Child Protection Team brings two-day summit to Worland

WORLAND — A premiere two-day workshop for professionals who work with children is coming to Worland, thanks to the efforts of the Washakie County Child Protection Team (CPT), part of the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

Bob Vines, Washakie County Attorney’s Office Victim/Witness coordinator and member of the CPT, said “It is difficult for people in the Big Horn Basin to get quality training.” He said if people are lucky there may be a quality training workshop in Casper but a day of meetings involves two days for travel and a lot of people working with children don’t have time or funds.

He said the CPT applied and received a small grant from the Wyoming Children’s Trust Fund to help educate people in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The Big Horn Basin Children’s Summit was born and will be June 12-13 at Worland Community Center and Worland Middle School.

“Our goal is to build awareness of adverse childhood experiences and build a trauma-informed community,” Vines said.

He said ACE came about after a study to determine what happens to youth who may later deal with weight issues. He said the study found that during their youth the children had some sort of childhood trauma or adversity. “Not only did they find the more adversity you face as a child effects your weight, it also effects your heart health, likelihood of substance abuse, domestic violence, increase in certain cancers,” Vines said.

He said there is a test to determine your ACE score that will be included in the summit’s program.

THE SUMMIT

Vines said the Summit is open statewide and across the country and they are planning on 400.

Thanks to donations from several sponsors, the budget for the summit grew from the $5,000 grant to $12,000.

Planning began as soon as the grant was received and the CPT is finalizing the plans for the two-day summit that will feature 17 workshops, two keynote speakers and two special events.

The keynote speakers include:

•Kailyn Cook of Laramie. She is a sexual assault survivor. She has earned a bachelor’s in criminal justice and a minor in psychology. She is a victim witness assistant with the Office of the District Attorney, First Judicial District in Cheyenne. She uses her story of adversity, resilience and triumph to advocate for changes in how Wyoming’s criminal justice system treats victims.

•Todd Garrison of Montana. He has, for the past 14 years, devoted himself to the work of elevating the well-being of children who’ve experienced adversity in their young lives. In 2003 he joined nationally-recognized Intermountain, a Montana non-profit that has been committed to the plight of vulnerable children for more than 100 years.

The special events occur on the first-day of the summit, June 12. The movie “Paper Tigers” will be shown at the Worland Middle School Auditorium with a panel discussion to follow. The panel will feature ACE experts Garrison, Jennifer Davis, Michelle Lamberson, Washakie County Education Resource Center Director Kim Sanford and Lincoln High School graduate and star of “Paper Tigers” Aron Wolf.

According to the program’s information on the film, “Set within and around the campus of Lincoln Alternative High School, in the rural community of Walla Walla, Washington, “Paper Tigers” asked the following questions — What does it mean to be a trauma-informed school? How do you educate teens whose childhood experiences have left them with a brain and body ill-suited to learn?

“Armed with their own cameras and their own voices, the teens of “Paper Tigers” offer raw but valuable insight into the hearts and minds of teens pushing back against the specter of a hard childhood.”

Following the discussion there will be a barbecue for summit attendees followed by a presentation from Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre. Guante is a two-time National Poetry Slam champion, activist and educator based in Minneapolis.

The hour-long presentation will touch on several topics and include a question and answer session. The topics, typically include a call to action, encouraging people, especially young people, to become involved in their communities.

The performance is free and open to the public.

Vines said, “Kids and parents alike are strongly encouraged to attend this inspiring and moving performance by one of the best in the world of spoken word poetry.”

Guante will also perform Wednesday morning prior to the keynote address by Garrison. He will also conduct an afternoon workshop.

The workshops for the summit begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday covering a variety of topics including substance exposed infants, civil legal options for child custody, child abuse in Wyoming, services for undocumented children and strengthening families protective factor framework.

Thursday also begins at 8 a.m. with the focus on adverse childhood experiences, trauma-informed care and more on strengthening families protective factor framework.

Cook will present her keynote address Wednesday afternoon, followed by workshops on children as witnesses and attachment and trauma.

Vines said the Summit is open to anyone, but noted that several Wyoming professional boards are offering credits for those who take the training.

He said there are currently 82 registered.

For more information email [email protected] or phone 307-347-2123.