Friday, June 25, 2010
June Member of the Month: Elpis Enterprises by Clare Ryan YIPA's Promise Fellow
Friday, June 18, 2010
Join us in June: Youth and Prescription Drugs, Quarterly Meeting and More!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Youth Intervention in the News!
Photograph from Star Tribune Article "Many Healthy Returns"
On Tuesday, June 8th the Star Tribune highlighted Bolder Options (a YIPA member since 1999). Bolder Options is a cutting edge hybrid of early intervention, mentoring and healthy lifestyle training. Their innovative techniques for helping young people stay on track, live healthy lives, and connect with caring adults helps make Minnesota a leader in early intervention.
In the article, business columnist Neal St. Anthony cites the Social Return on Investment study that YIPA commissioned in 2007. St. Anthony writes, “Twin Cities economist Paul Anton and Judy Temple of the University of Minnesota reported to the Minnesota Legislature that taxpayers can expect future savings of $2.75 to $5 for every dollar invested in effective mentoring and youth-intervention programs such as those offered by Bolder Options, PPL and Kinship chapters around Minnesota.” These numbers are based on YIPA programs! For the full study.
Bolder Options isn’t the only one showing that early intervention is one of the best investments that Minnesota can make. A national group of law enforcement leaders called Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is saying the same thing. A June 9th article in the Star Tribune shows how Minnesotan law enforcement is getting on board.
In Minnesota, Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom is a leader in the movement to make early intervention a key component of both crime prevention and education. CA Backstrom sat on YIPA’s board for a number of years and remains a YIPA member! We are so grateful to have such a strong voice for early intervention youth services here in Minnesota.
YIPA wholeheartedly supports efforts to incorporate early intervention and prevention into the greater national debate about education reform. Giving young people access to the caring adults, resources and safe spaces that they need will save Minnesota and this country millions of dollars and the immeasurable cost that comes with violent crime, theft and large populations of young adults without high school diplomas.
The article focuses on keeping kids in school, something that many YIPA member organizations do very well. In the article Backstrom states, “If we really want to reduce crime in our society, one of the single best investments we can make is on early prevention programs with at-risk kids." The article uses the word “prevention” to describe the types of programs this group supports, but what they are truly describing is in many cases early intervention. Early intervention helps young people who are straying toward a dangerous path that includes criminal behavior, substance abuse, and dropping out of school.
While this group highlights the need for in-school and afterschool intervention programs, we want to remind our readers that early intervention comes in many shapes and forms. YIPA members include mentoring programs like Bolder Options, School Resource Officer programs like those in Moorhead, MN, diversion programs, family and individual counseling, substance abuse education, and much, much more. Some programs are located in schools, while others are at YMCAs, community centers, probation offices, and public spaces across Minnesota.
If you are interested in learning more about legislation that supports youth intervention or to get more information on the Social Return on Investment study email jsbeaty@comcast.net.
Friday, June 4, 2010
The Value of Continuing Education by Jessi Strinmoen, YIPA's Director of Services
Why do you need continuing education?
· Contribute to your professional growth
· Keep pace with new technology, products, and ideas
· Build skills to help youth amidst the current trends in families, communities and with youth
· Remain desirable as the job market continues to become more competitive, especially in the non-profit world.
No matter how many years you have on the job, there is always room to grow. YIPA encourages all youth service professionals to seek out professional development opportunities that meet your needs as professionals.
At a recent YIPA training, one attendee wrote, “I liked the educational opportunities. Good price for credits. Nice mix of personal info (videos, stories) that presenters mixed with factual info.” We often get this kind of feedback, especially that professionals who need CE credits find our conferences to be a high-quality and inexpensive option. Here is a full list of YIPA recent and up-coming training opportunities and conferences.
Continuing Education Credits
In order to apply for pre-approved CE credits, an organization or individual must submit conference goals, learning objectives, a detailed biography of all speakers, and a detailed agenda that outlines each topic of presentation. In many cases, YIPA will do all of this work for you. The governing boards scrutinize all content to be sure that it aligns with their requirements for licensure before granting approval and then determines the number of pre-approved CE hours to grant. This outside review process ensures that each conference is being conducted in the highest fashion. Once your board has approved a YIPA training, all you have to do (for most boards) is pick up your certificate on the way out!
YIPA seeks pre-approval from eleven governing boards, including:
· MN Board of Social Work (we are an approved provider)
· MN Board of Child Protection
· MN Board of School Administrators
· MN Board of Marriage and Family Therapy
· MN Board of Continuing Legal Education
· ND Board of Counselor Examiners
Additionally, YIPA believes that all of our conferences/trainings are applicable to educators. We offer a certificate of attendance to each attendee so that they can use the certificate to apply for individual approval through their own governing boards, such as an education professional development committee within an individual school.
Even if your profession does not require continuing education credits for licensure, you can rest soundly knowing that the conference you are about to attend from YIPA has gone through the approval process and has been heavily scrutinized for content and quality by these outside governing bodies.
For more information contact: jstrinmoen@mnyipa.org or visit this link.