Welcome to our February newsletter!

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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.

Important Note:

There's been many changes in the work force recently, including staff changing or organization technology updates. It's come to our attention that due to these changes, a lot of the emails on our contact list are out of use. Please remind your colleagues if they have been affected by whatever changes to re-sign up for our newsletter. We can't get information on trainings and more opportunities to communities who are not looped in to our contact list.

They can do so on our home page at this link.

Challenging, Sustaining, and Evolving: An Anthology on Youth Mental Health Advocacy (And Hope)

This report from Mental Health America’s Young Leaders Council is a reflection on the complexities that young people are confronted with in the world of mental health activism – as told firsthand by the members of MHA’s YLC. 

Download the report.

Addressing Stigma at the Intersection of Substance Use Disorders (SUD) and Mental Health:

Stories of Recovery in Native American Communities

from WISE Coalition

Tuesday, February 20

February’s WISE Coalition meeting will feature guest speakers Debra A. Valentino, Certified Recovery Coach and Certified Facilitator, and Clint Peterson, who is active in the recovery community. The meeting will be facilitated by Mark Powless, who is the General Manager over programs and services for the Oneida Nation. This virtual meeting will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on February 20.

RSVP here

Connecting for Solutions: Youth Participation in Activities and Children's Mental Health

OCMH's second Social Connectedness of Youth convening in 2024

Wednesday, February 28

12:00p.m.-1:15p.m.

Virtual

"Youth who participate in extracurricular activities are less likely to report depression and anxiety and more likely to feel they belong. Although Wisconsin kids are participating in extracurriculars, the number has been declining over the last five years.

What you can expect in this convening:

• Learn why it is important for youth to participate in activities.
• Hear from two organizations in Wisconsin about how they are successfully connecting youth through their programing.
• Learn from others. In small group discussions you'll hear from others what they are seeing in their communities regarding youth participating in activities. Come ready to share!
• Meet others and network. 

Our first convening was a success! 42% of participants rated it a 10 out of 10 while 84% rated it 8-10 out of 10. Participants liked collaborating and connecting with others, learning what others are doing, and enjoyed the thoroughness of the presentation. Don't miss our second one!

We want to inspire local work on social connectedness of youth. This convening is open to anyone in Wisconsin concerned about children's mental health and social connectedness of youth. Feel free to share this invitation. "

Register here

ECOM Workshop for Advocates: Housing, Shelter & Warming Rooms

from Community Advocates

Wednesday, February 21

The Empowerment Coalition of Milwaukee (ECOM) is a monthly gathering of social services professionals, advocates, and consumers organized by Community Advocates Public Policy Institute. ECOM meets monthly and explores topics that are vital to Milwaukee’s human services professionals. This month’s topic is Housing, Shelter & Warming Rooms, and will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on February 21; location is TBD. Fee is $5 for light refreshments and materials. Kindly make sure to RSVP by Friday, February 16. Our entire 2024 ECOM workshop schedule is available at the link below.

RSVP here

Samad’s House Second Annual Harm Reduction Drive-thru

Saturday, February 24

Samad’s House, RISE Drug Free MKE, Vital Strategies, and Milwaukee County’s Better Ways to Cope project are sponsoring this harm-reduction drive-through event for those seeking information and resources to save lives. It’ll be held at Clinton Rose Park, 3045 N. MLK Drive, Milwaukee, from 1 to 3 p.m. on February 24.

Motivational Interviewing

from Wisconsin CONNECT

February 27 and March 5, 2024

both 8:30am-12:20pm

held virtually

MI has a well-defined structure and strategy to support direct service staff to have empowering conversation about change with those they serve.

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While role type and focus of services varies from setting to setting where MI has found a home, the approach remains consistent. Research on the “common factors” that lead to successful outcomes clearly shows it matters little “what” is being done and matters greatly “how” the “what” is being done. When training MI one of the first moments of the training is to offer an on-going, as-needed conversation around how MI supports the work being done by service providers. We have found this to be highly successful in the wide variety of service settings we have trained. For example, when sharing MI to a large agency where intake specialists are utilizing MI to engage, non-clinical direct service providers are using MI to engage and evoke change, and clinicians are integrating MI with cognitive behavioral treatment.

​All learners are able to adopt and adapt MI to their unique focus, learn from each other how to deepen their own practice, and create + sustain a common culture of service from intake to discharge.

Register here

More information here

New Lethal Combinations and Clinical Challenges

from Wisconsin CONNECT

Methamphetamine and cocaine use rates and overdose deaths are rapidly increasing in much of the US. Over 50% of overdose deaths in the US now involve use of stimulants, alone or in combination with fentanyl and/or xylazine. The presentation will review the clinical challenges presented by individuals who use stimulants and current protocols for addressing acute medical/psychiatric conditions. Evidence-based behavioral/psychosocial strategies are presented, along with pharmacotherapies currently considered promising. Fentanyl and xylazine have changed the illicit drug landscape and made harm reduction the essential framework for addressing the needs of individuals who use illicit drugs. Information will be provided on the changing mixture of drugs being used, the effects of these drugs, the challenges that the use of these drugs provide to first responders, medical professionals and addiction treatment providers.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

10:00am-11:30am

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Virtual on Zoom

Register here

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

10:00am-11:30am

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Virtual on Zoom.

Register here

MATRIX Trainings

from Wisconsin CONNECT

We have the entire year's worth of MATRIX trainings on the calendar! Here is what's upcoming:

Key Supervisor Training

Friday, February 9

9:00a.m.-4:30p.pm.

Virtual

Register here

Matrix and Contingency Management

Thursday, March 7

9:00a.m.-4:30p.m.

In-Person in Milwaukee

Register here

MATRIX Advanced

Friday, March 8

9:00a.m.-4:30p.m.

In-Person in Milwaukee

Register here

Find more topics and dates, find them on our MATRIX page.

Connecting the Dots

from Wisconsin CONNECT

On Demand Training

You asked for more On Demand training options, and we listened! We are calling this new programming Connecting the Dots.

In a podcast format, Kyle Mounts and Lonnetta Albright from the original Women and SUD ECHO team will host experts in the field. Experts will also come from our provider community who will discuss relevant and current research in the field of substance use recovery for women-- to spark meaningful discussion aimed at facilitating practice change.

Our goal is simple—to provide current, relevant information intended to: Increase Awareness & Knowledge; and Identify Application Strategies for changes in practice to support the work you do. On the second Friday of every month, a new podcast will go live.

FASD Self-Paced Training Series

from Wisconsin Connect

On Demand Training

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. 

Call for Applications - Wisconsin Zero Suicide Training

from Wisconsin DHS

Mental Health America of Wisconsin, with support through a grant from the Division of Care and Treatment Services, is accepting applications for the 2024 Wisconsin Zero Suicide Training and learning community. This is a training for organizations that wish to implement the Zero Suicide quality improvement framework. It is not suicide care training for individuals.

This year's Wisconsin Zero Suicide Training is scheduled to take place live online using Zoom June 26-28, 2024. Applications must be submitted to Mental Health America of Wisconsin by March 1, 2024.

Visit the Prevent Suicide Wisconsin website for more information.

Strategy three of the Wisconsin suicide prevention plan is to implement best practices for prevention in health care systems. This involves promoting a systematic "Zero Suicide" approach, rooted in the understanding that health care systems can help prevent suicide in people receiving treatment services.

Trauma and the Brain: An Introduction

from Community Advocates

Tuesday, February 13

As a result of this workshop, participants will gain a better understanding as to how trauma affects the brain, discuss risk factors for substance use disorders, and develop their strategy for intervention methods for a particular population. This webinar, organized by Community Advocates Public Policy Institute, is free and open to the public. It will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on February 13.

RSVP here

How to Be Trauma Resilient in a Racialized Society

from Manna Behavioral Health

Saturday, February 24

This discussion on "breaking the generational cycle, God’s grace, and solutions" will feature Clem Richardson of Manna Behavioral Health, Tony Gardner, Angie Clemmons, and Andre Brown. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on February 24 at Welford Sanders Historic Building, 2821 Vel R. Phillips Ave., Suite 108. Contact 414-334-7022 to learn more.

View flyer

Save the Date for Conferences

Opioids, Stimulants, and Trauma Summit

May 7-9, Pre-conference May 6, 2024

Hybrid. In-person at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells.

Prevent Suicide Wisconsin Annual Conference

May 1 and 2

Virtual 

Workshop proposals are due February 23

Crisis Intervention Conference 

September 19 and 20

Wisconsin Dells

Alcohol Policy Seminar

October 8, Pre-conference October 7, 2024

Hybrid. In-person in Oshkosh.

Mental Health and Substance Use Recovery Conference

October 17 and 18, 2024

Wisconsin Dells

Workshop proposals are due March 1