Response to Intervention (RTI) & Comprehensive Student Support (CSS)
Jim Anderson, Intervention Team Coordinator, CSS Field Colleague, Health & Human Services, LAUSD, CA

How will the new federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) legislation affect your CSS program? This session will cover the history behind the legislation, how other states are interpreting the law, and how California is making plans to implement it. This informative and exciting session is designed to help you better understand RTI philosophy and how you can use RTI to strengthen your CSS program.

Strand: Best Practices; Foster Youth; VetORC
Grade Level: K-6

Is it Candy, or Drugs? Substance Abuse Awareness and Over-the-Counter Medicines
Phillip Hubbs, Executive Director, Proactive Network Against Substance Abuse, CA

Is it candy or is it drugs? What household products are abused? Why is the abuse of prescription drugs & OTC medicines on the rise with our teens? How easy is it to buy marijuana in your neighborhood? Come and learn to recognize the signs of drug use, as well as the physical effects, packaging, and slang terms of the latest drugs. This session is for parents, teachers, and administrators interested in the latest news, strategies, solutions, and resources in the fight against substance abuse.

Strand: NEW!; Safety and Violence Prevention; CASCWA; Juvenile Detention
Grade Level: K–12

Substance Abuse Prevention: A Win-Win for Districts, Students, and Families
John Miranda, Regional Coord. LifeSkills Training, Princeton Health Press, CA; Jim Crittenden, SDCOE Student Support Services, CA; Christina Boyd, TUPE Coord./Life Skills, SDUSD: Counseling and Guidance, CA; Pamela J. Werb, U of Min Medical School, Facility Department of Family Practice and Community Health, MN

Alcohol and other drug use results in predictable negative consequences for teens, the classroom, and districts–including absenteeism and related underachievement. Prevention and early intervention services are a cost-effective strategy to move the marker on test scores and improved school attendance.

Strand: NEW!, Safety and Violence Prevention; CASCWA; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Brian Lee, Deputy Director, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, CA

California faces a dropout crisis that poses a significant threat to public safety. An estimated one in three California high school students does not graduate from high school on time. High school dropouts are three-and-one-half times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested, and more than eight times as likely to be in jail or prison. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California is a nonprofit, bipartisan, anti-crime organization led by California's sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys, and crime victims dedicated to reducing crime. This session will address their efforts to reduce the dropout rate and its impact on schools and communities.

Strand: NEW!, Safety and Violence Prevention' CASCWA; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention
Grade Level: K–12

Building Respect, Responsibility, and Resiliency in At-Risk Adolescents
Vicki Phillips, M.Ed., Director, Personal Development, CA

Learn how to teach students who “don't want to be told what to do” to want to be responsible and respectful–by using their need to feel powerful as the foundation for developing character, resiliency, and emotional intelligence. Vicki Phillips, principal of an alternative school for 22 years, will share the underlying philosophy from her one-semester curriculum, Personal Development, purchased by almost 1500 secondary schools to date.

Strand: Engaging At-Risk Students; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention
Grade Level: 7–12

Working with Parents of High-Risk Youth: The Parent Project Model
Ralph Fry, Co-Author, Parent Project, Parent Project, Inc., NV

The US Department of Justice has identified truancy as the number one indicator of juvenile delinquency. Every day in the US, 1300 students drop out of school. Parents own at least 60% of the responsibility of the education of their children and 100% of the responsibility to ensure their children go to school. Yet as a nation, we spend 98% of our resources and energy for truancy and dropout prevention in direct services to youth. Parents have incredible power to influence the decisions their children make. But how do we empower parents to make the difference in their child's life? In this interactive workshop, participants will:
• Identify the specific problems parents face raising children in today's world
• Learn specific strategies to engage, motivate, and empower parents of high-risk youth
• Discuss specific skills parents need to prevent and intervene in destructive adolescent behavior
• Learn specific strategies parents can use to improve children's school attendance and performance

Strand: Family and Community Collaboration; Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

FERPA: Protecting the Rights of At-Risk Students
LeRoy Rooker, Director, Family Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Ed., DC

Students at risk are impacted in most aspects of their lives–at home, in school, and in the community. As fragile members of the school population, they are frequently bombarded by intrusions into their private lives. School personnel must ensure that these students' rights of confidentiality are not compromised. This interactive session will focus on the federal protections afforded parents and students under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and how school officials, including school law enforcement personnel, can operate under FERPA. Session will include a question and answer time.

