Free Workshop on Racial and Ethnic Disparities and System Integration

The Seattle/King County Gang Prevention & Outreach Work Group is pleased to inform you that the last of a series of workshops sponsored by the Work Group will take place on Thursday, August 26, 2010, from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM  at Seattle University Campion Hall.  As you may recall, the Work Group has been providing free technical assistance and training Work Shops during the months of April, May and June of this year.  The purpose of the workshops is to provide community providers, youth and community advocates, and agency providers high quality trainings that provide participants tools and knowledge on how to deliver services to young people effectively.   Over the past 3 months, several of the issue areas covered  in the workshops were; Fatherhood, Cultural Competency, Self Care and Conflict Resolution.
 
This Work Shop will include members of the King County System Integration Initiative.  The initiative is a consortium of state and local youth-serving agencies working together to improve the coordination and integration of services for youth involved in the juvenile justice, child welfare, mental health and chemical dependency systems.   The presenters will discuss the progress made in many areas including information sharing guide, protocols for coordinate management, cross-system training, detailed recommendations to improve the systems that serve a disproportionate number of youth of color. Michael Gedeon, Lyman Legters and Jessica Ferguson are local leaders in the field of Child Welfare and the Juvenile Justice and will make up the system integration panel.

The Work Shop will also include Keynote Speaker Michael Harris:  Michael Harris is the Deputy Director of the W. Hayward Burns Institute. He provides technical assistance to BI sites in analyzing whether and to what extent policies and practices contribute to disparities in juvenile justice systems. He assists in developing local strategies to reduce disparities. He also supervises BI program managers and other staff.
 
To register for the Work Shop please click on this link: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122135. Registration is based on first come first serve.

Description: This workshop will present information that demonstrates the racial disparities that exist throughout institutions and systems that serve young people involved in the juvenile justice, child welfare, mental health or education systems.  Professionals from those systems will be providing their knowledge about the strategic and innovative methods they are involved in to address and eliminate racial disparities and disproportionality.
 
Systems Integration Panel:

• Lyman Legters, Executive Director, Seattle Field Office for Casey Family Programs
• Jessica Ferguson, Family to Family Coordinator, Washington State Department of Children and Family Services
• Michael Gideon, Senior Policy Analyst, King County Office of Strategic Planning and Performance Management 

Key Note Speaker:

• Michael Harris, Deputy Director of the W. Hayward Burns Institute, San Francisco, CA

Participants will:
• Gain information about King County System Integration Initiative;
• Identify racial disparities in the Juvenile Justice System;
• Learn about strategies designed to reduce the disproportionate number of kids in the juvenile justice and child welfares system;
• Share experiences addressing racial disparities;
 
Capacity:       150 participants. 
Date/Time:    Thursday, August 26, 2010, Workshop 4A, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location:       Seattle University Campion Hall, 901 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
Register online at:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/122135
 
About the presenters: 
Mr. Michael Harris, is the Deputy Director of the W. Hayward Burns Institute. He provides technical assistance to BI sites in analyzing whether and to what extent policies and practices contribute to disparities in juvenile justice systems. He assists in developing local strategies to reduce disparities. He also supervises BI program managers and other staff.  Harris was previously Assistant Director and Staff Attorney of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) of the San Francisco Bay Area, where he worked on a wide range of issues affecting the African American community, particularly juvenile justice and education.
 
Mr. Lyman Legters, Lyman Legters is executive director of the Seattle field office for Casey Family Programs, a national operating foundation that has served children, youth, and families in the child welfare system since 1966. He is involved in a number of community initiatives that improve child-serving systems, support families and young people, and have a positive impact on racial disparities in the child welfare system. A leader of the King County Coalition on Disproportionality, he also serves on the executive committee of the King County Systems Integration Initiative and co-chairs the board of directors of City Year in Seattle/King County.