2023 Keynote & Plenary Speakers*
Monday, April 24, 2023 – Keynote Speaker, Gaelin Elmore
The Belonging Difference: Helping Youth Overcoming Trauma
After a childhood filled with trauma, abuse, neglect, and homelessness, Gaelin believed that his issues would be solved if he became successful. From college football to signing an NFL contract, Gaelin was driven, even comforted, by this assumption. It wasn't until Gaelin achieved what he thought was "success" (making it to the NFL), that he finally realized he had been wrong all along. And so, Gaelin retired as a rookie to begin his journey of self-love, self-discovery, and belonging. That journey has led Gaelin here today, and to stages all across the coun try, aiming to inspire, encourage, and equip others, to erase the belonging gap plaguing youth with adverse childhood experiences. Gaelin lives in Eden Prairie, MN, where he gets to experience the purest form of belonging, as a husband to his wife, Micaela, and a Dad to their two daughters, Laniah and Tatum."
Monday, April 17, 2023 – Plenary Panel, New York Initiative for Children of Incarcerated Parents (NYCIP)
Youth Voices: Sharing Personal Stories with Purpose and Intention
Panelists will share tips for engaging youth as “co-creators” in planning events,
meetings, conferences and more where youth will share their stories, and when
developing programs and policies. Attendees will be encouraged to share promising
practices, considerations, and challenges that arise when sharing personal stories to
inform the development of the “Youth Voices Guiding Document” that will be released
during SUSU month this October.
Anyé Young
Anyé Young is a teen advocate for prison reform best known for the book she
self-published when she was 16 years old: Teen Guide to Living With Incarcerated
Parents. Since the release of her book, Young has shared her story and experiences as
a child with a father serving a 12-year prison sentence to help teens in similar situations
overcome the shame they may feel due to social stigma. Young is also an international
keynote speaker and serves as an Ambassador for Peace First as well as the
International Coalition for Children With Incarcerated Parents (INCCIP.org). Young
continues to share her story along with lessons learned while coping with the challenges
of life away from her father and in a single-parent home.
Ava Lantiere
Ava Lantiere is a strong advocate for increased support, understanding, and
opportunities for justice impacted individuals and their loved ones. Her advocacy is
informed by her lived experience of parental incarceration, community outreach and her
previous role as a See Us, Support Us Youth Fellow at the Osborne Association. Ava
has served as a Community Linkage Specialist at the Osborne Association where she
supported individuals as they reenter the community after incarceration. She received
her Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Manhattanville College in 2021.
Allison Hollihan, LMHC
Allison Hollihan, LMHC, is the Director for the New York Initiative for Children of
Incarcerated Parents (NYCIP) at the Osborne Association. She advocates for policies
and practices in New York State and beyond that promote the well-being of children with
parents involved in the criminal legal system. She facilitates advocacy workshops for,
and collaborates with, the Osborne Youth Action Council, youth advocates with incarcerated parents. Ms. Hollihan coordinates See Us, Support Us (SUSU), a national awareness raising initiative that culminates during SUSU month every October. Her work is informed by her clinical background, collaborations with children and families, and the incarceration of her sister.
Monday, April 24, 2023 – Julie Poehlmann, PhD, Pajarita Charles, PhD, Allison Hoeckstra, MSW and Kalvin Barrett. MS
Implementing Child-Friendly Visits in a County Jail
How can child-friedly visiting experiences be implemented in correctional institution when you live and how do you think positive parent-child visits during incarceration impact reintegration and family reunion processes?
Julie Poehlmann, PhD
Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Julie completed her MS and PhD at Syracuse University in clinical psychology and has served as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 25 years. She engages in policy-oriented research on the health and social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children with incarcerated parents and their families, including examining the intergenerational transmission of risk, trauma, resilience, and healing. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods in her work, especially observational methods that focus on children and families in their natural contexts as well as physiological measures. She also designs and evaluates interventions for children and their parents.
Pajarita Charles, PhD
Assistant Professor, Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Pajarita completed her MSW at Columbia University and her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is an Assistant Professor and an affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty and the Center for Law, Society, and Justice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research centers on the development, implementation, and testing of family-focused preventive interventions to promote positive outcomes for children and families affected by the criminal legal system. Her work also includes fostering research, practice, and public sector partnerships to build capacity for criminal justice reform and efforts to build community-driven responses to social problems.
Allison Hoeckstra, MSW
Family Connections Social Worker, Dane County Sheriff’s Office
Since May 2021, Allison has been the Family Connections Social Worker with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, where she provides direct services and programming to parents in the jail. Prior to this role, Allison received her Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she did research studying the impacts of family-focused, community-based services for formerly incarcerated individuals in the Madison area. Allison is passionate about helping individuals make changes in their lives to interrupt the cycle of repeated, intergenerational incarceration.
Kalvin Barrett. MS
Dane County Sheriff
Kalvin D. Barrett has served as the Dane County Sheriff since May 2021. He earned his BS in Sociology at UW-Madison and his MS in Criminal Justice. Sheriff Barrett worked as a Dane County Sheriff’s Office Deputy, a Sun Prairie Police Department Officer, a Wisconsin State Park Police Department, and as an instructor at Madison College. Sheriff Barrett’s leadership focuses on implementing proactive solutions that address the root causes of criminal justice system involvement. The Dane County Sheriff’s team has implemented recidivism-reducing programs such as the Medication Assisted Treatment Program, Jail Diversion, and the Dane County Mobile Crisis Response Team.
