Friday, December 11, 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Thursday, February 25, 2010

To register, please provide the following for each trainee and e-mail to: valerie.lamotte@ct.gov.

1) Requested training date

2) Name

3) Rank or title

4) Department

5) Telephone number

6) E-mail address

Play By the Rules (PBR) is a promising and award winning program that teaches state-specific law to youth.  It includes a color-illustrated, Q & A student book covering over 200 laws in specific areas.  Also included is a user-friendly teacher guide complete with lesson plans correlated to state standards.  Copies of the student book and teacher guide are available at no cost.  While PBR is designed for middle school students, it is widely used by teachers at other grade levels, school resource officers, counselors, alternative schools, juvenile courts, juvenile correctional facilities, student clubs and organizations, and more. 

If you are interested in using PBR, then plan to attend "Teaching Play By the Rules" for expert assistance in using these free curriculum materials.  The featured trainer is Ponya Parks.  Ms. Parks serves as the Executive Director of the Alabama Center for Law and Civic Education (ACLCE).  Play By the Rules was created and is directed by ACLCE.

Two sessions have been scheduled as follows.

  {TOP of page} Past Events

The following conferences have already occurred and are listed here for informational purposes only.

Effective Police Interactions with Youth – Ten sessions of this daylong training for patrol officers were offered in May/June/August 2009.  A total of 196 officers attended.  Overall, 86% rated the training as "very useful" or "useful" and all agreed that the training identified steps that officers can take to facilitate positive interactions with youth.  Some officer comments included: "It was taught by police officers so the instructors understand the realities of dealing with youth as police officers," "It added the view of police from the youth's eyes," "One of the better training sessions I've had after 29 years."

Fourth Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance Fall Retreat – Representatives from the 28 school district members of the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance and statewide agency people convened in Westbrook on Thursday and Friday, December 4 & 5, 2008. Thursday's agenda focused on Connecticut laws, policies and practices on attendance and school suspension with several speakers from the Connecticut State Department of Education.  Friday's agenda featured four out of state educators (Jason Sutton from Meade County Schools in Kentucky, David Herold and Barbara Winters from Allamakee Community School District in Iowa, and Timothy Cochran from North Kirkwood Middle School in Missouri) as well as Judge Thomas P. Brunnock talking about the Waterbury Probate Court Truancy Model.  Of the 99 persons who attended, 44 completed an evaluation form.  All but two rated the retreat as excellent or good and as either useful or somewhat useful.

Children, Youth & Police: 14th Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies – The 14th annual event attracted 326 police, educators and juvenile justice personnel to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell on November 25, 2008 to hear about teen traffic safety.  Featured speakers were Steven R. Casstevens--Assistant Chief of Police with the Hoffman Estates Police Department in Illinois and member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Highway Safety and DUI committees, Sandy Spavone--Executive Director of NOYS (National Organizations for Youth Safety), Elise Strahan--Senior at Wayne High School in Huber Heights Ohio and board member of NOYS, and Ed Hedge--Law Enforcement Liaison with the Connecticut Department of Transportation.  The Honorable Robert Ward, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, opened the conference by discussing the rationale behind the new state laws on graduated drivers licenses and the data that documents how often the inexperience of new drivers leads to tragic consequences.

Effective Police Interactions with Youth – Four sessions of this daylong training for patrol officers were offered in November/December 2007.  A total of 71 officers attended.  Overall, 85% of the attendees rated the training as "excellent" or "very good" and 100% as "useful."  97% said they would recommend this training to fellow officers.  Some officer comments included: "More patrol officers need this training," "All entry-level patrol officers should have this to dispell stereotyping of youth," "I realize that there are other officers out there with the same problems that I encounter with youth."

Children, Youth & Police: 13th Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies – Approximately 488 police, school and juvenile justice personnel made their way to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell on November 20, 2007 to attend this 13th annual event.  Featured speakers were Vivan J. Carlson, Associate Professor at Saint Joseph College in West Hartford on Aggression Among Girls; Gregg Champlin, Natural Hazards Specialist at the New Hampshire Emergency Management agency on School Emergency Response Planning; and Vladimir Sergevnin, Manager and Editor at the Illinois Law Enforcement Training & Standards Board on the Russian School Tragedy at Beslan.

