NYAPRS Note: NYAPRS will be hosting two powerful webinars for the month of March that address issues that are very critical to our community. On March 19, members of the Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement will offer powerful personal testimony as to the need for criminal justice reform and the imperative to address the connection between race and solitary confinement. In particular, they will explain the urgency of legislative passage of the Humane Alternatives To Long-Term (Halt) Solitary Confinement Act in the coming days. On March 29th, Special Assistant to the OMH Commissioner Amanda Saake will moderate a discussion, entitled “Walking the Fine Line,” that will highlight the personal experiences of community behavioral health service providers with lived experience. See below for more information and register today!
March 2021
Webinars
The Connection between Race, Mental Illness and Solitary Confinement in New York State Prisons
Imprisoned New Yorkers in solitary confinement spend twenty-three to twenty-four hours a day in space no bigger than an elevator, with no access to meaningful human interaction, for weeks, months, years, and even decades. Isolated confinement fails to address, and often exacerbates the symptoms of mental illnesses, as people deteriorate psychologically, physically, and socially while in ‘the Box’. At the same time, African Americans and Latinos are sent to solitary confinement more frequently and for longer durations, a pattern that led the New York Times to document what they called “the scourge of racial bias in New York State’s prisons.” The presenters will give powerful personal testimony of experiences in the Box and why NYAPRS has joined them to fight for passage of Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act.
Date and Time: March 19, 2021 from noon to 1:30pm EST
Presented By: Jerome Wright and Natasha White, New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, Harvey Rosenthal, NYAPRS
Register Here
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Walking the Fine Line 1.25 CE Hour
Lived experience of recovery from mental health conditions and diagnoses is prevalent among people working in a variety of roles throughout what we know as the behavioral health system. Regrettably, the presence of stigma and discrimination in the workplace fuels an ongoing “us vs. them” dynamic and creates fear for practitioners who may have otherwise considered disclosing and/or using their own histories as an advocacy tool to address structural inequalities and barriers too system reform. This panel, moderated by OMH Special Assistant to the Commissioner Amanda Saake, features five individuals who identify in both “professional” and “peer” capacities in a meaningful way. The panelists discuss the intersection of varied identities and experiences (whether chosen or not), explore possible avenues for systemwide advocacy by professionals with lived experience, and look at the potential impact of these strategies if more “professionals” openly integrate their personal histories in their interactions with participants and colleagues.
Date and Time: March 26, 2021 from noon-1:15 pm EST
Presented By: Amanda Saake, NYS Office of Mental Health; Stephanie Bouillon, Howie the Harp; Liz Brier, The Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery, The Coalition for Behavioral Health; Jonathan Edwards, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care and Treatment, NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene; Clinton Green, The Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery, The Coalition for Behavioral Health; Jeremy Reuling, OnTrackNY, MHA of Westchester
Register Here
Complimentary CE hours are provided for LMSW, LCSW, LMHC, CPRP. NYS OMH and OASAS Certified Peer CEs are pending approval.