Alberta DTC Symposium 2024
April 11 – 12, 2024, The Malcolm Hotel, Canmore, Alberta
Program
Thursday, April 11, 2024
7:30am – 8:30am
Registration & breakfast
8:30am – 9:00am
Welcome
Deputy Chief Justice Joanne Durant
9:00am – 10:30 am
Steve Hanson
Psychopharmacology: Understanding Addiction and Behaviour
Helping people with Substance Use Disorders requires an understanding of the mechanisms of addiction and the impact that changes in the brain have on participant behaviour. This presentation will cover the brain’s reward circuit, craving, the action of key drugs as well as implications for treatment. This information should help team members better understand participants and their behaviours, particularly difficulties in achieving abstinence. During the current opioid overdose crisis, it is critical to understand the role and importance of medications used to treat SUD and prevent fatalities. A discussion of abstinence as a “distal” versus “proximal” goal and understanding how to help participants who are struggling with their addiction.
10:30am – 10:45am
15-minute break
10:45am – Noon
Breakout Session by Discipline – Facilitated Discussion
Gather in groups for a facilitated discussion of the Keynote Session content and how it can inform practices in your DTC.
Noon – 1:00pm
Lunch
1:00pm – 2:30pm
Jennifer Berard
Complex Needs Populations in DTC: Mental Health, Attachment Disorders, and Trauma Effects
DTC populations present with a range of co-occurring disorders and complex needs. Understanding these needs is essential for DTC professionals to support and intervene with participants in effective ways. This session will support attendees to understand how these disorders commonly present and to develop strategies for responding to issues and needs in DTCs.
2:30pm – 2:45pm
15-minute break
2:45pm – 3:45pm
Breakout Session by Team – Facilitated Discussion
Gather in groups for a facilitated discussion of the Keynote Session content and how it can inform practices in your DTC.
3:45pm – 4:45pm
Round Table Discussion – Mixed Groups
Participate in your choice of one of the round table discussions
- Sanctions and Incentives: best practices
- Reducing Barriers to Access: Populations we struggle to serve – what can we do?
- The Role of Duty Counsel in a DTC
- Dismissal Hearings
Friday, April 12, 2024
7:00am – 08:00am
Breakfast
8:00am – 9:30am
Wendy Schiller
Building Trust and Competency through Effective Integrated Practice Collaboration
The session focuses on how to effectively gain the support of critical criminal justice system stakeholders and enlist their participation as active team members, including the judiciary, prosecutor, defense bar, law enforcement, and community treatment providers. The session also covers how to sustain participation through effective team communication, how to reach a state of collaborative advantage, and the importance of training.
9:30am – 9:45am
15-minute break
9:45am – 10:45 am
Breakout Session by Discipline – Facilitated Discussion
Gather in groups for a facilitated discussion of the Keynote Session content and how it can inform practices in your DTC.
10:45am – 11:45am
Round Table Discussion – Mixed Groups
Participate in your choice of one of the round table discussions
- Sanctions and Incentives: best practices
- Reducing Barriers to Access: Populations we struggle to serve – what can we do?
- The Role of Duty Counsel in a DTC
- Dismissal Hearings
11:45am – 12:45pm
Lunch
Keynote Speakers
Jennifer Berard
BHSc Addictions (Distinction), MA. RPsych
Jennifer Berard, BHSc Addictions (Distinction), MA. RPsych, was the Clinical Lead for the Calgary Drug Treatment Court for five years. Jennifer has 20 years’ experience working the front lines of addiction and mental health in the areas of inpatient residential treatment, outpatient treatment, forensics, and private practice.
In 2011, she was the first addictions counsellor hired to provide service in the Calgary Remand Centre and found a passion for supporting those who experience chronic addiction and involvement with the criminal justice system. During her tenure, Jenn helped lead the development and implementation of the first treatment unit of its kind in the Calgary Remand Centre which provided counselling, life skills, and employment resources to individuals while in custody.
Jenn now works in private practice. She is the founder of Jennifer Berard & Associates, a private therapy practice that specializes in Substance Use Disorders, Trauma, and Operational Stress Injury in first responder populations.
Steve Hanson
Senior Treatment Consultant, National Association of Drug Court Professionals
Steve Hanson, M.S. Ed., is a Senior Treatment Consultant for All Rise/Treatment Court Institute. Having been a faculty member for All Rise/NADCP for over 20 years, Mr. Hanson began his current role in January of 2023.
Previously, he served as the Associate Commissioner for Courts and Criminal Justice for the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. He was responsible for relationships with the various criminal justice entities including Drug Treatment, Courts, State and local corrections, probation and parole. Previously he had served as the Associate Commissioner of Treatment for OASAS with responsibilities for the oversight of state operated treatment programs, adolescent services, criminal justice and Recovery services.
He taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in Psychopharmacology at SUNY Brockport for 20 years.
Steve has over 40 years of experience in the field as a treatment provider, educator and consultant. His ability to train criminal justice practitioners on drug abuse and treatment has been recognized both nationally and internationally.
Wendy Schiller
Project Director – All Rise, Center for Advancing Justice
Ms. Schiller is a Project Director for All Rise, founded as the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. Ms. Schiller has worked as a trainer and technical assistance provider for judges and court systems since 2003. She facilitates onsite technical assistance for local justice systems and provides expert training at national and statewide conferences on evidence-based practices for court professionals. Ms. Schiller specializes in adult education and evidence-based curriculum development.
Ms. Schiller has co-authored technical assistance briefs that focus on relaying practical ways to implement evidence-based practice and make needed changes in the juvenile and family justice systems, for example: Using Brief Interventions in the Juvenile Justice System, How to Facilitate a Discussion about Child Sexual Exploitation in Your Community, and Individualizing Responses to Motivate Behavior Change in Youth: A Four-Pronged Approach. Ms. Schiller received a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Nevada and a Master of Arts in Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University.
Registration Information
This event is now sold out and registrations are closed