Archive for the ‘Youth Voice’ Category:
Written on November 5th, 2010 by Michael Reberone shout
Hey all,
This message comes from Alex Knapp, a PA youth leader working fro the Disability Rights Network. He brought this issue to my attention and I thought it needed to be shared with you!
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My name is Alex and I am transition age youth mental health consumer and I want to alert you of a current document out for comment. The 3800 regulations are available and to ensure systematic change which will have positive impact on our age group your voice is essential. I realize this document, in its entirety is over 150 pages long and I do not assume that anyone will choose to review the entire thing, however, there are specific parts to the document that need our input!
I encourage you to review § 23.17 Reportable Incidents, § 23.18 Recordable Incidents, § 23.32 Specific Rights, § 23.102 Child Bedrooms, § 23. 183 Use of Prescription Medications, § 23.205 Emergency Safety Intervention, and § 23.229 Education. Below you will find a breakdown of some of these regulations and why you need to voice your opinions in response to them.
§ 23.17 Reportable Incidents & § 23.18 Recordable Incidents (Starts on page 18)
What must a facility report to the state? What must a facility record in your record? Who is mandated and who isn’t to provide initial contact and notification of restraints to your parents/legal guardians? Are you given the option of giving that initial contact? All of this information and more can be found in these sections.
§ 23.32 Specific Rights (Starts on page 29)
This is one of the most important sections found within the RTF regulations. This section outlines the rights of residents. Currently these rights do not include appropriate clothing for youth with different gender identities than their biological gender. With the recent suicides in the GLBTQ community gender identity must be protected. This section also discusses mailings, telephone communication, visitation, search and seizure, grievance procedure and methods of discipline.
IF YOU ONLY READ AND COMMENT ON ONE SECTION, THIS IS THE SECTION TO CHECK OUT!
§ 23.102 Child Bedrooms (Starts on page 52)
The new regulations allow for single rooms and rooms with two residents. This section states space mandates and furniture requirements. Currently they do not require a writing space or a private space to keep personal items. This information and more can be found in this section.
§ 23.183 Use of Prescription Medications (Starts on Page 73)
Can a child refuse medication? Who has the right to consent to medications for the child? What if a child over the age of 14 refuses to consent to specific medications but his parents do consent? This section speaks all about medications, consent and rights. It’s an important section and as transition-age youth needs our input.
§ 23.205 Emergency Safety Intervention (Starts on Page 81)
If you have ever been or have ever seen someone being restrained, you know it’s not fun or pleasurable. This section sets guidelines and mandates protocol of restraints. It needs reviewed by people who have lived it, the professionals say they have our best interest, but we have experienced it. This section NEEDS US!
§ 23.299 Education (Starts on Page 104)
What are the rights of someone in an RTF when it comes to education? Will they help residents prepare for postsecondary education? What if a resident graduates while in RTF, may they continue their education? Find out in this section.
This document in whole needs our voice. Check out the whole thing or specific sections and do not be afraid to comment on it! You can find the proposed documents at http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol40/40-43/2002a.html and send comments to ra-rtfcomment@state.pa.us
If you need help accessing or comment the documents feel free to contact me or any leader of the Youth Outreach Union. My contact information is as follows: (717) 829-3981 or aknapp@drnpa.org Thanks, Alex C. Knapp. 
Written on October 18th, 2010 by Michael Reberno shouts
Hey all,
This message comes from Karen Mallah, the director of the Pennsylvania System of Care (SOC) Initiative.
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Attention Youth of Pennsylvania:
Now is your chance to get your voice heard on the Statewide level. The PA System of Care Partnership now has two openings for Youth on the State Leadership Team, which will allow you to have an equal voice with the leaders of Pennsylvania’s child-serving systems. Details about this exciting opportunity are enclosed in the attachment. We need your voice!!!
For more information about this position, or if you have any questions, please contact Brian Satterfield, who was formerly on the State Leadership Team and is now one of our Partnership’s two Youth Involvement Specialists. His contact information is below.
Brian Satterfield
Pennsylvania Partnership
Youth Involvement Specialist
satterfieldb@upmc.edu
(484)-680-0068 (Call or Text)
As stated in the attached document, please send your applications to me.
