It is time to talk, connect and build a better future for Ohio adoptive, foster, kinship and primary families Join us for our 41st annual resource family conference June 16-17, 2017! Attended by over 150 resource families and leaders in Ohio’s child welfare and juvenile justice agencies, the conference is designed to connect, educate and build meaningful collaborations between people who share similar experiences. Out of this 2 day exchange of ideas, thoughts and information we will discover what we can do together that we cannot do alone.

1. Ohio Family Care
Association
Annual Conference
Designed for Adoptive, Foster, Kinship,
Primary Families and the staff who care for
them throughout the state of Ohio
Whether through a public or private
agency – come to meet others and learn
together about the journey we share in
caring for Ohio’s children
Connecting Families – Healing Lives
June 16-17, 2017
Doubletree
Columbus-Worthington
175 Hutchinson Ave
Columbus, OH 43235
614-885-3334
It’s easy to register on line:
www.OFCAonline.org/conference

2. Connecting Families – Healing Lives
Schedule
Friday, June 16, 2017
8:00 Registration & Coffee
9:00 Opening: Family Panel
We Are Family
10:15 Workshop 1 or 2
12:15 Lunch: Youth Panel
What We Need
1:30 Workshop 3 or 4
5:00 Support Groups
Saturday, June 17, 2017
8:30 Registration & Coffee
9:00 Trauma Skill Development
12:15 Lunch.
12:30 Trauma Skill Development
continued
5:00 Conference Over
SAFE Travels
🚐🚗
Conference Facility
Participants are responsible for their own room
arrangements.
To receive the reduced rate, please identify yourself
with the Ohio Family Care Association
Reservations for the Conference Rate
Must be made by June 5, 2017
Conference Facility
Doubletree Hotel
Columbus-Worthington
175 Hutchinson
Columbus, OH 43235
614-885-3334 or
800-870-0349
Identify Yourself as part of the
Ohio Family Care 2017 conference
June 5 deadline for conference rate of
$129 + taxes
Check in time: 4:00 pm
Check out time: 11:am
We cannot provide childcare. You may want to consider
bringing the kids for a fun weekend and sharing days of the
conference attendance with 2 adults (one gets training on
Friday and other on Saturday), bring a sitter to accompany
the kids on excursions, or arrange Respite at home.

3. 3
Opening Session: We are Family? –
Extending, extended family
Renay Sanders, MSSA, LISW Synergyforce,
Moderator
Those Ohio families caring for children that are
impacted by the child welfare and juvenile
justice systems each come with their own
perspective of the life/work they are engaged in.
This opening panel will address issues that are
uniting and speak to issues that separate them
from supporting each other. Panelists will
provide perspectives from the various roles of
children services,
• Primary (birth) Parent
• Foster / Adoptive Parent
• Kinship Care Givers
#1: What parents and youth need to
know about Bridges
Denise St. Clair, Moderator
Panel: Colleen Tucker-Buck, BSS, MBA, &
Sara Levels, ODJFS, Fawn Gadel, FYLaw
The Bridges Program is a new program for
youth emancipated (18-21) from the public
children services agencies. Our panel will
discuss how parents can assist youth in the
decision-making and eligibility requirements
for this program. The program and its legal
processes will be described.
#2: Healing Sexual Abuse Tool Kit
Jim Miller, LISW-S is an adoptive parent, past
foster parent, mental health therapist and retired
CEO of the Village Network
This workshop will present a tool kit of parenting
techniques and approaches that help children
overcome the trauma of child sexual abuse. It
is a new extension of Jim Miller’s prior
workshops. (However prior attendance is not
needed to benefit from this workshop.)
Youth Presentations – Colleen Tucker-
Buck, BSS, MBA, ODJFS Program Manager
This is an opportunity to hear from youth who
have emancipated from the child welfare
system of care. Youth will share from their
perspective about how the system has
impacted their lives, what the new Bridge
program would have done for them as well as
give insights into how families can serve them
most effectively.
#3: Life Long Connections:
Permanency for Older Youth
Brian Lowery, Lowery Training Associates &
Jamole Callahan, OCWTP
When planning for permanency with
adolescents, we have to think and use
approaches differently when planning for
younger children. Permanency for older youth
is not centered on the living arrangement, it is
not simply providing independent living
services, and itis not just offering adoption.
Instead, it provides youth with the opportunity
to forge lifelong permanent connections to
people they identify as important. This training
allows participants to experience the impact of
permanent connections and why they are
important. Finally, participants will come to
understand how adolescent development
relates to permanency.
Friday 9:00 am Friday 12:00 pm
Lunch
Friday 1:30 pm
Friday 10:15 am
Friday 12:15 pm