Monday, May 1, 2023 – Arizona PBS
Caring, Connecting, Conversations: Az Pbs Programs That Help Build And Support Families with Their Relationships
Learn how Arizona PBS has created community connections across Arizona by providing
families with workshops surrounding the topics of executive functioning, social and emotional
development, and character development in underserved communities.
The incarceration of a loved one can be overwhelming for both children and caregivers.
Because of the feeling of stigma, it takes special effort to start important conversations and
answer kids’ questions. During this workshop, Arizona PBS will provide evidence-based
strategies to support families and their child’s well-being for those who have been impacted by
incarceration by using the best practices of Family and Community Learning I Lean & Grow
Together from PBS and Sesame Street in Communities- Coping with Incarceration. Participants
will actively participate in conversation, polls and watch video samples on how to engage with
children on this topic. As the Arizona PBS Educational Outreach team have piloted and
researched the implementation of National PBS evidence-based curriculum, we will show
examples of how curriculums have been implemented in local communities across the state.
Upon leaving this workshop you will have a teaching toolbox of information and resources to
support those who are impacted by incarceration.
Resources and information for this training are provided by Robert Wood Jahaira Foundation,
The Joan Ganz Cooney Fund, Kern Family Foundation, Fred Rogers Production, Arizona PBS
and Sesame Street in Communities. Training resources are available in English and Spanish.
Tammy Lee, M.A.
Coordinator Senior Arizona PBS-Arizona State University
Tammy Lee has been in the field of Early Childhood Education for 18 years. Through her
experiences she has been involved with co-facilitating Kern social-emotional workshops
supporting families in underserved communities and facilitated Sesame Street in Communities
professional development opportunities. Tammy additionally provides technical assistance for
the Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry and FTF College Scholarships.
She has also been involved with Quality First as a classroom Master Teacher earning the
highest quality rating of 5 stars, NAEYC Accreditation, mentored college practicum and interns
in her preschool classrooms and currently is a college adjunct instructor in the field of ECE.
Tammy serves on the Yavapai Regional Partnership Council for First Things First in the early
childhood educator seat.
Misty Standeford
Program Manager Arizona PBS-Arizona State University
Misty Standeford is currently a Program Manager in Mohave/LaPaz County at Arizona PBS,
where she coordinates community events, implements programs that include family
involvement, and serves as a community liaison. She also helps provide technical assistance
with the Arizona Early Childhood Registry and promotes professional development in the
Registry.
She has worked with other community agencies, such as Parents as Teachers as a Parent
Educator, as well as with Mohave County Health Department as a Community Health Educator,
among other distinctions in the field. Misty is an accredited Triple P facilitator and also an
independent facilitator of Love & Logic curriculum. She is also trained in LETRS and LECTIO.
Gordon Freeman Brown
Coordinator Senior, Arizona PBS-Arizona State University
Gordon Brown is the Instructional Specialist Coordinator organizing community events and
programs that include family involvement. He has a background in early childhood education,
and early childhood center direction. He has worked in rural locations for much of his
professional career and has a great appreciation for the needs in the rural education
communities. Gordon additionally provides technical assistance for the Arizona Early Childhood
Workforce Registry and FTF College Scholarships and is bilingual in Spanish.
Gordon is the president elect of Valley of the Sun Arizona Association of the Education of
Young Children chapter and actively involved in ACE Consortium events. He provides
professional development in Sesame Street in Communities, Kern social and emotional
workshops supporting families in underserved communities and trained in LECTIO.
Monday, May 1, 2023 – Isabel Coronado, M.P.H, Kathy Mitchell, and Janelle Prueter
Caring, Connecting, Conversations: Az Pbs Programs That Help Build And Support Families with Their Relationships
Separation due to incarceration can cause trauma and long-lasting harm to children, their parents and caregivers, families, and communities. One in ten of this nation's children have a parent under criminal justice control—in jail or prison, or on probation or parole. Family-based diversion and alternative sentencing programs provide an opportunity to hold caregivers accountable and address their needs in the community, avoiding the negative impacts of separating families, yet only a handful of states and communities currently offer these sentencing alternatives. Incarceration disproportionately impacts Black, Hispanic and Native American families and these alternatives can mitigate this disparity and provide a more equitable and effective approach to community safety and well-being than traditional criminal justice responses
This panel of experts will provide an overview of existing family-based alternatives and enabling legislation, research supporting the need for these alternatives, federal funding streams for family-based alternative justice programs and other children of incarcerated grants, and suggestions for creating, expanding, and funding these options in your state.
Isabel Coronado, M.P.H.
Project Coordinator for the Family-Based Justice Center at NYU Marron
Isabel Coronado is the Program Coordinator of the Family-Based Justice Center, where she uses her lived experience as a child of incarcerated parents to assist in the development of family-based diversion programs.
Kathy Mitchell
Program Manager, Youth Justice and System Innovation Division, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Kathy Mitchell is a Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) within the Office of Justice Programs and manages the Family-Based Justice Alternatives and Children of Incarcerated Parents grants programs.
Janelle Prueter
Co-director for the Family-Based Justice Center at NYU Maron
Janelle Prueter is the Co-Director of the Family-Based Justice Center, assisting in the development and implementation of family-based diversion programs.
*Speakers and schedule subject to change
Thank you to our sponsors and exhibitors for their generosity in helping us make this conference possible.
Click on any organization's logo to visit their website.
For information on sponsor and exhibitor opportunities, please contact us at childwellbeing@asu.edu.