Thanks and take care,
Karen Mallah, PhD, Director
PA System of Care Partnership
120 East Azalea Drive
Logan Building, Room 102
Harrisburg, PA 17110-3594
(717) 772-7615 office
(717) 772-7699 fax
mallahk@upmc.edu
“For each child that’s born, a morning star rises and sings to the universe who we are.”
— Sweet Honey in the Rock
Written on September 13th, 2010 by Michael Reberno shouts
Hey everyone,
I’ve scheduled the next youth chat for tomorrow at 6:00pm.
Here’s the link for the meeting:
http://www.tokbox.com/Michael9374/YOU-Chat-91410
The basic agenda will be a general discussion about Youth Outreach Union trainings, and where we should have them. The trainings are free to youth, we just need to find out where there are groups of youth who want help getting organized.
After the general discussion, there will be a governing board discussion about the policy for youth 14-17 who wish to participate in the meetings at State College.
Write with questions.
Michael
michaelreber@youthoutreachunion.com
Written on September 13th, 2010 by Michael Reberno shouts
The following announcement came to us last week from Dr. Karen Mallah, Director of the Pa. System of Care Partnership:
“I am thrilled to report that we have hired both Crystal Davis and Brian Satterfield, both at full time as Youth Involvement Specialists who will spend 20% of their time focusing on cultural and linguistic competence. Both of them have accepted the position and seem to be glad that they will be working together. These hires have been approved by the State Leadership Team and our SAMHSA project officer. Crystal and Brian will start their positions on 9/27/10.”
If you haven’t heard, last year, the OMHSAS Children’s Bureau at DPW (OMHSAS-Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, DPW-Department of Public Welfare) and UPMC’s Youth and Family Training Institute (UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) were awarded a grant that would allow them to support 15 counties over three years in implementing “High Fidelity Wraparound” in their communities.
The Youth Outreach Union was a part of the development of both the Youth and Family Training Institute AND the PA System of Care grant application. One of the key points that set Pennsylvania aside is that we insisted there be a full-time youth position that would support youth voice and choice in those counties. On the plus side, it looks like we got TWO!!!
For more information on the Children’s Bureau, OMHSAS, DPW or the Pa. System of Care grant, visit www.parecovery.org.
Remember, ALL of the organizations involved in this project have young adults as advisors. If you want to get involved in changing the system, join the Youth Outreach Union and stay up to date on the opportunities for youth in Pennsylvania!
The Reap What you Sow: Harvesting Support Systems Institute
July 29-31, 2010
Raleigh, North Carolina
What: The National Youth Leadership Network is hosting the Reap What You Sow: Harvesting Support Systems Institute this summer!
Who: Youth and young adults with disabilities (ages 13-28), family members, professionals, and allies
When: July 29-31, 2010
Where: North Raleigh Hilton, 3415 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, NC
Topics covered: At the Institute we will introduce the new curriculum we have created. It is about how youth with disabilities can build their own support systems. We define support systems as people who help you reach your own goals. This could include parents, friends, teachers, allies – anyone you choose. Our institute is a new hands-on training opportunity. To find out more go to click here.
Registration: Until June 30th it is only $50 for youth and $75 for adults to attend. That includes all meals and a not-to-be-missed show Friday night by performers from Sins Invalid!
To register online go to http://www.nyln.org/upcoming-conference/registration.
Scholarships are available for youth to attend.
Organizations can host an informational table at our resource fair during the Institute for only $50.
BONUS! Register three people and get one person free!
NYLN is a youth-driven, youth-led, national non-profit organization. NYLN promotes youth leadership, education, and advocacy. Our goal is to make sure that young people with disabilities know how to set and reach their own goals.
For more information, visit www.nyln.org or call Betsy Valnes, NYLN Executive Director, at 1-866-480-6565, or e-mail her at betsy@nyln.org.
Written on June 10th, 2010 by Administratorno shouts
We will begin on-line chats again.
The next one will be:
June 15th @ 7:30pm
Visit www.toxbox.com/Michael9374/Website-Upgrade-Planning-Meeting for details.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
It is that time of year again! Spring is in the air, and the National Youth Leadership Network is preparing for our next webcast.
This webcast will be titled “Violence and Hate Crimes Against People with Disabilities.” It will be on Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 7 PM EST. There will be a panel of speakers discussing violence and and how youth with disabilities often face this issue.
Join us! To register, please visit NYLN.org and click the link at the bottom.
