Category: Training

ACT in Transition

I’m writing to let you know about transitions that will be happening during this year.  Jutta Dotterweich, our long-term Director of Training and TA, will be retiring in June 2021.  Jutta has been with ACT for Youth since it began in July of 2000 and has built our training program.  She has been an extraordinary leader of our training/TA efforts – whose vast knowledge of positive youth development, and vision for how best to build capacity to promote adolescent health and prevent risky behaviors, has been appreciated by generations of youth workers, educators and colleagues across NYS and beyond.  To say she will be missed is an understatement!

As we move forward during this transition period, some of Jutta’s responsibilities will be passed on to Mary Maley. An experienced trainer with expertise in evidence-based programming, Mary has been with ACT for Youth since 2011, most recently leading our CDC-funded research. Mary will provide research support for developing training and web resources, cover Jutta’s caseload of provider assignments and take on additional training responsibilities as needed. She will join Heather, Michele and Marisol on the training/TA team.

We will miss Jutta but rest assured you  will continue to receive our expertise and support in meeting your goals and needs.

Jane Powers

~ Jane Powers, Director

Positive Youth Development 101 Web Series

At a time when face-to-face trainings are not feasible, please join us for a series of webinars exploring positive youth development (PYD) and its core principles and strategies. Drawing from the PYD 101 training curriculum we will introduce updated material and new resources. Although the PYD 101 training was developed with professionals new to the field of youth work in mind, it may serve as a good refresher for experienced youth work professionals.

July 7 at 10:00AM – PYD I: Foundations

In this webinar we will define positive youth development and explore key theoretical frameworks and research findings. We will also summarize the current understanding of adolescent development.

Register for PYD I here.

July 10 at 10:00AM – PYD II: Positive Youth Development Outcomes

One important principle of PYD is to focus on building positive youth outcomes instead of preventing or fixing problematic behavior. We will take a look at different outcome models. In addition, we will discuss and practice strategies for building positive outcomes through a strength-based approach.

Register for PYD II here.

July 14 at 10:00AM – PYD III: Youth Voice and Engagement

Another key principle of PYD is youth voice and engagement. We will explore ways to provide young people with meaningful roles and responsibilities. Authentic youth engagement, however, does not happen without addressing barriers such as adultism and other forms of adult resistance.

Register for PYD III here.

July 21 at 10:00AM – PYD IV: Youth Development Programming

In this final webinar we will review features of effective youth development programming, reflect on inclusive program environments, and explore youth-centered learning approaches and resources.

Register for PYD IV here.

Jutta Dotterweich

~ Jutta

Changes to Training Calendar Start in June

Starting June 1 the training calendar will look a little different. First, we’ll launch a few new work groups and move all work groups to a bi-weekly meeting schedule. We will also offer one of our regular one-day trainings, Introducing a Trauma-Informed Approach, online via a series of webinars.

New Work Groups

Peer Educator Training: As a follow-up to Teresa Casullo’s webinar Growing Youth Educators, this work group will focus on developing training material for youth peer educators, sharing and refining training materials already developed, and contributing to a training manual. Teresa Casullo and Michele Luc will host this work group.

Practicing Social Media Platforms: This work group will provide a forum for providers who are exploring and beginning to use virtual meeting and social media platforms. It will give participants an opportunity to practice basic functions of various virtual meeting/social media platforms and obtain insights and advice from more experienced peers. This work group will be hosted by Heather and Marisol.

Component 2 (CAPP & SRAE): This work group will focus on developing and sharing workshop material dedicated to Component 2 programming. Topic areas may include life skills, financial literacy, career exploration, digital literacy, citizenship, and relationship and communication skills. This group will also explore how programming can be done virtually since youth summer programs will be closed. The work group will be hosted by Jutta.

Existing work groups (STI/HIV Prevention, Healthy Relationships, and Pregnancy Prevention) will continue on a bi-weekly schedule. The current SRAE work group will merge with the Component 2 work group.

Moving Trainings Online

Usually, in June we offer a one-day training: Introducing a Trauma-Informed Approach. Since we are not able to do any face-to-face trainings for a while, we are creating a virtual training, a series of 3 webinars beginning June 16. Please join us for:

  1. Understanding Trauma and its Impact
  2. Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach
  3. Integrating Trauma-Informed Care into Organizational Practice.

Registration

Remember to register for any meeting or webinar you want to attend. You’ll find the registration links on the training calendar.

