Workshops:

Workshop Session 1 – Thursday, May 20, 1:45 – 3:45 PM

1A - Diversity Awareness: What Does it Mean & How is it Achieved?

What is the difference between culturally sensitive and culturally competent? Through the review of the cultural continuum terms used in the discussion of diversity and inclusion will be clarified. Emphasis is placed upon the continuous process of learning and understanding cultural strengths of others. Practical information will be offered on how one might ascribe to becoming culturally competent and how to include diversity in everyday living. Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to define terms, describe the cultural competence continuum, and develop individual strategies for growth in the area of diversity and inclusion.

Dennis Robinson, Family Design Resources, Inc. (Consultant)

Dennis Robinson has worked as an independant diversity consultant for Family Design Resources for the past two years and has co-trained diversity workshops for several schools within Allegheny County. Mr. Robinson is also the Assistant Director of Education at Auberle Children and Families where he coordinates the education and vocational services for children and youth. He has also served as the Program Manager for residential components. Mr. Robinson has a bachelor of science degree in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the McKeesport Area School District Diversity Committee.

1B - How to Advocate for a Father-Friendly Home Visit Program: Process and Tools

One of the greatest challenges faced by professionals working to support and strengthen families is how to create father-friendly programs and organizations.  The presenter will share a process for advocating for a father-friendly home visit program that involves educating decision makers, staff and outside influences (e.g. funders) about the importance of fathers in their children’s lives and designing programs and services specifically for fathers.

Milton Scott, National Fatherhood Initiative

In his role as Program Specialist, Community-based Programming, Mr. Scott  is responsible for providing fatherhood training programs and technical assistance services to agencies, funders, and community leaders. He also helps to create and expand support systems that encourage responsible fatherhood.  Mr. Scott participates in public speaking engagements and represents National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI) at meetings and other public events.

1C - Introduction to School Bullying as a Societal Problem

This workshop will place an emphasis upon the impacts of school bullying, specifically identifying roles and the impact on students who bully and are bullied, as well as, bystanders who witness the victimization. Statistical information will be offered and terms will be defined. Components of effective prevention programs will also be discussed. Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to provide basic information on school bullying, dispel common myths about all students who are impacted by bullying, and identify components of effective intervention strategies.

Trisha Gadson, MS, Family Design Resources, Inc.

Trisha Gadson is employed by Family Design Resources, Inc. as a Development Specialist. She has worked for more than twenty years in the child welfare field, and her strengths are in the area of curriculum development and implementation. She has specialized in diversity and inclusion in the workplace and serves as project manager for school based programming. Ms. Gadson has obtained diversity training from the National MultiCultural Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. She is also a certified Olweus Bullying Prevention trainer.

1D - Understanding Racial Disparity in Child Welfare

According to state and national data, the rate African American children enter the child welfare system is twice that of white children. However, as research shows, there is no difference in the likelihood of abuse between African American and white children. Organizational practices have a direct impact on the disproportionate number of African American children currently in the child welfare system. Discussion will center on the need for professions to have conversations regarding intentional and unintentional racism, and its impact on the rate of entry and the length of time children remain in the system. As a result of the workshop, participants will obtain an increased understanding of the impact these practices have on children and families.

Jacqueline D. Wilson, MSW, LSW, Three Rivers Adoption Council

Jacqueline Wilson is the CEO of Three Rivers Adoption Council (TRAC). Ms. Wilson holds a BASW and an MSW from the University of Pittsburgh.  She is currently pursuing her Ph. D. in Administration and Leadership Studies in Non-Profit Management at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She serves on numerous non-profit boards and was recognized as one of the 2005 National Angels in Adoption by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. She is also a member of the SWAN Advisory Council.

1E - Using the 3-5-7 Model to Address Identitfy Development for Kids in Placement

1F - LGBTQ: An Awareness of Sexual Identity for Youth

This workshop will provide an awareness opportunity for professionals who work with youth who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or questioning. Terminology and use of language will be reviewed and statistical information will be presented. Participants will be lead through a self-reflective experience to assess how their personal views may or may not impact their interactions with youth. In addition resources for support and further study of the topic will be identified.

Yvette Lassiter, MSW, Family Design Resources, Inc.

Yvette Lassiter, MSW has provided group facilitation for LBGTQ youth in Philadelphia for a number of years. She currently facilitates a focused group discussion for LBGQ females for the annual Pride conference held in Philadelphia. Ms. Lassiter has extensive professional child welfare experience in the field and is a foster and adoptive parent. She currently serves as a Division Manager for the Southeast region of Pennsylvania for Family Design Resources, Inc. She facilitates and participates in trainings for her region. Ms. Lassiter has worked as an intake, foster and adoption social worker and supervisor for a private agency in the Philadelphia area where she regularly trained staff, foster and adoptive families, and worked with a variety of youth groups.