Third Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance Fall Retreat– On November 1 & 2, 2007 the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance held its third fall retreat at Water's Edge in Westbrook.  Over 85 persons attended the event, which included a number of presentations and time for networking.  The first day began with an overview of the four new Program and Evaluation grants in Ansonia, Stonington, Thompson and Windham and a discussion of the evaluation design by University of Connecticut professors Stephen Anderson and Ronald Sabatelli.  Then, Dr. Scott Shuler from the State Department of Education presented on the High School Redesign Initiative.  The day concluded with guest speaker Buell Snyder, who has over 40 years of experience working as a teacher and administrator in Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky and is a nationally-recognized leader in the areas of alternative education and drop-out prevention.  Day two included a presentation on changes to the FWSN laws by the Honorable Christine Keller, Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters, Connecticut Judicial Branch; a presentation on suspension and expulsion data by John Rogers from the State Department of Education; and break out sessions for program and technology members of the Consortium. 

Effective Police Interactions with Youth – The purpose of this daylong training is to provide patrol officers with information to better understand youth behavior and with practical strategies for interacting with young people in positive ways.  A total of 301 patrol officers each attended one of 21 sessions of the “Effective Police Interactions with Youth” training in March and April 2007.  Trainees completed a pre- and post-test questionnaire and an additional 169 patrol officers, who did not complete the training, filled out the questionnaire during the same time period.  Pre- and post-test results revealed that the training group’s knowledge scores increased significantly after completing the training.  Also patrol officers who completed the training reported significant changes in their attitudes regarding young people and indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the training.

Children, Youth & Police: 12th Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies – The 12th annual conference for Connecticut police personnel attracted a record crowd of 560 people on November 21, 2006 at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell. The featured speaker, Michael Dorn, is one of the world’s best known, highly respected and most credentialed school safety experts and serves as the Executive Director for Safe Havens International Inc., a non-profit safety center. Michael Dorn began the conference with a demonstration and talk on weapons screening. He spent much of the day discussing school safety policies and practices, and concluded with a moving talk, “Weakfish,” which used a case study of a chronically bullied child to show how patterns of bullying can occur, and demonstrated how crucial adults can be in the lives of children. Ninety-five percent of evaluation respondents rated the conference as excellent or very good and as useful or very useful.

Second Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance Fall Retreat – The second fall retreat of the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance featured guest speaker Jim Lawson, a public school teacher for Bay District Schools in Panama City, Florida (2,100+ students). Mr. Lawson presented his creative, award-winning and easy to implement in-school suspension “model for structure.” Representatives from 23 of the 27 school district members of the Consortium as well as statewide agency people—a total of 63 individuals—participated at the retreat, which was held in Westbrook on October 26 and 27, 2006. Retreat evaluation results were very high with 98% rating the retreat as excellent or very good and 100% rating it as useful or somewhat useful.

6th Annual Connecticut Youth Funders Conference – A group of 34 public and private sector funders participated in the 6th Annual Connecticut Youth Funders Conference held on September 7, 2006 at the Waters Edge Conference Center in Westbrook. This conference was co-sponsored by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. A goal of the conference was to gather information and ideas for action from public and private youth funders for transmission to the new, legislatively-created Youth Futures Committee. Presenters at this event included Wendy Wheeler, President of the Innovation Center for Youth and Community Development, who spoke on the research on youth engagement; and Robert F. Sherman, Program Director at Surdna Foundation, who spoke on Surdna’s Effective Citizenry Program.

Children, Youth & Police: 11th Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies – Over 350 persons from police, court and juvenile corrections agencies attended the 11th annual conference on November 22, 2005 at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell. This year’s conference focused on how the physical and social development of youth affects their thoughts, attitudes, actions, and reactions to police. Cindy Mason presented on youth gangs—particularly suburban gangs, and Jeff Bostic covered the new brain research and its implications for police work. The conference concluded with an interactive session on state juvenile justice laws with State Representatives Farr, Hamm, Lawlor and Walker.

Identification of Disproportionate Incident Reporting (A Management Tool) Software & Training – The Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (JJAC) sponsored a half-day training on October 28, 2005 for about 30 managers and staff of both public and private residential facilities on a new management tool developed by the JJAC. The Identification of Disproportionate Incident Reporting Management Tool is a program in Excel that calculates incident report statistics and assessment ratios from facility data. It does not require changes in facility policies and procedures and its usefulness is in providing understandable data with respect to rates of incident reporting by race/ethnicity to managers who may then choose to look more closely at personnel, training and program data to identify whether action is warranted. Participants left the training with their own CD containing the tool and the promise of technical assistance as necessary in its installation and operation.

Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance Fall Retreat – Representatives from all 22 school district members of the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance met with statewide agency people—a total of 50 participants—in Westbrook from 2 p.m. on October 26 through 2 p.m. on October 27, 2005. The agenda included having structured and informal opportunities for both program and technology personnel to get to know and learn from each other. Everyone who completed an evaluation form rated the retreat as either excellent (61%) or very good and as either useful (79%) or somewhat useful. As one attendee commented, “I will take all ideas back to the district team as well as Associate Commissioner of Education Fran Rabinowitz’s encouraging words.”

5th Annual Connecticut Youth Funders Conference – This annual statewide event is only open to representatives of public and private youth funding organizations. Over 50 funders traveled to Water’s Edge Business Center in Westbrook on September 1, 2005 to hear Dr. Mavis Sanders from Johns Hopkins University talk about teens, parents and schools; Dr. Stephen Anderson and Dr. Ronald Sabatelli from the University of Connecticut review six years of their youth outcome evaluation work; Dr. William Graustein, a Connecticut philanthropist, discuss developing young leaders; and State Representative Denise Merrill explain the state legislative budget process and a new legislative Results Based Accountability initiative.

Police in the Classroom – Four two-day training sessions were offered in early May and August 2005 that focused on equipping School Resource Officers and other police personnel who teach youth in the classroom or in after school settings with the skills needed to perform in the role of teacher. The ALL POLICE session covered the Community Works curriculum, which challenges young people to take part in making their communities safe and educates young people about crime and violence prevention. Community Works is appropriate for use by schools, community groups, youth agencies and neighborhood youth centers as well as police officers who are ready to help youth get engaged in their community. The SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER sessions covered two curricula—Street Law for School Resource Officers and Homicide: Life on the Street. Street Law for SROs includes 15 classroom lesson plans on topics such as the myths and realities of police work, arrest law, students’ rights in schools, vandalism, and alcohol. Homicide: Life on the Street includes 6 video segments from the award-winning TV show and lesson plans on bullying, use of force, and effective witnesses. For more information: www.streetlaw.org/sro.asp.

Attending to Attendance: Second Annual Connecticut Conference on Improving School Attendance – On Friday, April 8, 2005 at the Rocky Hill Marriot over 200 persons from more than 80 school districts in Connecticut came to this 2nd statewide conference focused on improving attendance in grades K-12. Five out-of-state experts made outstanding talks and joined together for a panel presentation. These individuals included: Dr. Jay Smink, Executive Director of the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network located at Clemson University in South Carolina; Dr. Larry Fruth, Executive Director of the School Interoperability Framework Association (SIF) located in Washington, DC; Mr. Lou Kanavati, Area Superintendent of the St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota; Dr. Darreyl Young, manager of the Department of Dropout Prevention and Recovery with the Chicago Public Schools Office of High School Programs; and Dr. Gary Hoachlander, President of MPR, Inc., one of the nation’s leading education consulting firms and consultant to the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance since 2001. In addition, State Department of Education officials and local Consortium school district technology representatives presented a workshop on the Connecticut Public School Information System. See Attending to Attendance Conference Proceedings on the Publications page.

Children, Youth & Police: 10TH Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies – The 10th annual police conference began with a video presentation developed by the JJAC entitled “Conversations with Youth and Police in Connecticut.” The featured speaker was Dale Yeager from SERAPH, who stressed that good police work involves keeping up-to-date on problems and trends. The afternoon was lead by a team from the FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force that discussed responding to computer crimes and concluded the afternoon with a case presentation of United States vs. Hopkins. Over 280 persons attended this event which was held on November 23, 2004 at the Radisson Hotel in Cromwell.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS! Advanced Workshop on Data-Driven Practices - This workshop attracted over 80 participants on October 14, 2004 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Cromwell. Representatives from twenty school districts in Connecticut heard about data, policy and practice and what the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance (the Consortium) has learned in its first three years. Materials were shared on 1) the Consortium’s recommendations for improving school attendance in Connecticut, 2) how additional schools districts can join the Consortium, and 3) the Improving School Attendance Program—an opportunity for new Consortium districts to compete for JJAC funds for 2005/2006.

