Dr. Christopher Williams - One Caring Adult

With multiple articles appearing week after week detailing the crisis in youth mental health, it can be confusing to know where to start and how to act within the context of a classroom, front office, or 1:1 meeting with a student or parent. However, years of research in human development and mental health show that relationships are the mechanism for lasting change. In this workshop, we will explore how to examine the ways in which we show up for children, youth, and adults in ways that build and maintain healthy relationships. We can keep it simple, and drive lasting change through what we already know to be true.

Dr. Christopher Williams - Hello Tier II? It's me, Chronic Absenteeism.

The presence of at least one caring adult in the life of a young person can be the difference in how a young person successfully navigates significant adversity. Chronic Absenteeism is one metric which demonstrates that too many young people don’t have those caring adults in their lives, with recent data indicating that close to 30% of CA students miss 10% or more of school. From an MTSS perspective, Tier II provides us the opportunity for intervention through 1:1 and small group interventions. In this workshop, participants will hear about successful strategies to incorporate mentoring, Wellness Coaches, and small group work to reverse the trend of chronic absenteeism in their schools and districts.