Workshop Session 2 – Friday, May 21, 10:20 AM – 12:20 PM

2A - Differentiated Instruction: The Vehicle for Diverse and Inclusive Teaching Methods

The one-size-fits-all method of teaching is neither effective nor efficient for the majority of students in today's schools.  As a result, responsive classroom experiences which address diverse learning needs can bridge performance gaps noted among students. This technique, known as Differentiated Instruction, will be reviewed to assist educators, advocates and parents on how to utilize and/or request creative learning opportunities and activities for students to improve learning and performance. Upon completion of this workshop participants will be able to: define terms often used with Differentiated Instruction; distinguish between learning growth and achievement; and identify resources to gain additional information.

Joseph Petrella, PhD, Gateway School District

Dr. Petrella is the Assistant Superintendent for the Gateway School District in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.  Prior to earning his commission at Gateway, Dr. Petrella served as Director of Curriculum, Principal, and Vice Principal for various districts in the greater Pittsburgh area.  In addition to his work within his home district, Dr. Petrella has facilitated professional development opportunities for numerous school systems throughout Pennsylvania to promote effective strategies associated with Differentiated Instruction, Understanding by Design, and systemic reform.  He has also served as a national presenter for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.   Dr. Petrella earned a Master of Arts in Teaching degree and Doctor of Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh.  He completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

2B - Out of One, Many: Making Room for the Spirit

2C - Medical Needs: A Strand in the Diversity Quilt

The speaker will review children's physical, mental, developmental, and dental health needs and how those specific needs impact a caretaker's role, particularly those children and youth who are in foster care and/or have complicated health conditions. The speaker will also present new resources from the American Academy of Pediatrics' Task Force on Foster Care, designed to facilitate inter-disciplinary work and improve the health of children. At the end of this presentation, participants should understand why children's physical, mental, developmental, and dental health matters in placement decisions; be aware of common or complex conditions where caregivers need to be capable of handling diverse health needs; and know how to access health resources for children in foster care through the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Sarah Springer, MD, FAAP Pediatric Alliance, PC

Sarah Springer is a general pediatrician, practicing in Pittsburgh with the Southwest Division of Pediatric Alliance.  She is the medical director of the International Adoption Health Services of Western Pennsylvania, and has provided specialty health services to domestically and internationally adopted children since 1995.  Dr. Springer is the Chairperson of the Task Force on Foster Care, and immediate past-chairperson of the Section on Adoption and Foster Care, for the American Academy of Pediatrics, collaborating with pediatricians around the country to advocate for the needs of children in foster care and who have been adopted.  She has spoken on numerous occasions about adoption and foster care-related health concerns to parent groups, adoption and child welfare professionals, and health professionals.  An adoptive parent herself, Dr Springer is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Pediatric Residency Program.

2D - MultiEthnic Placement Act: The Role Diversity Can Play in Placement Decisions

This workshop will provide participants the opportunity to describe the components of the MultiEthnic Placement Act with an emphasis on history, updates and how it is enforced.-. Through discussion and application exercises, participants will recognize that the law does not require absolute blindness to race, ethnicity and differences. Upon completion of this workshop participants will be able to: describe the three core requirements of MEPA; explain the history and discuss updates of the law; and describe how the law is monitored and enforced.

Eleanor Bush, Esq., Family Design Resources, Inc.

Eleanor L. Bush is an attorney who has practiced child welfare law for approximately 16 years.  During that time Ms. Bush has represented individual children in juvenile court, supervised attorneys who represent abused and neglected children, consulted to Pennsylvania counties, trained hundreds of social workers and worked collaboratively on the state and local levels with government agencies, child advocates and providers of services. Ms. Bush currently serves as Legal Services Training Specialist for Family Design Resources.  Previous positions have included Staff Attorney at Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, Legal Director at KidsVoice in Pittsburgh, Assistant Counsel for Pennsylvania Department of Education and consultant to the ABA Center on Children and the Law's Permanency Barriers Project.  Ms. Bush holds her law degree from Yale Law School and a Master's Degree in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management.

2E – Does My Organization Measure Up? A Review of Diversity and Inclusion on the Job

This workshop will provide clarity to the commonly used term "diversity in the workplace." The key infrastructures needed to create an environment that supports inclusion will be identified. In addition, strategies that lend to valuing and positively recognizing employees' strengths will be highlighted. A business case for how these concepts benefit an organization's productivity while attracting and retaining quality staff will be reviewed.Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to explain why diversity and inclusion policies are essential in the workplace and identify key components needed to create an inclusive environment.

Candi Castleberry-Singleton, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Candi Castleberry-Singleton is the Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), where she is responsible for developing UPMC's inclusion strategy, including its Health Care Dignity and Respect Campaign. In 2008, she launched the Center for Inclusion in Health Care. Ms. Castleberry-Singleton has an exceptional record of building sustainable inclusion practices for the workplace, marketplace, and workforce. An experienced strategist, she created The Integrated Inclusion Model ™, a systems integration model that shifts the responsibility for achieving an inclusive culture to every employee. Ms. Singleton-Castleberry received an MBA from Pepperdine University, a bachelor's degree in legal studies from UC Berkeley, and graduated from the Stanford University Human Resources Executive Program.