4th Annual Connecticut Youth Funders Conference – This statewide conference was only open to representatives of public and private organizations active in funding programs for youth ages 12 to 18 years.  Forty-four funders convened at the Water’s Edge Business Center in Westbrook on September 2, 2004 to hear presentations and participate in structured networking with Connecticut colleagues.  Conference participants heard from Kevin Bolduc of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, Cambridge, MA, who summarized results of a survey of 10,000 grantees of nearly 100 foundations and identified key dimensions of funding organizations that help nonprofits work with them more effectively.  Jay Sherwin, Program Officer at the Nellie Mae Foundation, Quincy, MA, described the foundation’s minority high achievement agenda and the programming implications of targeting this particular group of students.  The conference concluded with a panel discussion of Connecticut funders on the current funding environment in the state and the challenges of sustaining quality programs in lean times.

Keeping Kids Safe and Smart: Connecticut After School Summit - Over 235 people joined together on June 4, 2004 to inform policymakers and decision-makers as to the needs and benefits of after school programming and to foster relationships among state and local providers, planners, and funders to ensure that all children have access to high quality, affordable after school programs. The day began with greetings from Connecticut youth through a video presentation; opening remarks from State Senator Eileen Daily-JJAC member, Dr. George Coleman-State Department of Education, and Commissioner Darlene Dunbar-Department of Children and Families; and a tribute to the memory of State Representative Anthony Tercyak accepted by his son State Representative Peter Tercyak. The keynote presentation by Dr. Beth Miller focused on her report for the Nellie Mae Education Foundation on Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success. A panel on Connecticut perspectives and lunch table discussions were followed by two breakout sessions with 14 workshops. 95% of evaluation respondents rated the summit useful or somewhat useful.

Attending to Attendance: Students Can't Succeed If They Aren't In School - This statewide conference for schools and communities on improving school attendance was held on April 2, 2004 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Cromwell. Over 150 persons from more than 35 school districts in Connecticut came to learn how to use data to address school attendance issues, share strategies for improving attendance in grades K-12, and understand how improved attendance can drive student achievement and progress on other student outcomes. Attending to Attendance was co-sponsored by the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance, a collaborative effort of nine school districts and nine statewide agencies focused on implementing attendance data collection strategies and data-driven planning; identifying and meeting member technology, program and training needs; and disseminating Consortium findings and program information statewide.

Children, Youth & Police: Ninth Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies - Over 300 persons from police, juvenile probation and other agencies interested in youth issues attended this 9th annual conference for Connecticut police personnel on November 25, 2003 at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Cromwell. This year's conference addressed current national and Connecticut issues pertaining to juvenile justice. The morning was devoted to learning how to recognize bullying behavior and intervene on behalf of children who are bullied. The keynote speaker, Randy Wiler, a nationally recognized expert on bullying prevention, was very favorably received with 62% of conference evaluation respondents rating him "Excellent." The afternoon offered four workshops-extremist groups in Connecticut and youth recruitment; more bullying prevention; DEA resources for working with youth; and a panel of state experts led by Judge Michael Mack, Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters, on 16 & 17-year-old Youth In Crisis and criminal offenders.

3rd Annual Connecticut Youth Funders Conference - Over 50 youth funders attended this conference at the Rocky Hill Marriott on September 4, 2003. The agenda included a welcome from the new Commissioner of Children and Families Darlene Dunbar, a presentation on a case study of Connecticut for Community Youth Development from its author Joan Wynn from the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, and a presentation on identifying the elements of quality in youth development practices by Elaine Johnson, Vice President and Director, National Training Institute for Community Youth Work, Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC. Four workshops in the afternoon covered the Youth Development Practitioner Apprenticeship Program, State Youth Policy Initiatives, After-School Adaptation Initiative and Sustainability.

Assessing Outcomes For Youth Programs - During 2003, two half day sessions on 1) More on Defining & Measuring Youth Outcomes and 2) Collecting Useful Process Data were each offered three times in Cromwell, Stratford, and Windsor.  Presenters were Dr. Stephen A. Anderson and Dr. Ronald M. Sabatelli, professors at the University of Connecticut, who authored Assessing Outcomes in Child and Youth Programs, a handbook on evaluating planned program interventions.  The training focused on the easy-to-use handbook, which includes variables identified from the literature, copies of recommended instruments and sections on how to implement evaluation strategies and analyze data.  These sessions were geared to those who have already attended the full day session on Assessing Outcomes for Youth Programs or who were familiar with youth evaluation concepts.

Children, Youth & Police: Eighth Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies – This conference for Connecticut police personnel attracted 287 persons on November 26, 2002 to the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Cromwell to hear from Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, Director of the Killology Research Group.  Col. Grossman’s presentation focused on violence in America, psychological preparation for close-range interpersonal aggression situations, and prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder.  Ninety-five percent of the respondents to the conference evaluation form rated the conference as useful or very useful and 98% rated Col. Grossman’s presentation as excellent or very good.

