November 2023 CPS & CPPS Supervisor’s Community of Practice

“Supporting Peer Providers using Technology-based Solutions to Deliver Seamless Services”
with Tanya Kraege and Kristina Vaccaro

November 27th, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm CT

Facilitator:

• Tanya Kraege
  Tanya Kraege is the Drug Poisoning Prevention Team Manager at Safe Communities MDC. She works alongside people experiencing substance use challenges, birthing folx using substances during pregnancy, trauma, relationships, formerly incarcerated, and mental health experiences. Tanya has been a part of mental health and substance use work for 14 years. Currently, she oversees programs that use Recovery Coaches and Certified Peer Specialists who work in various environments in Dane County, Rock County and Jefferson County in Wisconsin to support people with substance use, and mental health experiences and their loved ones. Over the past few years in this role, Tanya has secured grant funding to design and implement a Salesforce-based recovery practice management solution that has increased productivity by 40% in peer provider management and has given the flexibility to serve over 1600 people in her community. Tanya also works around the Country regarding anti-stigma work and peer provider programs. Tanya played a role in the Health Care Task Force on Safe Opioid Prescribing by participating in the academic detailing program for working with clinicians on co-prescribing Naloxone with opioid prescription medications, in addition to being a Clinical Social Worker, Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor, and community advocate. Tanya is also a Recovery Coach, Recovery Coach Trainer, and Certified Peer Specialist, using her story of addiction and recovery to help others gain hope and insight into new ways of living.

  Tanya Kraege APSW, CSAC, MSW, CCAR Coach, CCAR Trainer, WICPS

• Kristina VaccaroKristina Vaccaro is the Drug Poisoning Prevention Peer Provider Team Supervisor at Safe Communities of Madison and Dane County, WI. Kristina has worked with the substance use and recovery community for nearly six years, using her experience in recovery to inspire and support those currently struggling with substances or mental health challenges. She started providing peer support to those struggling with substance use in 2017 and eventually moved into a leadership position with Safe Communities. She has worked alongside the program manager to implement programs and supervise a team of 18-20 Recovery Coaches/Certified Peer Specialists providing direct services. Kristina works closely with the program manager, funders, and developers to bring to life a recovery practice management solution to ease the daily burden of program management and supervision. Kristina is a recovery coach, recovery coach trainer, and a WI Certified Peer Specialist. She also serves on the board and volunteers at a Dane County-based recreational BMX track and, most recently, on the board of directors for her family foundation working with Wisconsin-based nonprofits to enhance their work. Kristina would tell you she loves her job and the people she gets the honor to work alongside. Kristina’s children and husband mean the work to her outside of work and spends her time outside of work with them.

  Kristina Vaccaro BS, CCAR Coach, CCAR Trainer, CPS

Description:

This community of practice focuses on how peer-providing organizations can get organized and incorporate data-based approaches and tools to track their peer work and improve their outcomes. Facilitators will discuss their experience in overcoming supervisory and data challenges as they pertain to supporting peer providers in their work. A solution for managing data tracking for multiple programs and the approaches they are now using to scale programs and manage growth will be explored.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how to manage the daily activities of peer providers they’re supporting.
• How to organize roles and responsibilities of those supporting peers in their work.
• Utilize data-based approaches to peer work (and the challenges with that)

Feedback Survey/CEH Information:

We invite you to please fill out the evaluation survey link (click here) if you attended this community of practice gathering or if you watch the recording. The survey will close at 4:30pm on Monday, December 11th. Certificates of Participation will be sent to those completing the evaluation form by 4:30pm on December 18th, 2023. No evaluation surveys will be accepted for CEH credit after the evaluation survey’s closing date/time.

This website is managed and maintained by staff at Access to Independence working on the Wisconsin Peer Specialist Employment Initiative. The words, views, and values presented herein are not necessarily representative of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

October 2023 CPS & CPPS Supervisor’s Community of Practice

“Supervising Peers with Multiple Lived Experience”
with Startina White

October 18th, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm CT

Facilitator:

• Startina White
  Startina was born and raised in Milwaukee Wi. She has worked as a Certified Peer Specialist for 3 years all of which have been performed at Wisconsin Community Services. She has lived experience with mental health as well as substance use and has been in recovery for 4 ½ years. Startina believes in the Peer Specialist model of support because without it she believes that it would have taken her even longer to seek treatment and support for herself. Startina is now the Assistant Director of Community Based Peer Programs at WCS, yet still serves as a Certified Peer Specialist and states this work helps to keep me humble, motivated, and hard working in my own recovery, every day that I am blessed to wake up.

Description:

Join us in this Community of Practice gathering to learn how to support peers in their own recovery to prevent burnout, how to balance with work and home, and promote ethics and boundaries.

Feedback Survey/CEH Information:

We invite you to please fill out the evaluation survey link (click here) if you attended this community of practice gathering or if you watch the recording. The survey will close at 4:30pm on Wednesday, November 1st. Certificates of Participation will be sent to those completing the evaluation form by 4:30pm on November 8th, 2023. No evaluation surveys will be accepted for CEH credit after the evaluation survey’s closing date/time.

This website is managed and maintained by staff at Access to Independence working on the Wisconsin Peer Specialist Employment Initiative. The words, views, and values presented herein are not necessarily representative of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

August 2023 CPS & CPPS Supervisor’s Community of Practice

“Culture, Power, and Privilege in Peer Support”
with Carmella Glenn & Marcia Galvan

August 24th, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm CT

A note from Marcia: I apologize if I caused any harm or disrespect with my ill prepared land acknowledgment. I want to acknowledge that I reside on the ancestral lands of several Woodland Native American Tribes, including the Ojibwe, Winnebago, Sauk, Fox, and Potowatami tribes.