Date: Thursday, April 22 2010
Time: 7:00 pm EST, 6:00 pm CST, 5:00 pm MST, 4:00 PST, 2:00 pm Hawaii
Speakers:
Savannah Logsdon-Breakstone, Director of Advocacy with the Autism Women’s Network
Christine Wilk, Organizer with Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA)
Nathan Say, long-time anti-violence disability activist and poet
This webcast is offered for free through the National Youth Leadership Network. NYLN is a youth-driven, youth-led organization. We teach young people how to advocate. Our goal is to make sure that young people with disabilities know how to set and reach their own goals.
For more information, visit the National Youth Leadership Network at www.nyln.org. You can also contact Betsy Valnes, NYLN Executive Director, at 1-866-480-6565 or betsy@nyln.org.
The following Link is currently correct for this event: Spring Webcast
Please Note that there is captioning available through the Web for this event!
Written on March 23rd, 2010 by Michael Reber2 shouts
The message below comes from the director of the Children’s Bureau at the state Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. To sum it up, the state wants to know what youth think about services they are getting for mental health and “behavioral” issues.
The two main questions are in BOLD below and responses should be submitted by April 12, 2010. If you want to leave your response as a comment to the blog, we’ll submit them in one large bundle on the 12th.
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OMHSAS is gathering input for the “Call for Change,” a strategic plan for quality, effective behavioral health services for children and their families. This effort is similar to the successful Call for Change that earlier helped transform the adult system.
The Call for Change will build on the research literature, on an analysis of the current system, input from systems partners, and on past efforts such as the Mercer review of family based and evidence based practice, the OMHSAS/OCYF Residential work group, and the OMHSAS Children’s Retreat.
The plan will also incorporate the implications of the SAMHSA System of Care Grant, which will develop systems of care in 15 counties to serve youth age 8-18 that have serious behavioral health needs and are involved in child welfare or juvenile justice, especially those that are in or at risk for residential placement.
We are seeking the input of organizations and individuals that have insight into strengths and weaknesses of the children’s behavioral health system. One means of gathering input is to ask for a written response to the following two questions:
1. What is your overall impression of the publicly funded system of children’s behavioral health services in Pennsylvania?
2. What are the areas for improvement?
Would you please ask youth and young adults to provide us with input on these two questions? If you are able to provide input by April 12th, we will use that input to inform the draft that will be prepared for public review starting at the May 5th OMHSAS Advisory Committee meeting. That Draft will be sent to you, and there will be more opportunity for you to provide additional input.
Please let me know if you have any questions; I look forward to receiving your response.
Stan Mrozowski
smrozowski@state.pa.us
I just got this emailed to me, and thought that this sounded like an exciting project! It is about Youth and Sex Ed- it is only 10 questions long, and takes 3-5 minutes to complete, AND it is a project by a Youth!
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Greetings!
I am a West Chester University student, and I want to let you know about a cool new health project that I am doing with young people. For my class project, I am doing a survey with young people, ages 18 and older, on sex education in high schools. The survey is due next Friday, on February 26, 2010, and I hope you can participate!
This survey will look at how much sex education young people with disabilities get while they are in high school, and will help me understand how young people feel about the sex education they receive.
Please remember, you must be 18 or older to participate in this survey. Anyone under the age of 18 is not allowed to participate in this survey. Participation in this survey is on a volunteer-basis. This means that only you decide whether or not you want to take the survey. Your answers to the survey questions will be kept secret and anonymous. This means that there will be no way for me or anyone else to know who you are or how you answered any of the questions on the survey.
If you take the survey and submit your answers, this means that you have given your consent, or permission, to be included in the survey. If any questions on the survey make you feel uncomfortable, you can skip them. You can also stop taking the survey at any time without any consequences.
Directions:
The survey is 10 questions long. If you are age 18 or older, and you would like to participate, please click the following link, which will take you right to the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RKMX2HX
If you have any problem clicking the link, please copy and paste it into your internet web browser page and the survey should open. Once you have answered the survey questions, hit the button that says “done” to be finished. Please remember to take the survey by Friday, February 26th.
Thank you so much for your time!
Sincerely,
Emily Kronenberger
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Written on February 5th, 2010 by Michael Reberno shouts
Hello Everyone,
Today I bring you a lot of news and notes from the past two weeks about new System of Care developments, as well as information regarding future opportunities for Youth Leadership in PA. Let’s start this letter off quickly by jumping right on in.
