Pre-Conference Workshops
NYAR 2024 Pre-Conference Speaker
Sunday, March 3 | 1:30-4:30 PM
Hyatt Regency in Downtown Savannah
2 W Bay Street, Savannah, GA 31401
Andrea Darr Presentation: Handle with Care
Session Description:
The Handle with Care Initiative is designed to promote partnerships between first responders, schools, and mental health providers to help provide a safe and supportive academic environment for children recently exposed to traumatic events known as “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs). ACEs are broad and sweeping events that may include household challenges such as, living in a home with substance misuse, mental illness, domestic violence, abuse, neglect, and poverty. ACEs are prevalent, universal, and often invisible.
When a child is not safe at home, their developing brains will adapt to that lack of safety. Some children will have hard time focusing because they must pay attention to everything: danger is everywhere. Some children will become perfect to not draw attention to themselves and their families. Some children will have behaviors that can cause disciplinary actions in school.
Research tells us trauma can undermine a child’s ability to learn, form relationships and function appropriately in the classroom. Staying in school is the key for a positive trajectory for children experiencing trauma. The more children learn, the more choices and opportunities they have in life.
Handle with Care is aimed at ensuring that children who experience trauma because of exposure to crime, violence or abuse in their homes, schools, and communities receive appropriate support and interventions so they can succeed in school and in life.
Learning Objectives:
- Acquire knowledge of the Handle with Care initiative.
- Understand how first responders, schools, and mental health providers can work together to identify and address trauma in children.
- Recognize how Handle with Care could be replicated in your community.
Bio on Presenter:
Andrea Darr is a Handle with Care subject matter expert at JBS International. Prior to this position she was the Director of the West Virginia Center for Children’s Justice. The WV Center for Children’s Justice promotes and supports a statewide trauma informed response to child maltreatment and children’s exposure to violence. Andrea is a co-founder of the West Virginia Handle with Care Initiative which promotes safe and supportive homes, schools and communities that protect children, and help traumatized children heal and thrive. Before devoting her work full time on children’s initiatives, Andrea served as the Coordinator of Victim Witness Services at the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute. In that capacity she coordinated with prosecution-based victim witness assistance programs as well as community-based programs to improve their collective knowledge concerning available resources and information and to establish a bridge between local, state, and federal agencies regarding victim issues. Andrea has also worked in direct services with victims of crime, violence, and abuse at the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in West Virginia. She began her career in victim services as a CASA volunteer.
Gina Moore Presentation: Beyond Mad, Sad, Glad: Using Art to Build Emotional Granularity
The ability to identify and articulate specific emotions helps us make sense of and respond to emotional experiences, but when all we know is angry, sad, or happy, the result is often an impulsive reaction that does little to process the experience in a healthy way. In this high-energy, interactive session we will explore how visual art can help adolescents become more emotionally aware so they can “name it to tame it.” Participants will leave with their own artistic creations and some new creative tools for building community in their own programs. Come ready to engage and get creative!
| March 2-5, 2025 | #NYAR25 |
Last updated: 2/22/2024
Contact Information
P.O. Box 8124
FAX: 912-478-0847
CPE Center
10449 US Hwy 301 S., Statesboro, GA 30458
912-478-5555
Armstrong Campus
13040 Abercorn St., Savannah, GA 31419
912-478-5555