Trainings for Human Service Providers

Note: Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0 CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Case Managers, non-clinical and other frontline staff (i.e.: those that provide front desk services, maintenance, security, food preparation, rent collection, and recreational activities) are consistently in contact with service recipients who have a range of behavioral health needs.  This training provides an overview of the experiences of people living with special needs, including mental illness, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS.  It also offers information on how co-occurring disorders interact with one another and impact how persons respond to services.  Special emphasis is placed on understanding staff roles in supporting persons with special needs and managing everyday problematic situations.  Well-trained clinical staff matched with well-trained non-clinical staff makes for an ideal team that work collaboratively to provide optimal services. Read more

Note:  This training is a Webinar. Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Demographic shifts in the United States are impacted significantly by aging Baby Boomers and prolonged life expectancy.  Studies show that the proportion of older persons will increase dramatically over the next few decades.  Services and programming must be able to adapt to this new need to help adults’ age-in-place, promote health and absorb the increase of homeless older individuals.  This training explores the specific needs and challenges of working with persons as they age and offers skills and strategies to assist persons to maximize independence and continue to work towards full and healthy living.  At the end of this training, participants will have a better understanding of this cohort and be prepared to identify how Supportive Housing can offer specialized services and modifications to allow healthy aging in place. Read more

Note:  Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: (This training is not eligible for SW CE/LMHC Hours) CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 In prison and jail, individuals with mental illness often experience a series of traumatizing (or re-traumatizing) events that increase their mental and emotional vulnerability.  These experiences can create challenges with re-entry into the community.  This training is designed for those who are or will be working with individuals living with mental illness who have a justice-involved history.  Specifically, it explores cultural adaptations common during incarceration, and how these behaviors can influence the adjustment to “living on the outside”; it then provides tools for engaging and assisting these individuals as they transition back into community settings.  Case scenarios are presented, as well as a “Prison Survival Quiz” that reviews some of the situations/decisions that an inmate may encounter when incarcerated, and the impact of those decisions after.  Attendees of the training will leave with a clearer understanding of what it means to be acculturated into prison life, and the steps that direct service staff can take to help individuals re-acclimate after release. Read more

Note:  This training is a Webinar, you must complete the Full Day to receive your certificate. Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 This full day training will provide an overview to clarify the core principles of harm reduction. Harm reduction was born out of the need to reduce the stigma of addiction and those who misuse substances.  Participants will be familiarized with a set of practical strategies to reduce negative consequences of drug use. Attendees will understand drug use as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that encompasses a continuum of behaviors.  The training will be presented through a lens of recovery – where success is seen through quality of life & well-being, instead of cessation of all symptoms or drug use. At the end of the training, attendees will have a better understanding of Harm reduction and strategies to offer optimal services. Read more

Note:  Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Until recently, compulsive hoarding remained a misunderstood disorder about which little was known.  Current research and outreach strategies have transformed the types of services we can now offer persons with this disorder.  The training focuses teaching staff the skills needed to work collaboratively with a tenant to help him/her stay housed.  It offers an overview of hoarding, identifies the populations at highest risk, and helps distinguish hoarding from collecting.  Attendees learn how to assess, engage, and manage these behaviors in supportive housing, and will leave the training with a more complete understanding of how to create a healthy alliance with persons who hoard and assist them with a transition to a less cluttered life.  This training is a pre-requisite to Buried in Treasures: A Curriculum to Address Hoarding Disorder, an evidence-based curriculum based intervention targeted to both support services and property management staff interested in offering classes to tenants on the issue of hoarding and living less cluttered lives.   Read more

Note:  This training is a Webinar, you must complete both days to receive your certificate. Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Housing First is an evidence-based practice that is a proven method of ending all types of homelessness and is the most effective approach to ending chronic homelessness.  Housing First offers homeless persons immediate access to permanent affordable or supportive housing.  Both federal and local government agencies and funders are prioritizing the housing first model as a means to house chronically homeless individuals and families effectively.  This implementation package offers an overview of the Housing First model and information on the efficacy and principles of this evidence-based practice.  Attendees will explore the philosophical underpinnings of Housing First.  Using first hand experience in adopting Housing First, programs are offered tested strategic planning issues to facilitate the implementation process.  Options for additional training supports are offered to programs adopting this exciting and promising evidence-based practice. Read more