Youth Development Through State and Local Action: Statewide Conference – This conference for community and school direct service providers, and planners, trainers, advocates and funders who work with, or on behalf of, youth ages 12 to 18 drew 270 attendees to the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in Cromwell on September 18, 2002.  The conference featured Karen Pittman, Executive Director of the Forum for Youth Investment and showcased youth-adult partnerships from local, regional and state levels in 24 workshop sessions.  Representatives from the states of Alaska, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont discussed state roles in youth development in both a morning panel and workshops.

2nd Annual Connecticut Youth Funders Conference – This statewide conference was only open to representatives of public and private organizations active in funding programs for youth 12 to 18.  Sixty-seven funders convened at the Water’s Edge Business Center in Westbrook on September 5, 2002 to learn about the latest national research out of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine’s Community Programs to Promote Youth Development and heard from Connecticut leaders –– George Coleman, United Way of Connecticut; Chris Hall, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; Thomas A. Kirk, Jr., Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Michael A. Mack, Chief Administrative Judge, Juvenile Matters; and Ted Sergi, Commissioner of Education.

Schools and Police Working Together: Statewide Conference – This conference for Connecticut school and police personnel featured one of the most highly rated speakers that the JJAC has ever brought to Connecticut.  Lt. Col. Dave Grossman spoke to 240 persons in attendance on "Lessons from Jonesboro, Littleton and Vietnam: How Kids are Learning to Kill and Learning to Like It" on April 3, 2002 at the Rocky Hill Marriott.  96% of respondents rated the conference as excellent or very good.  98% rated Col. Grossman as excellent (91%) or very good.  The conference also covered the school/police collaboration in Hartford, Multi-Hazard Emergency School Planning, and Working with the Media.

Children, Youth & Police: Seventh Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies – A conference for Connecticut police personnel that attracted over 210 people on December 6, 2001 at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center, Cromwell.  The featured speaker, a former perpetrator and self-proclaimed former skinhead and fifteen-year member of the neo-Nazi White Supremacy Movement, now works for the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and talked about the importance of positive police/youth relationships.  Workshops addressed raves and drugs in Connecticut, the changing role of police officers in the school and investigating gang crime.

Connecticut Youth Funders Conference - A statewide conference for representatives of public and private organizations active in funding programs for youth ages 12 to 18.  The conference focused on applying positive youth development principles to youth work.  The agenda included national and Connecticut-based youth development experts and featured 25 youth presenters.  Approximately 65 Connecticut youth funders attended the September 6, 2001 conference at Water's Edge in Westbrook.

Minority Youth and the Law: A Connecticut Conference on Minorities in the Juvenile Justice System -  A statewide conference for police, court, Department of Children and Families, school, community agency and other personnel who work with youth in Connecticut.  The conference addressed how Connecticut's juvenile justice system is influenced by the race and ethnicity of its youth based on a JJAC-sponsored study, A Reassessment of Minority Overrepresentation in Connecticut's Juvenile Justice System.  Approximately 300 people attended this conference on June 5, 2001 at the Sheraton Inn, Waterbury.

When Your Students are in Trouble with the Law - A conference for educational leaders, school administrators, School Resource Officers, and other school personnel who work with the juvenile court and Department of Children and Families.  Over 320 people attended this conference on March 27, 2001 at the Sheraton Inn, Waterbury.

Children, Youth & Police: Sixth Annual Statewide Conference For All Connecticut Police Agencies - A conference for Connecticut police personnel that focused on youth community policing and enforcement of the underage drinking laws.  Over 200 people attended this conference on December 7, 2000 at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center, Cromwell.

Forums on Minority Overrepresentation in the Connecticut Juvenile Justice System - The JJAC sponsored six public forums for Connecticut police, court, Department of Children and Families, school, and community agency personnel to learn about a study of minority overrepresentation and share their perspectives on the subject.  The forum discussions were based on a JJAC-sponsored study, A Reassessment of Minority Overrepresentation in Connecticut's Juvenile Justice System.  The forums were held throughout the State in October and November of 2000 with 160 people participating.

Connecticut Conference on Improving School Attendance - A conference for Connecticut school, police, court, Department of Children and Families, and community agency personnel that refocused attention on the importance of school attendance.  The positive approach of this conference on school attendance (rather than truancy, suspension and expulsion) emphasized the abilities of Connecticut's youth.  The conference was held September 26, 2000 at the Sheraton Inn, Waterbury and 293 people attended.