Friday, June 25, 2010

June Member of the Month: Elpis Enterprises by Clare Ryan YIPA's Promise Fellow








Sitting in an office all day, those of us on the administrative, research, and advocacy end of non-profit work can sometimes lose track of the real reason we do what we do. That is why I volunteer and it is why I love taking field trips! This week, I had the good fortune of being able to visit a wonderful YIPA member organization called Elpis Enterprises.



A collage from Elpis' website at www.elpisenterprises.org


Approaching Elpis’ workshop, it doesn’t seem like much – just a door at the end of a winding corridor on the third floor of an old warehouse building off of University Ave in Saint Paul. I knock and a smiling young woman with lots of piercings opens the door. She is wearing a paint-covered smock. I walk into a room packed from floor to ceiling with scraps of wood. This wood, I later learn, has all been donated by cedar fencing companies. In the back room, there is music playing and three young people are deeply engrossed in a totally mysterious process that turns out to be the first steps in making silkscreen t-shirts.

Elpis Enterprises is an organization dedicated to giving young people real work experience. An independent program since 2002, Elpis hires young people who have experienced or are at risk for homelessness and trains them in t-shirt printing and woodworking. These young people (about 20-25 per year) stay with Elpis for 6 months to a year and are paid a stipend for the Tuesday and Thursday evenings they spend in the workshop.

The man behind the bustle of activity I find at 6:30pm on a hot summer evening is Paul Ramsour. Paul is deeply connected to YIPA. He serves on our board and also represents his other workplace – Youthlink, a hub of services and support for homeless youth in Minneapolis. In fact, many of the young people who work at Elpis came through Youthlink.

The atmosphere in the workshop is so different from my world of offices and computers. The ‘70s radio station plays old classics and a young man who has been working on birdhouses in the woodshop comes in and starts dancing.
“Anyone know who wrote this song?” Paul challenges.
“BeyoncĂ©” the young man says under his breath.
A young woman looks up and says, “How are we supposed to know that? We weren’t even thought of yet!”


I come up to the young woman and ask her if she likes working here. “It’s great!” She says. What is her favorite part? “I love mixing ink!” she smiles, like she could go on mixing reds and greens and yellows all night.

If you have never seen a multi-color t-shirt printed on a manual press, it is quite a complicated process. Did Paul have a background in silk screening or woodworking? Not at all. When he started, he tells me, he knew nothing about woodworking, t-shirt making or working with young people, for that matter! Not that you would know it today. Piles of high quality t-shirts and mountains of beautiful recycled cedar birdfeeders fill the space. Elpis also does about 100 community events per year, where the young employees go to parks or local fairs and teach kids how to make their own birdfeeders.

I leave Elpis feeling refreshed, despite the heat. Though the paint and sawdust, there is something really wonderful going on in that workshop.

Want to be featured on this blog? Email cryan@mnyipa.org.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Join us in June: Youth and Prescription Drugs, Quarterly Meeting and More!

Are you encountering more youth who abuse prescription drugs? You are not alone! The 2009 Center for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior Study reported that over 20 percent of youth surveyed said that they had taken a prescription drug that wasn’t prescribed to them. This recent U.S. News article explores the most common substances a young person is likely to encounter today – including Adderal, OxyContin, and other drugs that are easy to “borrow” from family medicine cabinets. The full CDC report includes a wide range of risk behaviors, many of which will be sadly familiar to most youth intervention providers.

Come join YIPA to learn more. It is not too late to register for “Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drug Use and Youth” with Jay Jaffee of the Minnesota Department of Health on June 25th, 2010 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm at Children's Home Society and Family Services, 1605 Eustis Street, St. Paul, MN. This event is FREE for YIPA members and only $25 for non-YIPA members.

This training is open to anyone who wants to learn about the misuse and abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. This phenomenon has significantly increased over the past decade. More people, including youth, now report the non-medical use of these drugs than people who report abusing/misusing all other drugs except alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. We will examine how and why this has come about, which drugs are being abused and why, the impact on youth, information about these drugs and the harm they can cause, suggestions for preventing their abuse and resources available for prevention.

Are you a YIPA member? Join us for our summer quarterly meeting. The meeting will take place before this training at the Children’s Home Society and Family Services building from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Looking for some summer fun? YIPA has paid for and arranged a private group tour for the YIPA membership of the new Target Field in downtown Minneapolis on Thursday, June 24! The tour is limited to 25 people, so if you are interested in going on this tour, please RSVP to cklejbuk@tcq.net. We will accept the limited reservations on a first-response basis and remember this is members only!

Following the tour, those who are interested will continue some social time at Roy Smalley's 87 Club, 100 N. 6th St. (at Butler Square and walking distance from Target Field - it is the former Champps restaurant location). If you are unable to be part of the tour, you are most welcome to join us at this restaurant (reservations are for 8:15 p.m.).

Interested in becoming a YIPA member? Contact cklejbuk@tcq.net to get a spot at the table next week.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Youth Intervention in the News!


Early intervention youth services have been featured several times this week in the Star Tribune! At YIPA, we are delighted to see that the amazing work of members is getting recognized. We are also excited to see new ideas and connections for youth intervention at the state and the national level.

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

The changing nature of our world means that youth-serving professionals must continually acquire new strategies, learn about best practices, and gain skills to help youth address new and challenging issues in their lives. Though work as a youth-serving professional does not always require a set number of hours of professional development for re-licensure and/or continued employment, it is just as important for all of you to continue to hone your skills as it is for the social workers, law enforcement officers, and mental health professionals who do face strict hourly requirements.

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 Psychology

· MN Board of Child Protection

· MN Board of School Administrators

· MN Board of Marriage and Family Therapy

· MN POST Board

· MN Board of Continuing Legal Education

· ND Board of Counselor Examiners

· ND Board of Social Work

· ND Board of Psychology

· ND POST Board

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.

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