infants through adolescents who have been exposed to family violence. Presentations will cover the needs and strengths of children with experts in the field presenting on the co-occurring problems of familial substance abuse, mental health problems, child abuse and child neglect. In addition, effective service delivery models for children, parents and families will be presented including findings from the SAMHSA supported Children’s Subset Study. Service delivery models for a variety of community and institutional settings will be discussed. Finally, didactic presentations and roundtable discussions will address issues of systems change including financing alternatives and policy responses to the needs of children exposed to family violence and their families. Agenda

Viewing Party for Documentary: Searching for Angela Shelton
November 30, 2004
Filmmaker Angela Shelton set out on a journey to meet every other Angela Shelton in America, and through them survey the thoughts of American women. She wasn't prepared to learn that 24 out of the 40 Angela Sheltons she found had been raped, beaten or molested - as she had been herself. The Angela Sheltons complete the journey by teaching the filmmaker about forgiveness, faith and the power of the human spirit in all of us, no matter what your name is. Go to the documentary's official Web site.

Meet the filmaker at the Dare to Act Conference.

Don't miss this great opportunity to speak to
Angela Shelton, a national survivors' advocate.

In her own words, "Searching for Angela Shelton has paralleled my journey as a survivor from the moment I drove off into the unknown to meet every Angela Shelton, to the moment I made a commitment to heal myself. It has been very hard work addressing the issues of rape, battery and molestation everyday for the past three years but the amount of survivors who are deciding to change their lives because of it was worth all the effort. I have received thousands of emails and letters from people all over the world--male and female--who were sexually abused, raped or beaten and I receive more every day. Though this movie carries my name, it is not just about me or the Angela Sheltons. It is about an epidemic of child abuse, rape and battery that we must all address, no matter what our names are. If we heal ourselves, we can save our children.”
Angela Shelton – the filmmaker

Post-Conference Institute

Men and Trauma
December 3, 2004 - Agenda
Baltimore, MD - Renaissance Hotel
This institute will address lessons learned from male trauma survivors, including the importance of gender-specificity in understanding and responding to experiences of violent victimization. Presenters will discuss the prevalence of trauma experiences among boys and men; the impact of trauma; characteristic male coping styles; and models for male trauma recovery and healing. Attention will be paid to different types of trauma exposure and to the role of race and culture in men’s trauma experiences. The institute will consider both effective trauma-specific interventions and the development of trauma-informed approaches to services for men. Agenda

Agendas:

• Dare to Act Conference - Dec 1-2
  
  
• Trauma Champions - Pre-Conference Institute, Nov 29
• Children Affected By Family Violence - Pre-Conference Institute, Nov 30
• Trauma-Informed Services and Supports - Pre-Conference Institute, Nov 30
• Men and Trauma - Post-Conference Institute, Dec 3

Schedule: