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Photos from the West
Last week, CSG West was greeted by a picturesque snowfall at the Montana State Capitol. We thank our Montana members for their warm hospitality during the legislature’s interim committee sessions, as well as the invitation to attend the Governor’s Housing Task Force meeting.
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Early Bird Registration Ends Next Week for the CSG West Annual Meeting! | |
CSG West Annual Meeting early bird registration rates are available through May 21. Be sure to secure your seat!
The 2024 CSG West Annual Meeting will convene July 9-12 in Portland, Oregon. CSG West Chair, Oregon Senator Bill Hansell, and the Oregon Host Committee, invite you to collaborate on critical issues facing our region, such as:
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• Trending Issues in Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Safeguarding the West from Wildfires
• Children’s Mental Health
• Managing Western Water
• Affording Energy for Fixed Income Households
• Student Achievement Beyond Academics
• Addressing Violent Crime and Drug Use
• Small Module Nuclear Reactors
• Strengthening the Canada-U.S. Relationship
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The meeting will also host the first CSG West Housing Forum, as well as legislative learning labs addressing investments in broadband, Right to Repair legislation, the healthcare affordability crisis, and earned wage access (EWA,) among others.
In addition to the program content, the Annual Meeting provides incredible networking opportunities to build relationships with regional colleagues, and several leadership development sessions tailored to the legislative experience.
CSG West looks forward to seeing you!
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CSG West staff attended activities during the annual Canada Day in California, which was celebrated April 17th in Sacramento. Every year the Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco, currently led by Consul General Rana Sarkar, descends on the capital city with a special guest to build alliances and remind officials of the importance of the Canada – U.S. relationship.
This year’s special guest was former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman, who served in that role from 2014 to 2017. He also served as partner and managing director of the Chicago office of Goldman Sachs and co-founded Uncharted LLC, an organization that convenes and connects diverse groups of Americans and Canadians.
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Left to right: Consul General of Canada in San Francisco, Rana Sarkar, with former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman. | |
The California Chamber of Commerce hosted a lunchtime fireside chat on the future of U.S.-Canada relations titled Partnering for Prosperity: Canada-U.S. Economic Security. President and CEO of CalChamber, Jennifer Barrera, welcomed state and local officials and guests interested in strengthening the relationship. California Natural Resources Agency Secretary, Wade Crowfoot, highlighted cooperation and partnership with Canada on various issues such as droughts, floods, and wildfires. | Left to Right: California Assemblymember Assemblymember Ash Kalra, former U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman, and Consul General Rana Sarkar. | |
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The Consulate General of Canada in San Francisco, along with Air Canada, hosted a Friends of Canada Reception that same evening at the California Museum to highlight the importance of binational interests and endeavors in a more relaxed environment. The reception allowed for valuable time to meet and reconnect with fellow advocates of the unique and longstanding relationship with our neighbor to the North. Assemblymember Ash Kalra, the only California legislator originally from Canada (born in Toronto before moving to San Jose with his family as a young child) was in attendance as were other dignitaries.
The relationship with Canada is important to CSG West. The Canada Relations Committee, which is part of CSG West’s policy work, convenes policymakers from across the western U.S. and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia to address issues of common interest. The committee will convene during the upcoming 77th CSG West Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon.
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The CSG Justice Center and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) will host two upcoming webinars addressing mental health in connection with the criminal justice system. Learn more about the focus areas, webinar dates, and registration information below. | |
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Meet the Criminal Justice-Mental Health Learning Sites
Wednesday, May 29 |1:00-2:00pm Eastern
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In this webinar, the CSG Justice Center and BJA will launch the new Criminal Justice-Mental Health Learning Sites. Jurisdictions across the country are seeking resources to strengthen their criminal justice programming to respond to people with behavioral health needs. The Criminal Justice-Mental Health Learning Site program was launched in 2023 as a peer-to-peer opportunity for agencies and jurisdictions to learn directly from programs that have experienced success using evidence-based practices to improve these responses.
Together with the Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Sites, these sites offer strategies from crisis response through courts, jail, reentry, and community supervision.
The 10 programs span the U.S. and offer free assistance on ways to provide appropriate clinical treatment to participants, effectively use data to demonstrate a program’s outcomes, successfully engage with communities, and more. The learning sites are responsible for facilitating collaboration and knowledge exchange, fostering innovation, and serving as mentors for other agencies that are passionate about criminal justice and behavioral health reform as part of the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program.
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Ask the Expert: Embedded Mental Health Clinicians in Probation
Thursday, May 30 | 2:00-3:30pm Eastern
| For this session in the Ask the Expert Series, The Virginia Department of Corrections Community Corrections program, a national Criminal Justice Mental Health learning site, will be joining us to discuss their Community Corrections Mental Health Program. This program has taken an innovative approach to addressing the mental health needs of people on state community supervision in the commonwealth by embedding full-time mental health staff within their probation and parole districts. Presenters from the Community Mental Health and Wellness team will discuss how these positions were established, the role of regional and district mental health clinicians in consultation with probation officers, and lessons learned since the implementation of the program in 2017. | |
CSG West is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization serving western state legislatures. All active legislators are considered members of our organization and included in organizational correspondence regarding news and events. While we hope you find this information of use, we also understand the need for a tidy inbox. If you do not wish to receive email updates from us, please unsubscribe below to be removed from our email list. | | | | |