Strand: NEW!; Safety and Violence Prevention; CASCWA; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Girls: Risk Factors, Trends, and Strategies
Gabriela Baeza, Project Specialist, San Diego COE, Pupil Services, Safe Schools, CA

This workshop will provide participants with an overview of the latest research relating to females and violence. Trends and research-based strategies will be discussed to provide participants with ideas on how to work with female students effectively. Ideas for how to approach issues such as academic failure, teen pregnancy, gang violence, and other risky behaviors will be explored..

Strand: NEW!, Safety and Violence Prevention; Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: 7–12

Safe Schools: Addressing Gangs, Racism, Violence, and Bullying Through a Youth Development Lens
John Vandenburgh, PLUS Program Creator/Safe School Coordinator, Murrieta Valley USD Support Center, CA

One of the many goals of this workshop is for participants to develop a strong understanding of the impact group identity has on individual adolescent behavior, particularly with regard to gangs, violence, and bullying. Educators must understand the importance of developing peer programs that foster relationships among youth and developing youths' sense of belonging to a peer group identity. Our youth are simply growing up in a violent culture that invests itself in a code of silence. Schools must counter this and develop a culture of communication, where students feel connected to one another and responsible for the outcomes of their campus culture.

Strand: Safety and Violence Prevention; Juvenile Detention
Grade Level: K–12

The Impact of Violence on a Child's Developing Brain: Implications for Foster Youth
Craig Pierini, MS, Education Programs Assistant, Foster Youth Services Program, CA

Research from Dr. Bruce Perry and others strongly suggests that the brains of children, ages 0–3, who are chronically exposed to violence are organized differently. Basic neuroscience will be explored, along with how these children process information and the types of interventions that are consistent with the science.

Strand: NEW!, Safety and Violence Prevention; Foster Youth
Grade Level: K–12

Getting Creative, Being Present, Taking Care of Yourself and Your Students
Victor La Cerva, MD, Consultant, Speaker & Writer, NM

Many teachers and school administrators, because of the nature of their service work, do not take care of themselves appropriately. They often work long hours, forget to take breaks, interact poorly with coworkers, and spread their stress around the living room when they get home. We will use the notions of creativity and being present to explore:
* balancing the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of ourselves;
* dancing creatively with our stress in the moment;
* how to become more emotionally fluent.

Strand: Best Practices; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Meeting the Needs of At-Risk Students through Foster Youth Services Programs (FYS)
Michelle Lustig, MSW, Ed.D., Coordinator, Foster Youth Services, SDCOE Student Support Services, CA; Pamela Hosmer, Program Mgr./Homeless Liaison, San Diego District Office, CA; Jeni Mendel, Child Welfare & Attendance, Educational Services Division, Grossmont UHSD, CA; Karen Alexander, Homeless & Foster Youth Liaison, LMSV District Office, CA

San Diego COE Foster Youth Services Program (FYS) endeavors to respond, assist, and empower all systems that support foster youth achieving academic success. FYS programs are designed to prepare foster youth to become successful, self-sufficient, and independent adults. FYS programs across California, in 57 counties and 6 core school districts, achieve the goal of closing the achievement gap for students in foster care through thoughtful collaboration across systems. Session participants will learn about FYS programs both locally and statewide.

Strand: NEW!; Engaging At-Risk Students; CASCWA; Foster Youth; Juvenile Detention
Grade Level: K–12

How to Support Homeless Students and Foster Youth
Faye Eastman, Coordinator, Foster Youth Services; Brenda Dowdy, Homeless Education Program Specialist, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools

Participants will learn about the difficulties homeless and foster youth experience. Information will be discussed on a variety of ways participants can help youth to become academically, socially, and behaviorally successful.

Strand: NEW!; Best Practices, Foster Youth
Grade Level: K–12

On Playing a Poor Hand Well: Recent Advances in Our Understanding of Human Resilience and of the Limits of Emotional Endurance
Mark Katz, Ph.D., Learning Development Services, CA

Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “Life is not so much a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.” Why is it that so many children and youth who struggle in school manage to succeed decades later in life? And what can we learn from their life experiences? During this presentation, we will explore the sources of resilience, important protective influences, and wide-ranging turning point experiences in the lives of successful individuals who struggled during their years in school. We will also share specific ways in which schools can use these lessons learned in ways that can reverse the developmental trajectories of children, youth, and young adults who currently struggle with similar school-related problems.