FACEBOOK GROUP
As a way to give everyone a different option for receiving news about Youth Leadership, I have created a facebook group that is available for everyone to join. The hope is that this facebook group will allow an easier way to discuss recent updates with other youth receiving them as well as helping to increase the understanding of the Systems of Care Grant for all of you. It is currently a closed group (meaning I have to approve requests to join), only for the reason of limiting discussions to youth already familiar and working with the SoC grant. It’s currently designed simply as another way to communicate information and not to greatly increase youth outreach, but it may serve as a start to such a movement. It’s important to note that the group is not officially associated with the grant or with the Youth and Family Training Institute.
To join the group, search for the group name: PA SoC Youth Leadership. Then just send a request to join.
(Note: As I’ve just created the group, content for it will be up hopefully throughout the next few days, but feel free to join now. I’ll have a section for ideas and plans for the future ready.)
STATE LEADERSHIP TEAM & PROJECT DIRECTOR UPDATE
The three youth positions on the State Leadership Team will very soon be finalized, so expect an announcement about who they are to be coming within the next week or two. Once the entire team is formed, expect the Systems of Care Grant to start really taking off. Alongside of that, the Project Director position has been narrowed down from 47 applicants to 8, and interviews of those 8 took place earlier this week by a team of 2 youth, 3 family members, and 4 professionals. This team will narrow the choice down to 3 people, and the final decision will be made by the State Leadership Team.
SYSTEMS OF CARE CONFERENCE IN D.C.
Next week there will be a conference in Washington D.C. for the new communities in Systems of Care (PA of course being one of them). A team of 10-12 people from PA will be heading down for the three day event to receive advice and talk about the current state of the SoC Grant with professionals in Systems of Care from all around the country (known as the TA Partnership). The youth representatives on the team of 10-12 people will be Paige Costa (Youth Support Partner, Montgomery County) and myself. We’ll be gathering as much information as possible to relay back to all of you, especially in regards to developing youth voice throughout the state. It should be a very beneficial and educational experience for all of us involved with the conference, but again, our job as youth will be taking in as much knowledge as possible for the purpose of helping all of us youth continue to successfully move forward with this initiative.
SCHEDULING ANOTHER CONFERENCE CALL
As my last e-mail mentioned, the previous conference call did not go as planned. I asked for responses from a lot of you about how you felt these e-mails were working, and I want to thank each and every one of you who responded to me. You all gave me great feedback about how you feel everything is working out so far. All of you still expressed interest in getting another conference call scheduled (which I definitely agree with), and so I would once again like to ask all of you for what times you will be available to make the call. I’d like it to be sometime during the week of February 15th, so keep that in mind when letting me know what times you can attend. So please send me what times work best for you by the end of next week, and I will get back to all of you when a time is set.
On a side note, if you would like me to contact you by phone the day of as a reminder for the conference call, let me know and send me your phone number and I will be sure to send a text/give a call an hour or so beforehand. This will go alongside sending an e-mail reminder this time the night before the call takes place.
FUTURE OF THE PA YOUTH LEADERSHIP NEWSLETTER
Once again, I must thank all of you for your great feedback over the last few weeks after the last e-mail I sent out. I heard a few problems regarding the amount of e-mails some of you receive, so I’ve already requested that the majority of information that needs to get out be sent through myself first. This way, I can condense all of the updates happening over the course of the week and give all of you everything you need to know in one e-mail rather than flooding your e-mail box if things get out of hand. Along those lines, I believe that I will start sending these newsletters out on a weekly basis. I’ve yet to decide on what day I will always be sending them out (either Thursday or Friday, I will let you know), but hopefully this system will allow all of you to know when you will be receiving updates from me and to check your inbox accordingly.
Thank you all once again for your participation with this Youth Leadership Initiative. I know it can sometimes be confusing as well as overwhelming. I’m doing what I can to make this stuff youth friendly, but it’s not exactly an easy thing to do. The more suggestions you all have the better (and hopefully the facebook group can open up some of this discussion), so please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions/complaints you may be having. Until next time, live long and prosper.
Brian Satterfield
Youth Advocate
Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Psychology (philosophy minor), Temple University
484-680-0068
flyerfan0028@hotmail.com
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