2024 Bridge Conference

A Sensory Approach to Working With Kids is a movement based, interactive workshop intended anyone working with kids in any capacity. Educators, health practitioners, coaches, and parents will all benefit from this unique approach to working with kids. This training explores how sensory processing affects behavior and function. Why might some kids have unruly behaviors? Why is attention sometimes difficult? Why can a child not follow through with a task? Sensory processing can affect how kids might struggle with behavior, attention, even their posture and coordination. We will dive into how we can look at kids through a sensory lens and provide accommodations in any setting, provide sensory rich activities to help with behavior and attention, and even how we can provide stability to posture and help with coordination to help our children in any aspect with which we work with them. This is an interactive course where we experiment with intentional movement activities to help organize the nervous system and help kids get ready to learn, move, and achieve.

Four years after the Covid shutdowns, are kids just different now? How are the impacts showing up disproportionately for people of various races, ethnicities, identities, and abilities? Is it all “gaps” or did children also learn skills and knowledge we should be celebrating? As afterschool and youth development professionals, we know it’s very difficult to connect outcomes to specific experiences, even decades later. We’re beginning to see research now, but there’s a need for much more, and it’s likely to continue for years into the future, yet we are sensing some trends. For example, the 2-year-old who would have been learning facial expressions in child care instead saw masked faces, and now, at 6, are they connecting with peers in a different way? In this session, we’ll explore our own experiences with the children who were anywhere from 1 to 14 in 2020, how key developmental experiences might have looked different during these 4 years, and what we can do to support the now 5 to 18-year-olds we spend our time with.

Many of us have confided in others during dark times, and vice versa. But it can feel awkward, if not downright frightening, not knowing what to do when a loved one, peer, or youth shows suicide warning signs. Developed by Forefront Suicide Prevention at the University of Washington, School of Social Work, the five simple and effective LEARN steps empower individuals to identify and support those who may be considering suicide.

This workshop will introduce the public health issue of suicide, including why youth may consider suicide by covering risk factors, a theory of why people consider suicide, and recent data. Using the LEARN model, the presenters will highlight how to identify, understand, and be ready to support someone who may be at risk for suicide. There will also be an opportunity to practice and apply the LEARN steps in a practice scenario. As part of this session, Forefront’s staff will also integrate conversations about mental health, the importance of prevention/intervention/response plans and procedures, and capacity building.

In 1974, the first Domestic Violence shelters began to operate in the US. This was the first major step in acknowledging Domestic Violence as a public health issue. So much has changed, and progress has been made in the 50 years since. But there's still so much work to be done in the movement against Intimate Partner Violence. This workshop will educate participants on the history of Teen Dating Violence Prevention and the exciting developments in the movement's future. We will challenge misconceptions about dating violence, learn to recognize the warning signs of unhealthy relationships, and look at what today’s teens experience in dating. Most importantly, we will look at what it takes and what resources exist for YOU to start the conversation about Teen Dating Violence Prevention in your programs and communities. After this workshop, participants will leave with a greater understanding of existing resources, strategies for addressing adult bias toward teen relationships, and the building blocks for creating compassionate and empathetic support systems for youth experiencing dating violence.

There is a unique and undeniable link between depression, mental health and suicide. Therefore, effective mental health education IS suicide prevention - particularly depression education. Learn how Shine Light on Depression resources including youth education, teen empowerment and family engagement resources, support schools and community-based organizations in providing evidence-informed mental health education and help-seeking skills for all students. These programs raise awareness about youth depression. This session will describe how utilizing these programs can have a positive impact on youth and your community's mental health culture and climate. Participants will learn how to immediately access and implement these free turn-key programs along with other resources available for staff and families.

It can be challenging for caregivers to know how to guide children to appropriate technology use to keep them safe from online sexual grooming. Ready access to smartphones, tables, and computers has created a whole new world of challenges for caregivers. Easy access to devices means that youth do not need to leave their bedrooms to be introduced to risky situations. This training provides a basic overview of commercial sexual exploitation of children, framing the extent of the problem and discussing technology interventions, terminology, pathways, warning signs, and prevention.

Responding to Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Youth was developed by Leslie Briner, MSW of Youth Care; This training will prepare caregivers and service providers to identify, engage and provide support to sexually exploited youth; Introductory topics include definitions, language, landscape of exploitation, identification including “red flags”, victim engagements and interventions.

Experience a sound bath session of frequencies and vibrations from crystal singing bowls that will move your high stress and anxiety Beta brain waves of into calm and clear minded relaxed Theta and Delta brain waves. Take a moment for yourself to breathe, reset, and rejuvenate as you listen to the music and sounds that will recenter you with your inner peace.