Strand: Engaging At-Risk Students; Foster Youth; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Project Read Report Form: Comprehension Strategies for Nonfiction
Andrew Stetkevich, Staff Development Specialist/CSS Field Colleague, Riverside Staff Development Center, CA

Many students struggle with comprehension in content area subjects. This presentation will provide an overview of Project Read Report Form strategies. These are multisensory strategies designed to teach students how to find the main idea and supporting details, make inferences, and organize content subject matter for retention and retrieval.

Strand: NEW!; Instructional Strategies, Foster Youth
Grade Level: 3–12

Child Abuse Identification and Reporting
Craig Pierini, Education Programs Assistant, Foster Youth Services Program, CA

This presentation will include both identification of child abuse and neglect, along with reporting requirements of mandated reporters. In part, the information will clarify the reporting of child sexual abuse. Participants will be exposed to slides depicting child abuse victims in order to visually identify those incidents that are abusive, accidental, or the result of certain cultural practices. Participants will also be brought up-to-date on the reporting law.

Strand: NEW!, Safety and Violence Prevention; Foster Youth; Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Boosting Adolescents' Social Skills, Emotional Management & Academic Motivation
Julea Douglass, Ph.D., Co-Author & Associate Director, School-Connect, MD

Ninth grade is a critical transition year; many students struggle with the personal and academic challenges of high school. This session will focus on strategies for (1) creating a supportive learning community, (2) helping students overcome self-defeating attitudes about schoolwork, and (3)¬Ýpromoting student-driven learning. These strategies can be used in freshman seminars, advisory programs, and school-wide. Special attention will be paid to models that support the needs of incoming freshmen..

Strand: NEW!, Engaging At-Risk Students; Foster Youth
Grade Level: K–12

The Joel Bridgman Mentor Program
Gayle Green, Author/Resource Specialist; Julie Marion, Special Educator/Resource Specialist; Amy Kraft, Title I Reading Teacher/Asst. to Principal, Oakdale Elementary School, CA

This workshop includes a multimedia presentation that highlights how to set up a successful mentor program at your school. This mentoring program is highly successful in the K–6 setting but may be adapted to fit any school setting. Mentoring strategies will be discussed as well as the nuts and bolts of setting up your own mentor program using your school staff. Mentoring is a powerful and effective way of creating meaningful relationships with students at your school site.

Strand: Engaging At-Risk Students; Foster Youth
Grade Level: K–6

Connecting Homeless Students and Families with School
Sarita Fuentes, Hope Region Principal/Monarch School Project CEO, SDCOE Juvenile Court & Community School District; Loretta Middleton, Senior Director, SDCOE Student Support Services, CA

This session will address the special needs of homeless youth and families and how best to keep these families connected to school. Learn key strategies for supporting homeless youth in staying in school and find out how to tap into the unique resiliency of each family. This session will address the McKinney-Vento law as it pertains to the services schools must provide and the rights it affords to parents & students in homeless situations. Sarita and Loretta have spent years working with homeless families and will provide essential information for you to be aware of as you work with this growing group of students. They will share practical tools and answer your questions so that you can create a better bridge between school and the rest of life for these families.

Strand: Engaging At-Risk Students;Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Girls United to Succeed (GUTS): A Gang Intervention Program
Barbara Rivas, Coord. Violence Prevention/Intervention Unit, Founder, GUTS Program; Cathey Casanova, GUTS Program Lead Facilitator; Reina Morgan, GUTS Program Facilitator; Erika Gonzalez, GUTS Program Facilitator Intern, Student Support Services Dept., San Diego COE, CA

This workshop will describe a gender-specific intervention model for working with highly aggressive and/or gang-affiliated girls and/or parenting teens with high risk factors. Program is geared for schools, agencies, and institutions serving school-aged girls. Data for GUTS pilot program at a middle school in the San Diego area will be shared. Q and A period allowed as part of the session.

Strand: NEW!, Safety and Violence Prevention, CASCWA; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: 7–12