Michigan's First Annual Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Conference took place in New Buffalo, Michigan on September 17th and 18th. To wrap up the conference Dean Sheryl Kubiak, Assistant Professor Erin Comartin, and Project Coordinator Leonard Swanson presented the keynote address to over 100 law enforcement and behavioral health professionals. The keynote address provided attendees with an overview of the outcomes and impact of CIT efforts within Michigan, part of a larger evaluation of jail diversion programs across the state being conducted by the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice (CBHJ) team. Findings presented included the impacts of CIT training on officer behavior, including increased knowledge of mental health treatment options and de-escalation skills, increased diversions to the crisis center, and how the distance to the crisis center had a significant impact on the number of individuals diverted there. The conference provided the CBHJ team the opportunity to strengthen connections with key stakeholders and elevate the importance of evidence and data at both the local and state level.

The Center for Behavioral Health and Justice was recently established by the School of Social Work. This purpose of this 'center of excellence' is to assist local communities, organizations, and behavioral health and law enforcement agencies across Michigan in diverting individuals with mental health and substance use disorders from the criminal justice system to appropriate treatment. Specifically, the center will provide these stakeholders with expertise, evaluation, support, training and technical assistance to inform effective, evidence-based policy and programs.

Below: Erin Comartin (Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Data Director, Center for Behavioral Health and Justice) & Major Sam Cochran (Co-Chair, CIT International Board of Directors)

Below: Sheryl Kubiak (Dean, School of Social Work & Director, Center for Behavioral Health and Justice) presenting CIT Evaluation Outcomes and Considerations with Erin Comartin (Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Data Director, CBHJ) and Leonard Swanson (Project Coordinator, CBHJ)

Below: Sheriff Blaine Koops (Michigan Sheriffs' Association), Sheryl Kubiak (Dean, School of Social Work & Director, CBHJ) & Amy Watson (University of Illinois at Chicago School of Social Work)

Below: Leonard Swanson (Project Coordinator, CBHJ) and Todd Christensen (MICIS Project Coordinator)

Five School of Social Work faculty and staff presented at the 19th Annual Substance Use and Co-Occurring Disorder Conference in Grand Rapids in September. Elizabeth Agius, Jennifer Ellis and Stella Resko presented "Using Facebook for Prevention: Advertising and Data Collection." Brianna Sabol was part of a presentation on "Lessons Learned From Incorporating Prevention Strategies into  Primary Care Settings." Rachel Kollin was part of a presentation on "Three Strategies for Improving Treatment for People with Opioid Use Disorder."

Jerry Brandell will present a paper, titled "The Elaboration of Developmental Trauma via Reciprocal Storytelling: The Case of Bruce," at the international conference on Storytelling and Trauma, held in Budapest, Hungary on Oct. 6-7.

Tamarie Willis and Marijo Upshaw will present a workshop on behalf of the School of Social Work Entrepreneurship Committee on its efforts to build opportunities for social work students to explore social entrepreneurship. The presentation follows the committee's receipt of the 2018 Award for Innovative Teaching in Social Work, an honor bestowed by SAGE Publishing and the Council on Social Work Education. The CSWE Annual Program Meeting announcing the award is available here.

Devan Keys (below), a McNair Scholar and research assistant to Carolyn Dayton, presented at The Alliance for Graduate Education and Professoriate (AGEP) Fall Conference in Lansing. The title of the poster was "What Rocked the Cradle: An Investigation of the Effects of Childhood Trauma on the Biobehavioral Risk of Expectant Mothers and  Fathers." (Keys, D., Dayton, C., Hicks, L.)