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Guide for Engaging & Supporting Parents Affected by Domestic Violence
November 13, 2019 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
This interactive training offers core principles and strategies for supportive engagement with parents/caregivers affected by DV. We’ll discuss ways to enhance parenting capacities under challenging circumstances, keeping in mind how DV survivors’ parenting role may be negatively impacted by their abusive partners while they are together or living apart. As DV providers, we may struggle with raising sensitive and difficult topics related to parenting; we may feel uncertain about how to best respond to the needs of both adult survivors and their children; or feel stuck in our relationship with the parent. This training is designed to draw upon participants’ own direct experiences in engaging DV survivors who are parenting and to broaden our perspective and options in addressing these concerns.
Participants will also learn how to use a self-guided tool that makes the 6 strategies for engaging and supporting parents/caregivers that are introduced in the Guide more accessible. NCDVTMH surveyed peers who took previous trainings on the Guide and used this tool. Here’s what they had to say:
- “It is clear. Easy to use. Reflective.”
- “It has helped me take a step back, breathe, and think about the ways in which I am approaching and connecting with families.”
- A supervisor commented: “It was helpful to have my staff reflect more on the services. Not just report out.”
The goals of the training are to deepen our own capacity for engaging parents affected by DV, and to increase our skills in supporting caregivers to build more responsive and nurturing connections with their children.
Click on the link below to preview the Guide (a hard copy will be provided at the training):
Dates:
Wednesday, November 13 from 9:00a – 4:00p & Thursday, November 14 from 9:00a – 12:00p
All participants must be able to attend the full day-and-a-half of training to reserve a space.
Location: The Network will be conducting the training at 55 E. Jackson Blvd, Chicago IL 60604 in the 10th Floor Conference Room.
- Located at the corner of Jackson Blvd. and Wabash
- Accessible to public transportation and self-park options in this area (check Spot Hero or similar apps for deals on parking).
FOOD:
- Continental breakfast with beverages served each morning. Lunch on your own (with many choices conveniently located in the area). See attached List of Area Restaurants. Local Restaurants (2)
Who Should Attend:
This training is geared for DV advocates with all levels of experience, and mental health clinicians who are new graduates or have less than 2 years of domestic violence program experience. We encourage program supervisors to attend the training with their staff or team.
Participants should include staff who are providing direct services to adult survivors who are parenting; staff who are providing direct services to children, teens and families affected by DV; and staff who are doing both.
SPECIAL NOTE:
We are dedicated to maintaining a “scent free” training environment. Please refrain from using scented lotions, perfumes or cologne while attending the event.
Cost: Members – free; Non-members – $50
Register at: bit.ly/childrensadvocacytraining
ABOUT THE TRAINER:
Susan Jans Blumenfeld, MSW, LCSW, is the Director of Training & TA for the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health (NCDVTMH). She joined the staff in 2003, and has led the Child Trauma Capacity Building Project serving the domestic violence (DV) community and allied partners in mental health and child welfare in the Chicago area for the past 16 years. Susan provides training and ongoing consultation for domestic violence programs and other child-and-family serving systems and initiatives, both locally and nationally. Prior to joining NCDVTMH, Susan worked in home and community-based children’s mental health and child welfare programs with experience as a clinician, supervisor, program manager, and senior leader. In her role with NCDVTMH, Susan has created training curricula and practical resources to build organizational capacity to deliver trauma-responsive, culturally attuned, family-centered services for domestic violence, mental health and child welfare providers. She is the author of NCDVTMH’s Guide for Engaging & Supporting Parents Affected by Domestic Violence. Susan is a licensed clinical social worker in Illinois who has dedicated her career to developing more responsive, community-based services and systems to support healing and resilience with families affected by interpersonal violence and trauma.