Facilitator:

Carmella Glenn

Carmella  is from Madison Wisconsin and has worked in social justice for more than 20 years. She is the mother of 4 boys, two birth two bonus and she has one grandson. She has been married to her husband for 12 years. Carmella has a degree in Criminal Justice and Culinary Arts. She used both of those degrees to Direct, grow and supervise Just Bakery for 10 years. Just Bakery is an employment training initiative for those with barriers to employment. She is a Certified Peer Specialist, a Certified Peer Specialist trainer and is currently the Violence Intervention Coordinator for Public Health Madison and Dane County. She is also a proud system disruptor.

Marcia Galvan

Marcia is from Madison Wisconsin and has worked in social justice for more than 20 years. She is the mother of 4 boys, two birth two bonus and she has one grandson. She has been married to her husband for 12 years. Carmella has a degree in Criminal Justice and Culinary Arts. She used both of those degrees to Direct, grow and supervise Just Bakery for 10 years. Just Bakery is an employment training initiative for those with barriers to employment. She is a Certified Peer Specialist, a Certified Peer Specialist trainer and is currently the Violence Intervention Coordinator for Public Health Madison and Dane County. She is also a proud system disruptor.

Description:

In this session, the presenters will explore how culture, power, and privilege intersect with behavioral health and recovery. Substance use and mental health transcends all identities, and its imperative that when working with those whose worldview and lived experience differ from our own that we are providing culturally responsive services.

Presenters will share resources and discuss action steps with that will empower attendees to make changes on a personal level and equip them to begin creating culturally responsive and inclusive spaces for those that they work with.

Feedback Survey/CEH Information:

We invite you to please fill out the evaluation survey link (click here) if you attended this community of practice gathering or if you watch the recording. The survey will close at 4:30pm on Thursday, September 7th. Certificates of Participation will be sent to those completing the evaluation form by 4:30pm on September 14th, 2023. No evaluation surveys will be accepted for CEH credit after the evaluation survey’s closing date/time.

This website is managed and maintained by staff at Access to Independence working on the Wisconsin Peer Specialist Employment Initiative. The words, views, and values presented herein are not necessarily representative of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

July 2023 CPS & CPPS Supervisor’s Community of Practice

“Intentional Relationship Development in Peer Support ”
with Dominique Christian

July 27th, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm CT

Facilitator:

Dominique Christian

As a Certified Peer Support Specialist, Dominique has experience supporting people with mental health concerns, psychological trauma and substance use. Dominique chose to enter this field because she believes that while there are many people passionate about this work, there aren’t enough people of color who share commonalities and similar experiences with the many of the clients being served. She believes her lived experience helps her be effective in supporting and advocating for others in their recovery process.

Description:

In this presentation, you will be invited to discuss the impact of judgment, bias (implicit or explicit), and the assumption that a problem exists. In life, we pay attention to how we have learned and been conditioned by society to make sense of our experiences. During connection with our peers, we use the development of relationships to create new ways of thinking, seeing and doing. The intention of our work is social change. This discussion will move us from focusing on adequate service provision to generating conversations that influence understanding and appreciation of different life stories.

Feedback Survey/CEH Information:

We invite you to please fill out the evaluation survey link (click here) if you attended this community of practice gathering or if you watch the recording. The survey will close at 4:30pm on Thursday, August 10th. Certificates of Participation will be sent to those completing the evaluation form by 4:30pm on August 17th, 2023. No evaluation surveys will be accepted for CEH credit after the evaluation survey’s closing date/time.

This website is managed and maintained by staff at Access to Independence working on the Wisconsin Peer Specialist Employment Initiative. The words, views, and values presented herein are not necessarily representative of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

June 2023 CPS & CPPS Supervisor’s Community of Practice

“Peer Support Values and Support Group Facilitation: A Necessary Union”
with Lisa Marie Brodsky Auter

June 29th, 2023 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm CT

Facilitator:

Lisa Marie Brodsky Auter

Lisa Marie Brodsky Auter is a published author, Certified Peer Specialist, Peer Support Supervisor, and Group Facilitator for The Wellness Studio under SOAR Case Management/Recovery Dane in Madison, WI. Lisa Marie views emotional expression as part of the human experience and not something to be pathologized or shamed. She uses this ongoing lesson in liberation and humility to bring peer support to new places. Currently training to become a Poetry Therapy Practitioner, she teaches other practitioners how peer support values enrich group facilitation and one’s overall view of emotional support. Lisa Marie is the Founder/Owner of “Hiraethlon” and “The I’m Okay Collective,” two offerings that focus on community, creativity, and connection.

Description:

In this presentation, you’ll be invited to discuss how peer support values, ethics, and boundaries complement and enhance support group facilitation. By connecting best practices to group facilitation, peer staff and supervisors can offer a more self-determined, authentic, and honest support group experience for all.

Feedback Survey/CEH Information:

We invite you to please fill out the evaluation survey link (click here) if you attended this community of practice gathering or if you watch the recording. The survey will close at 4:30pm on Thursday, July 13th. Certificates of Participation will be sent to those completing the evaluation form by 4:30pm on July 20th, 2023. No evaluation surveys will be accepted for CEH credit after the evaluation survey’s closing date/time.

This website is managed and maintained by staff at Access to Independence working on the Wisconsin Peer Specialist Employment Initiative. The words, views, and values presented herein are not necessarily representative of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.