Recorded Webinars
In this webinar, listeners will be educated on the bullying epidemic impacting our youth and their mental health. Listeners will learn the risk factors that accompany bullying, as well as the statistics on these issues. Listeners will also learn ways to provide assistance to youth experiencing bullying and become familiar with the resources available to provide assistance.
In this webinar, Morgan Duffy-Simpson, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Educator at Mission West Virginia with her BSW, will discuss why helping professions tend to be at a higher burnout rate than other professions, what to do when burnout occurs, and how to find joy in our work again.
In this webinar, Nikki Snuffer, Kinship Care Liaison with Mission WV will describe common food related issues that children who are in foster care commonly experience. She’ll explain different methods that she has used in her home with her own adopted children as well as long-term solutions to help families plan to help their children overcome these issues.
This webinar offers insight into self-harm for those struggling with self-harm, their family members and medical professionals. Evidence-based techniques that can be used to provide support and reduce and eliminate self-harming behavior are also discussed.
In this webinar, Autumn Wagoner provided participants with foundational knowledge on eating disorders, signs and symptoms, and best practices for screening youth.
A 60-minute presentation explaining contraception method options for teens. In-depth descriptions of method effectiveness, associated side effects/precautions, and cost will be explained, along with additional medical information for an understanding of available forms of birth control for today’s teens and adolescents.
Puberty brings a level of volatility in attitudes, behavior, responsibility and moods that can look and feel like mental illness. Most parents experience at least some moments of concern for their children’s mental health during the puberty ages of 11 to 14. But, should you? Or is your child experiencing a normal transition into adulthood?
It isn’t always easy to distinguish between the typical moodiness of puberty and mental health conditions that require professional attention. If you’re wondering about your child’s behaviors, this webinar will provide a good starting point for understanding how serious the problems might be, and whether you should seek professional help.
Teen dating abuse is more common than you think. One in ten teen girls and one in eleven teen boys admit to having experienced physical violence in a dating relationship. Approximately one in five teen girls have been physically or sexually abused by their partners. For this reason, it’s important to talk about abuse and red flags that teens should be aware of whether or not they are ready to begin dating. This webinar will focus on helping parents understand the dynamics of teen dating and how to spot any red flags signifying an unhealthy relationship. Presentation will also include how to navigate the tough conversations if you do spot issues.
Nikki Snuffer is a mom to 8 kids adopted through foster care. She is the Relatives as Parents Liaison with Mission West Virginia and co-teaches PRIDE classes. In this one-hour webinar she will define trauma, explore trauma triggers and responses, and what to do if you believe your child has been exposed to trauma.
Sarah Anders (and her husband Bryan) have been foster parents for 20 years. Their journey has included fostering 136 kids, adopting 17 and are now the proud Grandparents of 11 grandchildren. Sarah will share her experiences as a foster/adopt parent and what she wish she had known throughout the process.
Through a rich and very personal lens, nationally recognized thought leader and transracially adopted person, April Dinwoodie, will candidly explore how our current shared experiences can be a gateway to better understanding of how differences of race and culture add layers to foster care and adoption.
Understanding trauma of youth in foster care can free young people to learn, develop, and build relationships with supportive and caring adults. In turn, this care during their formative years will enable them to transform into young adults who move beyond functioning in constant fight-or-flight survival mode. Adam Starks' training offers new ideas to go beyond the basic tenets of childhood trauma to ensure successful outcomes.
THINK Development Trainer, Rita Schoolcraft will go over some practical steps to better communicate with your teen, navigating potential pitfalls in communication and how to find “talkable” moments within your busy lives.
Nikki Snuffer is a mom to 8 kids adopted through foster care. She is the Relatives as Parents Liaison with Mission West Virginia and co-teaches PRIDE classes. In this course she will go over DHHR discipline policy as well as discuss her tried and true parenting tips and tricks. This one hour webinar will include a Q and A session.
Every child deserves to feel confident in their sense of self and in their cultural identity. For many transracial foster/adopt families, hair care becomes a point of struggle.
In this webinar Elizabeth Caul, a licensed Cosmetologist with over 26 years of experience, will teach viewers basic care for naturally wavy, curly, or coily hair. She will cover topics and answer questions pertaining to sanitation and tension, hair porosity, hair type, LOC/LCO method and hair products.
“Information literacy” (the ability to find, retrieve, analyze, and use online information) and “media literacy” (the ability to use critical thinking skills to analyze media messages) are essential skills for any young person using the Internet. In this workshop participants will see how students can learn these skills in school and they will receive activities to conduct with their own students and/or children.
Teen males are often overlooked and underserved when it comes to addressing teen pregnancy; however, the issue cannot be fully impacted without their positive engagement. As teen males are particularly susceptible to misinformation about masculinity, sexuality and relationships, it is critical to know how to recruit and work with young men. Attendees will learn various techniques to address healthy masculinity, sexuality and relationships. Utilizing appropriate male-friendly teaching methods empower young men to make healthy choices that will positively impact themselves and their partners.
