Diamond 3

This session will explore family utilization of mental and behavioral health crisis helpline services for their young children in Nebraska, identifying common needs and existing resources while exploring potential gaps in services.

Intended Audience

Caseworkers, attorneys, Guardians ad-litem, CASA, school representatives, Head Start personnel, early childhood professionals, home visiting professionals, mental health professionals, service providers.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this session, participants will:

Navigating conversations with families involved in the child welfare system can be complicated and difficult. Trauma histories often impact their ability to regulate their emotions and retain information. Making it even more complicated, parents often interpret their surroundings and interactions, as a threat, whether real or perceived, due to dysregulated stress response systems. This session will help professionals learn how to navigate these difficult conversations through the following strategies:

The Pyramid Model is not a curriculum but rather a framework for Early Childhood educators to implement throughout the day. It is a positive approach to prevent, teach and respond to challenging behaviors and to support social-emotional development. Join us for an overview and explore the opportunities that are happening around the State of Nebraska and the evidence behind what is working. Practitioners, researchers, administrators and anyone who has pondered how to help children be their best selves in the early childhood setting will appreciate the power of the Pyramid Model.

Representing children who are unable to tell you what they need presents a unique challenge for every advocate. This session will focus on important observation techniques to identify the needs of young children and provide specific examples of how to draft recommendations for court to adopt.

Intended Audience

Attorneys, Guardians ad-litem, and providers.