Any additional ideas for online trainings?

Please get in touch with us if you have any ideas or recommendations for additional online training topics. Thanks.

Jutta Dotterweich

~ Jutta

New Training Outlook for 2020

We would like introduce a few new features to our training calendar this year. But first things first.

The 2020 Training Calendar is Up!

The 2020 CAPP and PREP Training Calendar, which lists our standard trainings, is now available on the ACT website. Since staff turnover in CAPP and PREP happens fairly regularly, we see the need to offer these trainings every year. We will continue to add additional web sessions. Also, the new Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) grantees will be joining us in many of the regional trainings.

New Learning Collaboratives

This year we want to pilot three new learning collaboratives. Notices will go out soon. Our learning collaboratives are groups of educators and/or supervisors who meet online (via Zoom) to discuss certain critical topics. ACT for Youth training and technical assistance staff lead these meetings. Participation is optional.

  • A learning collaborative for new educators, facilitated by Marisol: This will be an opportunity for new staff to network with other new staff, share challenges, and learn from each other.
  • A learning collaborative for experienced educators, facilitated by Michele: This will be a forum for seasoned staff to explore new strategies, fine-tuning and advancing their skills.
  • A learning collaborative focused on Parent Engagement, facilitated by Heather: We would like to restart this group (originally attempted a couple of years ago) and invite all educators and supervisors interested in this challenging topic.

In addition, we will continue the Supervisor Learning Collaborative, facilitated by me, that will meet monthly starting in March. New members are always welcome!

Announcing: Traveling Workshops

We have a truly new training offering for the new decade! This year we will offer two different half-day (3 hour) workshops, one on self-care and one on youth engagement/classroom management. And we will offer them on request, which means we will travel to you to do the workshop. This way we will be able to offer training in different parts of the state and maybe engage more staff as well. All it takes is a training space for roughly 10-12 people. At your invitation, we will recruit staff from nearby CAPP and PREP providers and provide the workshop at your site.

We are currently developing the workshop material, but will be ready to accommodate requests starting in the spring. So let us know if you are interest in hosting one of these workshops!

~ Jutta

Jutta Dotterweich
Jutta Dotterweich

Training Events for 2019

Have you noticed that the CAPP and PREP training calendar for 2019 is posted on the website? If not, take a look!

If you are a Health Educator Supervisor the training calendar will assist you in planning professional development for your educators, in particular newly hired educators. Keep in mind which trainings are mandatory and which ones are recommended. (You can find that on Working with ACT for Youth — scroll down to the table.)

A few gaps…

One mandatory training, the Training of Educators for Project AIM, still needs to be confirmed. Most likely it will be offered in May. A few webinars are still under development as well. We will update the calendar as soon as possible. Not listed are learning community meetings such as the ones for the Supervisor Learning Collaborative or Component 2 Providers.  We will send separate notices for these events.

Exciting News!

We are developing a couple of new workshops this year:

  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Creating Inclusive Program Environments for Youth with Different Abilities

ORS drop-in sessions are new as well. The evaluation team has scheduled quarterly drop-in web sessions for folks who have questions about online reporting system and/or want to fine-tune their skills using the ORS.

Registration Changes

As usual we will send out registration notices a month prior to workshops and trainings. We will be moving towards an online registration process. Stay tuned for that.

We are looking forward to a productive 2019 training year!

Jutta Dotterweich

— Jutta

Farewell, Divine!

As many of you have heard, Divine has accepted an exciting new position at Binghamton University and will be leaving us at the end of this week.

Having served on both the Evaluation and TA/Training teams, Divine is a true team player who has contributed enormously to our work. She has always been willing to stretch to meet new challenges. We’ll miss her thoughtful insights, warmth, steadiness — and her infectious laugh!

We are happy for you, Divine, but we will miss you so much!

– The ACT for Youth team

Mary, Divine, Michele, and Heather at Provider Day in Albany, 2016

 

Sara, Heather, Ravhee, Divine, Michele in Albany, 2014

Divine and Brian in Kennedy office, 2013

Brian, Divine, Christy, Jenny working in conference room, 2014

Michele, Divine 2017

Beth, Michele, Divine, and Heather, 2017

Educators: Are You Certified?

CHES© and MCHES©, or Certified Health Education Specialist and Masters of Certified Health Education Specialist, are national and international certifications for health educators. CHES is for entry-level health educators and MCHES is designed for specialists with at least five years of experience. These certifications are offered by the nonprofit organization National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC), whose mission is to “enhance the professional practice of Health Education by promoting and sustaining a credentialed body of Health Education Specialists.”

