De-escalation 101: Supporting System-Involved Youth in a Crisis

Sonja Lenz-Rashid, PhD, LCSW

Training Description

This training is to help support direct service staff working with systems-involved youth in the areas of social work, case management, and clinical work. This training will include content on assessment and intervention during crisis situations with clients who are psycho-socially and cognitively escalated and agitated. It is essential that all direct service staff members know and understand their responsibility as staff in charge - and how to de-escalate clients quickly and effectively. Powerpoints, videos, challenging case vignettes, small group sharing of scenarios will be used.

Learning Objective

• Skill: Practicing how to assess the different levels of crises when working with children and youth
• Skill: Practicing how to intervene with various crises situations with youth 
• Skill: Practicing how to process post-crisis with clients, as well as with other staff/supervisors

Agenda 

9:30am-9:45: Check in an introductions 

9:45am-10:15am: Types of crises brainstorm and small group discussion

10:15am-11:00am: Assessment techniques during crisis/ What works, what doesn’t work 

11:00am-11:15am: Break (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

11:15am-12:45pm: Intervention techniques and Verbal First Aid 

12:45pm-1:15pm: Processing post-crisis with clients and staff/supervisors: Importance of follow-up 

1:15pm-1:30pm Check out and evalutions

Meet Our Trainers

Dr. Sonja Lenz-Rashid, LCSW, is an Associate Professor of Social Work at San Francisco State University and a Co-founder and Faculty Research Evaluator of the SF State Guardian Scholars Program (GSP). Launched in 2005, the GSP serves over 90 current and former foster care youth on campus and has an annual budget of over $1 million (and is a non-profit on campus). Dr. LenzRashid has studied the outcomes of, and best practice models for, former foster care youth at the national, state and Bay Area levels. Her research and publications have provided valuable feedback to child welfare administrators, legislators, and program developers in how best to serve these disenfranchised young people using evidence-based practice. She is also a consultant, trainer and clinical supervisor at a number of Bay Area non-profits serving children and youth being served by the foster care, juvenile justice, and behavioral health systems. She has over twenty-five years serving vulnerable youth in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This course meets the qualifications for (3.75) BBS CEUs for LCSWs and MFTs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.