Welcome to our March newsletter.
Wisconsin CONNECT is a collaborative. We seek to provide technical assistance and training opportunities for substance use prevention and treatment grantees, providers, clinicians, social workers, and support staff.
We draw on local and national academic and community resources to reduce and prevent substance use and improve overall health and wellness in Wisconsin.
To that end, we want to help you connect the dots with this newsletter. It is a tool to support our efforts to promote new research, share tools and trainings that aim to help you engage in different communities, enhance practice and improve the health of your clients and program participants.
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Tips for Teens
from SAMSHA
This fact sheet for teens provides facts about stimulants. It describes short- and long-term effects, lists signs of use, and helps dispel common myths. It also can be used by prevention professionals, educators, health care providers, and others who come in contact with teens on a regular basis.
This fact sheet for teens provides facts about inhalants. It describes the long- and short-term effects and lists the signs of inhalant use. The factsheet helps to dispel common myths about inhalants. Access sources cited in this factsheet.
There are many more resources in this series that focus on other topics and substances that are worth looking into.
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Reframing Language
The language that we use matters.
Four SAMHSA Centers of Excellence—Family Support, African American, Older Adult, and LGBTQ+—each created a language guidance document for serving these populations. Each guidance document outlines outdated language, updated language, and why these changes matter. For ease of access, these four documents have been combined into one. Access it here
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Better Ways to Cope Initiative
from Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services
Better Ways to Cope is a community-centered, harm reduction and substance misuse prevention campaign powered by Community Access to Recovery Services. This multi-faceted movement is designed to increase access to information and resources for reducing overdose deaths, preventing substance misuse disorder and increasing healthy coping choices.
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National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week and Light & Unite Week
National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week is an annual week-long health observance from March 20-March 26, from NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, that aims to spark dialogue about the science of drug use among youth by sharing facts about drugs, alcohol, and substance misuse.
In Milwaukee, the MCSAP/RISE Drug Free MKE coalition will be organizing Light & Unite Red Week activities and resources. Until then, "like" Light & Unite Red on Facebook.
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from Aurora Health Care
Spring Sessions held over the course of four Thursdays
Starting March 23 from 6pm-7pm CST
Freshstart is designed to help any tobacco user, including those who may be unsure about wanting to quit, and specifically addresses ambivalence about quitting. The information, activities and discussion topics help participants discover why they smoke and what motivates them to quit.
Freshstart, which is offered by Advocate Aurora Health, is offered at no cost. Anyone who wants to quit using tobacco can participate in Freshstart.
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Drug Awareness Series
from National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College
March 6 - 9, 2023
Appleton, WI
Topics:
- Drug Abuse Detection
- Course is limited to law enforcement, probation/corrections professionals, fire/EMS, and other personnel responsible for gauging impairment of particular substances.
- Drug Identification and Recognition to Support Tribal Justice
- Identifying and Supporting Drug Endangered Children in Tribal Communities: A Collaborative Approach
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ECHO is an opportunity for women’s substance use treatment providers to come together with clinicians who provide care to women with substance use disorders to learn and share information and strategies to improve the lives of women, their children, and their families.
The ECHO is conducted monthly for 1 hour and includes a brief educational presentation on a topic of interest, a case presentation by a collaborator, and a discussion on strategies that can help the provider offer the best possible care for the client/patient.
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The next ECHO is. . .
Language Challenges in Mental Health and
Substance Use
April 14, 2023
9am-10am CST
Speaker: Denise Johnson
Objectives: The participants will be exposed to different dynamic language issues and the impact of language deprivation for individuals who are deaf/deaf-blind/hard of hearing with mental health and substance use issues.
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Upcoming Dates for 2023
held virtually on the second Friday of almost every month. . .
June
July
August
September
October
November
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Upcoming Training:
March 14, 2023
10am-11am CST
Topic: LGBTQ+ Understanding Gender Dysphoria in Youth
Speaker: Ricardo Wynn, MPA, PLC
Ricardo Wynn currently serves as the HIV Capacity Building Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, HIV Program in partnership with the Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Population Health Institute. In his role, he implements and oversees capacity building initiatives to help build leadership amongst LGBTQ communities of color in Milwaukee, WI. Ricardo is also responsible for providing support and technical assistance to agencies combating the HIV epidemic in southern Wisconsin. He has a strong passion for and experience in engaging and mobilizing marginalized communities around creative and strategic community-based solutions. He has more than ten years of experience working with disenfranchised and at-risk youth and first-generation and minority college students, helping them address urban trauma, education, healthcare, and mental and behavioral health issues.