To become certified, one must pass an examination that assesses one’s competence in the possession, application, and interpretation of Seven Areas of Responsibility:

Area I: Assess Needs, Resources, and Capacity for Health Education/Promotion
Area II: Plan Health Education/Promotion
Area III: Implement Health Education/Promotion
Area IV: Conduct Evaluation and Research Related to Health Education/Promotion
Area V: Administer and Manage Health Education/Promotion
Area VI: Serve as a Health Education/Promotion Resource Person
Area VII. Communicate, Promote, and Advocate for Health, Health Education/Promotion, and the Profession

Once certified, one must pay an annual $55 renewal fee and obtain 75 continuing education contact hours every five years for recertification.

Who is eligible?

Basic requirements to be eligible for the exam include:

  • Official transcript clearly showing health education major

OR

  • Official transcript reflecting at least 25 semester hours or 37 quarter hours with specific preparation addressing the Seven Areas of Responsibility and Competency for Health Education Specialists.

Should I become certified?

This national credential lets others know that you have competencies beyond just a degree. You understand the responsibility and accountability in being a high quality health educator. Certification can be appealing to employers looking for health education experts and may be required for some careers in the field.

How can I become certified?

Exams are offered biannually in April and October. Check out the NCHEC exam overview  for more information on registering for the next exam!

ACT for Youth now offers contact hours

ACT for Youth has recently become a Designated Provider of continuing education contact hours with NCHEC. This means we can now help those of you who are already certified get those 75 credit hours! Any webinar or training we offer that addresses at least one of the Areas of Responsibility will be eligible for contact hours (don’t worry – we will make it clear if a webinar or training does not qualify). If you attend and successfully complete these events, you will need to get in touch with me (mas597@cornell.edu) as soon as possible to receive a special evaluation form to be completed. Once we’ve received your evaluation form, we will submit it to NCHEC for you. We are excited to be able to offer this new service to help further your career as a certified health educator!

Divine Sebuharara  – Divine Sebuharara, MS, CHES

Educators: How confident are you with sex ed content?

How much do you know about the menstrual cycle and fertility? How about the way different contraceptives work? Do you know how the major STDs affect the body? Can you explain the difference between sex and gender? Many CAPP and PREP projects are based in organizations that do not specialize in human sexuality. If you are not sure that you could comfortably and confidently answer a wide range of questions on sexual health, you may want to take advantage of the many resources available for your professional development.

Assessment

Self-assessment is an excellent place to start. Healthy Teen Network has developed a self-assessment tool (PDF) for sexual health educators, much of it focused on content. Rate yourself so that you have a good sense of where your weaker areas are – the content areas where you could use a booster.

In-Person Training

Planned Parenthood of NYC Training Institute
A wide variety of topics are offered in PPNYC’s Training Institute. Continuing education contact hours, including Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) contact hours, are available at no additional cost. Your local Planned Parenthood affiliate may also be able to provide in-service training.

National Sex Ed Conference
Sponsored by the Center for Sex Education, this annual conference offers workshops for new and seasoned sex education professionals. (Were you there last week? Tell us how it was!)

CAI (Cicatelli Associates Inc.)
CAI is a training center for NYS DOH AIDS Institute.

Online Training and Webinars

Answer (Rutgers University)
Answer offers online training and capacity building for sex education professionals, including topics such as “Sexuality ABCs” and “Sexual Anatomy and Response,” among many others.

CAPP and PREP Webinars
Find recorded webinars here. Remember to check the CAPP and PREP Training Calendar for upcoming webinars.

Cardea eLearning Courses
While Cardea’s online courses are primarily for clinicians, educators may find value in courses such as “Family Planning Basics,” “Gender Diversity 101,” and “STD 101.”

Office of Adolescent Health: Online Learning Modules
OAH offers several online learning opportunities for organizations in the teen pregnancy prevention and expecting and parenting teen fields, including “Talking with Teens about Reproductive Health” and “Adolescent Development.”

Brushing Up: Brief Reading and Videos

For a more comprehensive list, download the Directory of Professional Development Opportunities in Sexuality Education (Word) from Future of Sex Ed.

Recommendations?

If you have resources to suggest, please comment (or you can email me directly at ks548@cornell.edu).

 

Karen Schantz   – Karen