4. 4
#4: Connecting Across Difference
Dot Erickson-Anderson, MRE, LSW &
parents from different life experiences
In a time of change and adversity, as families
within the child-welfare arena, we are
challenged to relate to many other parents,
workers, and children who do not share our
understanding of the work we do or even the
world we live in. We will Identify the
opportunities and challenges inherent in
creating a partnership with others that opens
the door to solutions that are in the child ’s
best interests and an outcome of
permanency. We will hear of the positive
outcomes that have arisen in this work and
explore concrete communication skills that
help us in connecting across our differences.
Support Group Hour. Trainers and
OFCA Board Members are available to meet
one-on-one or in small groups with
participants who want to connect over specific
issues. Participants are asked to suggest the
topic they would like to discuss on their
registration form. Examples of topics include:
• Moving from foster care to adoption
• Getting along with my child’s birth family
• Experiencing allegations
• Difference in public & private agencies
• How to build a support system
• Fostering after age 60
• Permanent children support
• Etc.
⛱Enjoy Your Evening
Trauma Systems Therapy – Foster
Parenting – Maureen Heffernan, LISW
and Laura Neil, M.Ed. The Annie E Casey
Foundation
Foster and adoptive parents and kinship
caregivers share their hearts and their homes
with children teens who have experienced
trauma. This all-day session will review the
impact of trauma on children and caregivers
and provide knowledge and strategies for
understanding and responding to the needs of
children and teens in care. Specific strategies
will be provided to assist caregivers with
managing their emotions as well as the
emotional and behavioral responses of the
children in their homes.
Part 1: The Impact of Trauma: Defining
trauma and its impact on children in out of
home care.
Part 2: Understanding and assessing
children’s trauma responses:
Strategies for addressing Child Traumatic
Stress: Learn to identify trauma related
patterns and strategies you and the child can
use to promote regulation of emotion and
behavior.
Lunch
Special Guest: Cora White,
Founder & CEO, Partners in Foster
Care
Part 3: Learning about Revving, Re-
experiencing and Reconstituting:
Promoting emotional regulation, providing
support to children when they are
experiencing trauma responses, and setting
personal goals for your behavior
Part 4: Generating Signals of Safety:
Communicating signals of safety to children
and developing your own self-care plan.
Saturday 1:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am
Saturday 12:15 pm
Friday 5:00 pm

5. 5
Conference Registration
May be handled by mailing in this form or
processing your registration on line.
http://www.OFCAonline.org/conference
Deadline for Meal Confirmation is: June 5, 2017
Name: _______________________________
Street: _______________________________
City:_________________________________
County:______________________________
Email: _______________________________
Phone: ______________________________
Agency Affiliation:_____________________
Role: Check all that apply
☐ Adoptive Parent ☐ Foster Parent
☐ Kinship Provider ☐ Primary Parent
☐ Respite Provider ☐ Agency Staff
☐ Professional Partner/Stakeholder
Workshop Selection
Choose One
☐ #1 Bridges OR
☐ #2. Dealing with Sexual Abuse Tool Kit
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Choose One
☐ #3. Life Long Connections OR
☐ #4. Connecting Across Differences
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
If you plan to stay for the 5:00 discussion,
list the topic which you would like support on
☐ #5 My Support Topic Request. I would
like to discuss:
___________________________________
Questions: Email: office@OFCAonline.org
Lunch Preference ☐ Meat Based ☐ Vegetarian
☐ Other_____________________________________
Attendance Options and Fees
√ Options
Please check the options that apply to you.
I will attend on Friday
I will attend on Saturday
Both Days
$198
Both Days: Member Discount
$180
One Day Only:
$99
One Day Only: Member Discount
$89
CEUs (# 6.75-Friday; 7 Saturday)
Social worker (CEU) credits have
been applied for. Sign-in at
Conference
$25
OFCA Membership – July 1,2017 –
June 30, 2018
$25
☐ Send a check with registration costs to
Ohio Family Care Association
303 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215
☐ Agency Paying Registration
Contact Person:__________________________
Contact Email:____________________________
Contact Phone:___________________________
Agencies may request to be invoiced for
registration. Agencies wishing to be billed email
office@OFCAonline.org for arrangements.
☐ I want to apply for a scholarship. A limited
number of scholarships are available to
individuals not connected to an agency.
☐ To pay by credit card, process your registration
online. http://www.OFCAonline.org/conference

6. Thank You to Our Sponsors
Institute for Human Services
Beacon Capital Distributors, Inc.
2017.04.01