Prior to his work with the Wisconsin HIV Program, Ricardo served as a State Ambassador with the Statewide Action Planning Group in Wisconsin which is responsible for identifying and cultivating community-focused and generated solutions to the HIV epidemic in Wisconsin. In addition, Ricardo is a proud alumnus of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in organizational communication and a certificate in leadership. Ricardo received his master’s degree in Public Administration from Capella University.
Overall, Ricardo has is an experienced Planning Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry. Strong operations professional skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Microsoft Word, Diversity Training, Team Building, Capacity Building, and Mentoring.
Anyone may attend.
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FASD Self-Paced Training Series
Many medical, allied health care providers, educators, and others work with individuals affected by prenatal alcohol exposure—diagnosed or undiagnosed—but may lack training to identify, refer, and/or provide effective services. Few agencies offer FASD training to address these important issues.
This FASD self-paced learning series helps decrease the knowledge gap by providing on-demand educational opportunities to learn more about the prevention, identification, and treatment of FASD.
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Hidden Crisis: Meth and Opioid Use among Black Gay Men
Thursday, March 9
1pm-2pm CST
This webinar, hosted by the Center of Excellence on LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equity and the African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence will explore the unique challenges faced by Black gay men who use crystal meth as well as action steps professionals can take to meet their needs more effectively. Free to attend.
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Save the Date for Conferences
March 16-17, 2023, pre-conference events on March 15
In-person at the Osthoff Resort, Elkhart Lake
April 11-13, 2023
Hybrid. In-person at the Osthoff Resort, Elkhart Lake
May 16-18, 2023, pre-conference events on May 15
Hybrid. In-person in the Wisconsin Dells.
June 28-29, 2023
Hybrid. In-person in Green Bay.
August 29-31, 2023
In-person in Kansas City, Missouri
September 13-14, 2023
Hybrid. In-person in the Wisconsin Dells.
October 24-25, 2023
In-person at the Oshkosh Convention Center.
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Check out our video archive to find a session you might have missed.
You can also go back to the training session webpage to find other resources, slides and handouts.
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Click here below to see all the upcoming trainings and events across topics. |
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Have a training interest? Looking for technical assistance? Simply fill out this online form with what you are seeking, and we will follow up to further explore your needs. |
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Reading recommendations to further your understanding and develop new ideas in your field.
Let us know if you have any to share!
Article:
Book:
- The Big Fix by Tracey Helton Mitchell
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After surviving nearly a decade of heroin abuse and hard living on the streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, Tracey Helton Mitchell decided to get clean for good. With raw honesty and a poignant perspective on life that only comes from starting at rock bottom, The Big Fix tells her story of transformation from homeless heroin addict to stable mother of three—and the hard work and hard lessons that got her there. Rather than dwelling on the pain of addiction, Tracey focuses on her journey of recovery and rebuilding her life, while exposing the failings of the American rehab system and laying out a path for change. Starting with the first step in her recovery, Tracey re-learns how to interact with men, build new friendships, handle money, and rekindle her relationship with her mother, all while staying sober, sharp, and dedicated to her future. A decidedly female story of addiction, The Big Fix describes the unique challenges faced by women caught in the grip of substance abuse, such as the toxic connection between drug addition and prostitution. Tracey’s story of hope, hard work, and rehabilitation will inspire anyone who has been affected by substance abuse while offering hope for a better future.
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https://www.sealpress.com/titles/tracey-helton-mitchell/the-big-fix/9781580056045/
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Wisconsin CONNECT Social Media |
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Go follow the new Wisconsin CONNECT social media pages for regular updates on training opportunities as well as to connect and network with other professionals. |
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We do this in partnership with the Bureau of Prevention, Treatment and Recovery within the Wisconsin Department of Health Service's Division of Care and Treatment Services, UW-Milwaukee, and our network of training providers. |
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