CMHACY 2017 Conference Opening Event and Plenary Speakers

Opening Event

The Concert Choir from Palisades Charter High School perform an energetic and uplifting music from a wide variety of musical styles, genres, time periods, and cultures.  The Pali Concert Choir will be performing at the 2017 CMHACY Conference at Asilomar. The opening will feature the choir, along with student soloists, performing original arrangements of an eclectic mix of songs.

Plenary Speakers

Wednesday, May 17th:  2:00 pm 

Carissa Phelps

Learning Trust and Interdependence After Human Trafficking; Celebrating the Dance of Surviving and Healing for Children and Adolescents

Carissa founded Runaway Girl, Inc to organize survivors of human trafficking around resources, networks, business, and local efforts to protect and care for survivors and victims within their own communities. She is the author of Runaway Girl: Escaping Life on the Streets, One Helping Hand at a Time. Runaway Girl trainings improve protocols and responses to child sex trafficking within communities, while offering employment and carreer opportunities to runaways, former runaways, and survivors of trafficking.

Carissa will open the conference by highlighting key changes in legislation, and current and future challenges and opportunities. Carissa’s life provides an example of how to succeed after trauma through practicing and modeling compassion, grace and trust that everyone will want to know more about, from mental health providers, survivors, social workers, probation officers and families. This is for everyone.

Wednesday, May 17th: 7:00 pm

Frankie Guzman

Supporting Positive Youth Development: Insights from a Former Youth Juvenile Delinquent, Now a Juvenile Justice Attorney

A juvenile justice attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, Frankie is working to eliminate the practice of prosecuting and incarcerating children in California’s adult criminal justice system and he advocates for alternative sentencing and local treatment for youth charged with serious offenses statewide. He grew up in a poor, mostly immigrant community and grappled with the stressors of parental divorce, homelessness, and loss of friends to violence. At age 15, Frankie was arrested for armed robbery, and on his first offence, was sentenced to fifteen years in CYA (California Youth Authority). Released on parole after six years, he eventually attended law school and has become an expert in juvenile law; he currently dedicates himself to advocating for youth in order to keep them out of jails and prisons. His recent successes include his several laws pertaining to juvenile justice and assisting in the crafting of the recent ballot initiative, Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, promoted by Governor Brown.

Frankie will offer the keynote address on Wednesday evening.

Thursday, May 18: 9:00 am 

Paul Baker

The PersonBrain Model: Using a NeuroRelational Approach to Provide Hope for Challenging Children and Youth

Paul is a foster and adoptive parent.  He is also the CEO of Accentra Behavioral and Educational Services in Tennessee, the Clinical Director for Allambi Care in Australia. As a developmental neuropsychologist Paul developed The PersonBrain Model, a comprehensive, strength-based neurorelational support model and co-authored The Hopeful Brain: NeuroRelational Repair for Disconnected Children and Youth, The Minded Brain: An Educational Curriculum to Enhance Social, Emotional and Cultural Experience and Better Behavior…Positively!

Paul will describe practical knowledge of how experiences, both positive and negative, shape the brain and, as a result, how the brain drives behaviors. He will introduce The PersonBrain Model, a NeuroRelational approach that promotes hope and opportunity, providing positive, brain-based supports grounded in proven theories and practices. Paul will also discuss how our brains continuously develop within our relationships and environments. From the moment we are born, our brains are learning to respond to experiences, and how to promote transformation of negative experiences into positive outcomes through the power of strong, supportive relationships and NeuroDynamic Interventions.

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