ND Family-Based Services Conference, Bright Futures Together, is March 29-April 1 in Fargo

North Dakota’s 33rd Family-Based Services Association (NDFBSA) conference, March 29-April 1 in Fargo, will highlight services, provide training, and recognize individuals and organizations working to maintain, strengthen and empower families.

Professionals who work with children and families are encouraged to attend the in-person conference at the Holiday Inn of Fargo, especially behavioral health and child welfare professionals, service providers, juvenile justice personnel, parent aides, foster parents, educators, students and others. The conference is approved for wraparound recertification and continuing education credits are available.

“As we reflect on the past few years and what we all have endured, we can see how change can bring struggle, but more importantly we see growth,” said NDFBSA President Cheryl Thomas. “The association wants to focus on that growth so that children and families and the professionals who serve them have bright futures together.” 

The conference begins Tuesday, March 29, with a day-long training 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, led by Dr. Angela Cavett, clinical director at Chrysalis Behavioral Health Services in Fargo, on reactive attachment disorder. Cavett will share an overview of early developmental trauma and how it impacts children’s attachments and regulation, executive and cognitive functioning and perceptions of self and others. She will also introduce participants to the Integrative Attachment-Informed Model, a tiered play therapy model for traumatized children. Participants will be able to explore and practice how to use play therapy interventions.

On Wednesday, March 30, psychologist Dr. Renae Reinardy who is director of the Lakeside Center for Behavioral Change and program developer of Couragecritters.com will give a keynote presentation titled, “Creative Strategies for Improved Client and Provider Mental Health,” 8:30-11:30 a.m. CT. She will discuss strategies to prevent provider burnout and build sustainability through multidisciplinary collaboration, groups, setting limits, healthy work environments and self-care. She will also discuss common factors for successful therapy and tools to keep treatment fresh and effective.

March 30 afternoon breakout sessions will address treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder and body-focused repetitive behaviors, ethics encountered in social work, diagnosis and mental health in North Dakota, treatment of hoarding disorder, and the face of mental health and interventions for understanding and regulating disruptive children and adolescents in classrooms. 

There will also be a session on professional ethics and supervision in the helping field that has been approved for CEUs by the N.D. Board of Counselor Examiners. 

On Thursday, March 31, Gaelin Elmore will give the keynote: “Handle with Care,” which will equip, inspire and motivate conference participants as they care for youth in the foster care system.  Afterwards, N.D. Department of Human Services representatives will share information about Medicaid 1915(i) State Plan Amendment services, Family First Title IV-E Prevention Services and Programs, and other behavioral health and supportive services and programs for children and families in North Dakota.

Breakout sessions on March 31 will feature presentations on creating belonging for youth in care, students in transition and services for homeless youth, psychological medications and mood disorders in children, “Things I wish they told me,” which explores the impacts of foster care; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatment for major depressive disorder; and the opioid crisis in North Dakota.

The conference will close on April 1, with an 8:30-10 a.m. CT, overview of the community-wide impact of juvenile justice reform in North Dakota, followed by time for questions and answers. 

Details about the conference, including online registration and a full schedule of events, is available at www.ndfbsa.org.

Registration fees range from $195 for the entire NDFBSA conference including the preconference, $90 for one-day registration on Wednesday or Thursday and $70 for Friday’s session. There is also a $100 parent/student registration fee available that covers the conference.

Conference sponsors and partners include the N.D. Department of Human Services, N.D. Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Chrysalis Behavioral Health Services and Training Center, Adults Adopting Special Kids, Lakeside Center for Behavioral Change, the Village Family Service Center, N.D. Post Adopt Network, Nexus-Path Family Healing, Courage Critters and the Dakota Family Services Outpatient Mental Health.