Events: Responding to Tragic Incidents Involving a Person with Serious Mental Illness, and More

• Webinar 3/10: Responding To A High-Profile Tragic Incident Involving A Person With A Serious Mental Illness
  From the Council of State Governments' Justice Center's Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project press release:

  When a person with a history or current diagnosis of serious mental illness is involved in a high-profile tragic incident, community leaders face public, media, legal and legislative scrutiny. Incomplete and/or inaccurate information may spread quickly—not only about the incident, but also about the likelihood of violence among individuals with mental illnesses. This is often fueled by community members’ mistaken assumptions that mental health treatment is ineffective and that most people with mental illnesses are violent. Though most individuals with serious mental illnesses will never be violent and can live successfully in the community with adequate treatment, supports, and housing, when a high-profile, tragic incident does occur that involves a member of this population, it can engender fear and lead to heated public debate.

  To help policymakers better anticipate and respond to these events, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and the Council of State Governments Justice Center have released a toolkit for responding to tragic incidents involving a person with serious mental illnesses. In this webinar presenters will discuss the toolkit’s origins and applications. Presenters include:

  Dr. Lorrie Rickman-Jones, Director of Mental Health for the Illinois Department of Human Services
  Dr. Fred Osher, Director of Health Systems and Services Policy for the Council of State Governments Justice Center
  Mr. David Miller, Project Director for the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.

  Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011
  Time: 2:00-3:15 pm E.T.

  To register for this event, please click the link above.

• Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) Conference
  This year's conference, "State of Children & Families: Building an Effective National Voice," will be held March 27-30, 2011, in Washington, DC.
• Online Course -- Truancy and Dropout: Mending the Cracks in the Graduation Pipeline
  This course was advertised as being offered by the National Center for Student Engagement, but the website is The Partnership for Families and Children. Cost is $149 for a single student; group packages are available. (Hat tip to JUVJUST.)
• NADCP Drug Court Training Conference
  The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) is holding its 17th annaul conference, "Drug Courts: A Proven Budget Solution," July 17-20, 2011, in Washington, DC.  CLE/CJE/CEU credits are available. Click link above to learn more.

Photo: familymwr, by SSG Ryan Boas (detail only).