Workshop Session 3 – Friday, May 21, 1:45 – 3:45 PM

3A - How to Have Courageous Conversations

At a time when demographic trends illustrate an increasingly diverse population, it also supports the need for an increased understanding about the concepts of diversity, inclusion and cultural competence.  This workshop builds upon the framework of diversity by providing opportunities for discussion that will increase confidence when engaging with others about differences. Strategies will be offered on how to participate in conversations about diverse points of view that are meaningful but are often difficult to initiate. Strategies will be identified on how to engage in meaningful conversations with an opportunity for practice. It is recommended that participants who attend this workshop attend "Diversity Awareness: What Does it Mean & How is it Achieved?" Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to define terms used in the diversity framework, explain stereotype development, list components of "courageous conversations," and identify strategies for participating in meaningful discussion with people of differing views.

Trisha Gadson, MS, Family Design Resources, Inc.

Trisha Gadson is employed by Family Design Resources, Inc. as a Development Specialist. She has worked for more than twenty years in the child welfare field, and her strengths are in the area of curriculum development and implementation. She has specialized in diversity and inclusion in the workplace and serves as project manager for school based programming. Ms. Gadson has obtained diversity training from the National MultiCultural Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. She is also a certified Olweus Bullying Prevention trainer.

3B - ¿Sabe? Finding Resources for Latino Families/ Cómo encontrar os recursos para las familias Latinas

3C - The Conflict Style - Cultural Influence Connection

Does culture influence how you prefer to engage in conflict?  And, if it does, what is the connection between the two? "Culture is a shared system of meanings.  It dictates what we pay attention to, how we act and what we value" (Trompenaars, Riding the Waves of Culture, 1998, p. 13). Culture is an unseen element that influences whether parties in a dispute continue to fight.  It also influences whether verbal or non-verbal communications are interpreted as negatively or positively contributing to whether the parties can trust each other.

This workshop will examine the influence of culture on conflict and will help participants identify cultural-influenced preferences for how to fight and make-up by taking the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory (ICSI), developed by Mitchell Hammer, PhD  Additionally, the ICSI will enable participants to better to understand how your style interacts with other intercultural conflict styles. For your future reference, you will leave the workshop with Dr. Hammer's ICSI Interpretive Guide.

Robert W. Kubacki, JD, MPA, Alignment Management Consulting

Mr. Kubacki has thirty years of experience in the field of managing conflict and coaching others on how to resolve conflict in variety of public, non-profit, academic and corporate settings. He has facilitated intercultural team meetings in Manchester, England; designed and lead video-conferencing workshops for participants in Islamabad, Pakistan; and has mediated multi-party intercultural conflicts.  Mr. Kubacki teaches conflict resolution at Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University.  He is knowledgeable about a variety of culture-attentive conflict resolution models and teaches clients and workshop participants how to apply them.

3D - Supporting Multicultural Families

This workshop is designed to encourage self-reflection about one's own cultural identity and how that impacts our ability to support multicultural families.  The program will help participants gain an understanding of how one's cultural identity is formed and will help them to be able to identify stages of development without passing judgment on individuals. Participants will also be able to identify their own cultural identity while also gaining increased comfort in affirming others, who may be different in significant ways. Lastly, participants will be able to identify a way in which they will be able to give increased support to multicultural families and articulate obstacles that they may have to overcome to do so.

Kathy Fullmer, MA, LPC, Three Rivers Adoption Council

Ms. Fullmer is the eldest child in a family of 11 children and mother of four.  Her youngest child, now eighteen, was adopted from China in infancy. She received her MA in Counseling Children and Adolescents from Slippery Rock University and was subsequently credentialed as a Licensed Professional Counselor and as a National Certified Counselor. Currently she is a family therapist with Three Rivers Adoption Council serving adoptive families.  In that capacity she works with children and families on an outpatient basis.  She has presented workshops at the local, state and national level.

3E - Does Cultural Competence Affect the Legal Decision Making Process?

This workshop will explore the interaction between the cultural continuum and the legal process. Diverse case studies involving families and children within Pennsylvania will offer an opportunity for lively and thought-provoking discussion. Upon completion of this workshop participants will be able to: describe the role of the cultural continuum when applying the law and explore the relationship between the cultural continuum and the legal process.

Eleanor Bush, Esq., Family Design Resources, Inc.

Eleanor L. Bush is an attorney who has practiced child welfare law for approximately 16 years.  During that time Ms. Bush has represented individual children in juvenile court, supervised attorneys who represent abused and neglected children, consulted to Pennsylvania counties, trained hundreds of social workers and worked collaboratively on the state and local levels with government agencies, child advocates and providers of services. Ms. Bush currently serves as Legal Services Training Specialist for Family Design Resources.  Previous positions have included Staff Attorney at Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, Legal Director at KidsVoice in Pittsburgh, Assistant Counsel for Pennsylvania Department of Education and consultant to the ABA Center on Children and the Law's Permanency Barriers Project.  Ms. Bush holds her law degree from Yale Law School and a Master