An Innovative Approach to Mentoring High-Risk Children
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Training Description
In the first part of the presentation, Safer Society Foundation (SSF) Executive Director, Mary Falcon will discuss how to identify high-risk children based on the Kaiser Permanente/CDCP ACE’s (adverse childhood experiences) list of 10 risk factors. Mary will also talk about how the tenth risk factor, parental incarceration, exacerbates the effects of the other ACE’s and how the neurological impact of childhood trauma puts children at high risk for maladjustment throughout the lifespan.
In the second part of the webinar, Erika Linskey, SSF’s mentoring program director, will present New Circle Mentoring—an innovative and unique program for children of incarcerated parents that includes not only the management of a program director (with a support staff) but a clinical director as well. The innovations also include carefully chosen mentors who make five-year commitments and the collaboration of school counselors and family-related volunteers, all of whom form circles of support around each mentor/mentee pair. Erika will talk about the program model, demonstrate how the program uses a trauma-informed approach to mentoring, and will discuss the New Circle Mentoring program’s progress to date.
Author Biographies
Mary Falcon has been Executive Director of Safer Society Foundation, Inc. (SSF), since 2014. She has brought thirty years’ experience in the publishing industry to the Foundation, part of which is the Safer Society Press that publishes books and guides for the treatment of victims of sexual abuse and the rehabilitation of adult sexual abusers and court-involved adolescents. The Press also publishes books and training videos on working with children impacted by parental incarceration. In accordance with SSF founder Fay Honey Knopp’s goal of mitigating the impact of mass incarceration upon millions of American children and families, Mary has also expanded the scope of the Foundation’s work to include the New Circle Mentoring program in Vermont.
Erika Linskey has worked with the Safer Society team since 2015 developing new programs to help children of incarcerated parents. Erika earned her Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from Penn State and her Master of Arts in Educational Psychology from the University of Colorado. She is a former teacher from Colorado and has maintained a life-long career in teaching and childhood advocacy. She serves on the Granville (Vermont) town School Board and volunteers at the Warren Elementary School. Erika’s position as the New Circle Mentoring Program Director has evolved from her desire to help children holistically, in all aspects of their lives.
Learning Objectives
This training is designed to help you:
- You will be able to identify the ten key factors that contribute to children being at high-risk
- You will be able to describe to colleagues the four mentoring program innovations discussed by the presenters
- You will be able to apply trauma- informed practices to your current or future mentoring program