There is no “right” way for a survivor to respond after a traumatic event. The person may or may not be responding in the way you would expect them to or the way you would. This is normal. The impact can vary and people can respond differently based on a variety of factors. As a support person, you play a critical role in a survivor’s recovery and well-being. In this webinar, we will be defining & identifying trauma and the effects it has on the brain development and body, and how to support the victims we work with while implementing self-care in the process.
This webinar will assist individuals in learning how to be accessible and take additional steps to ensure that documents and presentations are fully accessible. Objectives:
Participants will be able to identify at least three features of Microsoft PowerPoint and Word that address accessibility.
Participants will be able to list at least three characteristics of text that make a presentation more accessible.
Participants will be able to demonstrate how to create alt text/tags in Microsoft PowerPoint and Word.
In this webinar, our educators and youth resource coordinator take on tough parent questions.
Puberty is a time of awkward change for most and can be filled with dread or doubt because of what kids don’t know or may have heard that is incorrect. Puberty 101 is designed to help parents begin to talk about puberty and have a basic understanding of what to expect. Parents will learn the tools work together with their child towards a common goal of opening the lines of communication while learning about hygiene, self-care, combatting negative self-talk, and the basics of menstruation.
This webinar offers insight into self-harm for those struggling with self-harm, their family members and medical professionals. Evidence-based techniques that can be used to provide support and reduce and eliminate self-harming behavior are also discussed.
Autumn Wagoner is the Youth Resource Coordinator at Mission WV where she works with youth experiencing any hardship in their lives including trauma, abuse, unhealthy relationships, dating violence, mental health, substance use, high risk sexual behaviors, or any other life situation that makes it difficult for a youth to function on a day-to-day basis. Autumn is also in recovery from an eating disorder that she battled throughout high school and will share her story of her battle and how this impacted herself and family as well as her road to recovery. Autumn will also educate listeners on the different types of eating disorders, their symptoms, and how caregivers and parents can help their youth if they are experiencing this.
Openness is an opportunity for the extended family of adoption – first/birth families, adoptive families and adopted people – to honor all of these important connections and embrace them as a means of ensuring healthy identity and strong relationships for all family members (most especially the child and the siblings they are connected to). Join presenter April Dinwoodie!
Gambling as an adolescent or college student sets the stage for gambling addiction as an adult, which is a problem for 1 in 50 West Virginians. Youth are 2-4 times more likely to develop a gambling problem than adults. There is a great overlap between Gambling Disorder and the recently categorized “Gaming Disorder” which focuses on internet use and video game play. We will discuss the highly controversial game feature of loot boxes. We will discuss the surprising results of recent surveys of youth on the issues of gaming and gambling, and the implications, especially considering the rapid expansion of “e-sports” teams in schools.
This webinar is great for foster parents interested in working with birth families.
This interactive training highlights the exciting work in child welfare related to building and maintaining relationships and communication between birth parents and foster/adoptive parents. This workshop will help staff and foster parents better understand the importance of families working together, examines relationships, and explores strategies to ensure these working relationships are successful.
Tasha Hall spent the majority of her childhood in foster care. She will speak about her personal journey, what helped her achieve success and what she wishes her foster parents had known. She will share her story and take questions from participants. This webinar will be helpful to current foster and adoptive parents, those considering fostering and anyone who wants to learn more.
Living in poverty causes physical changes to the brain. By attending this session, participants will understand why poverty impacts the brain, how it impacts the actions of those living in poverty, and to best support low-income clients and program participants.
Persons suffering from addiction make no sense to those of us who have not suffered with this disease. Why would anyone choose to shoot up with heroin and risk death, prison or follow on diseases instead of being a productive member of society? The answer begins in the very basic parts of our brain. This session will help participants better understand the brain physiology that allows opioids to take over a person’s life. By better understanding how the brain reacts to opioids we can help to end the negative stigma that has hampered our community’s response to this epidemic.
Webinar participants will be introduced to “digital citizenship” (the safe and responsible use of digital tools), as they see examples of how students can learn these skills in school and at home. Workshop will demonstrate why digital citizenship skills are essential during this extraordinary time that finds so many young people online, and participants will leave with digital citizenship lessons they can conduct with young people in their own lives.
Youth need adults who are there for them—especially parents—who will connect with them, communicate with them, spend time with them, and show a genuine interest in them. Talking with teens about sex-related topics, including healthy relationships and the prevention of HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and pregnancy, is a positive parenting practice that has been widely researched.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teens who talk with their parents about their sexual health benefit more than those who don’t. Their research says that these teens wait longer to have sex, use protection more often if they are sexually active, have sex less often and talk with their romantic partners more openly.
In this webinar, participants will discuss the stigma of STD/STIs and how to speak with youth about such a sensitive topic.
Ever wondered why teenagers act the way they do? 🤔 It's all in their brains! Join Dr. Jessica Sharp for a fascinating 90-minute journey into the adolescent mind. Discover the science behind teenage behavior and gain actionable tools to support their journey. Ready to unlock the secrets?