Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force 2022 Karen Avery Forum
— Awards Presentation —
In partnership with Milwaukee Turners Vel Phillips Forum
Empowering Families: Peer and Community Mental Health Support for Child Welfare Involved Parents and Families.
Listening to the voices of lived experience at the intersection of race, gender, mental health and child welfare.
Tuesday November 15, 2022
2:00 – 4:30 PM
Register for the 2022 Karen Avery Forum here.
Forum Information
This year’s Karen Avery Forum is the first in a series of discussions on supporting parents and families for success in the Child Welfare system. In Wisconsin over 3000 children annually are removed from their parents’ homes for alleged child neglect or abuse, in a process that may include foster care placement and termination of parental rights. Involvement in this process may be traumatic for parents and their children. It is particularly challenging when issues of mental health and racial and economic inequities affect subjective judgments of risk, safety and parental fitness. Our speakers will share other models that include peer support and a strength-based approach to support parents and families.
- Agenda for the 2022 Karen Avery Forum (accessible PDF).
- 2022 Karen Avery Forum Flyer and Speaker Bios (accessible PDF).
- 2022 Mental Health Task Force Award Recipients (accessible PDF).
The Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force thanks the following:
- 2022 – 2023 Mental Health Task Force Supporting Members (list in formation) (accessible PDF).
- 2022 Karen Avery Forum Planning Committee (accessible PDF).
- 2022 Mental Health Task Force Steering Committee Members (accessible PDF).
Opening Session: Lifting up the Voice of Lived Experience: Peer Support and Empowerment
Rise is an organization that supports and works with impacted parents to shift conditions that harm families and build new collective care networks of peer support. Rise Magazine has been a leader nationally in supporting parents and families with peer support and with an emphasis on listening to the voices and the needs of parents with lived experience. Speakers from Rise will share their philosophy of peer support and empowerment.
- Rise’s Peer Supporter Model: Powerpoint for Session 1 (PDF)
- Rise Resources
- Peer Supporter Program: Someone To Turn To
- Parent Platforms Program: An Unavoidable System
- Parent Advocate Program: Reunification Collaborative
Panel Discussion: A Strength Based Approach: Involving the Court and Parents in Family Preservation
More and more judges who preside over child welfare matters are engaging with justice involved individuals in a more collaborative, therapeutic and problem-solving way. It is often career defining for the judge and can be quite transformative for the individuals. It starts out as an understanding of human suffering and is always fueled by sheer perseverance and hope. Milwaukee’s Drug Treatment Specialty Court at Children’s Court has demonstrated the power of a holistic and collaborative approach, for parents whose addiction and mental health challenges may otherwise have led to permanent family separation. Meet a judge and two dynamic women who will tell their stories of that perseverance and hope.
Community Resources
- Mental Health America of Wisconsin Mental Health Resource Directory
- Mental Health America of Wisconsin Fact Sheets
- Mental Health America of Wisconsin Strong Families Healthy Homes Program
- Disability Rights Wisconsin – 800-928-8778
Accommodation Requests
The forum will be captioned and ASL interpreters will be available. To request other disability related accommodations, email barbara.beckert@drwi.org as soon as possible. We will do our best to be responsive to all requests received.
Continuing Education
- Certified Parent Peer Specialists and Certified Peer Specialists may receive 2.5 Continuing Education Hours for attending the entire training and submitting a completed evaluation.
- All participants can request a Certificate of Participation for 2.5 hours by attending the entire training and submitting a completed evaluation.
Thank You to Our Members
The Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force annual membership drive is underway. Your membership will support our work as a positive force for systems change, cover a portion of staff costs to coordinate the task force, fund programmatic and communications expenses, and ensure our programs are open to all. We need your support to sustain our important work – please join or renew your membership.
At the forum, we will recognize the Supporting Members of the Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force.
Membership materials are posted on the 2022-2023 Membership Drive page.