Conference Agenda At-A-Glance
Keynote Address
Recent years have challenged us all as we have navigated unprecedented change and external forces beyond our control. In response to these times, this year's keynote address by psychologist, professor, and author, Daniel Tomasulo, PhD will explore the empowering tools of Learned Hopefulness. Filled with passion and grounded in the practice of Positive Psychology, Dr. Tomasulo is an expert speaker who will shift our perspective allowing us to break free from the hopelessness that may be weighing us down. Join us to find the inspiration we need to renew our motivation, lean on our strengths, and bring a sense of resiliency to our work and our lives.
About our speaker:
Dr. Tomasulo is an American counseling psychologist, writer, Academic Director and core faculty at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI), Teachers College, Columbia University, and is on the teaching staff at the University of Pennsylvania where he works with Martin Seligman. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology, MFA in writing, and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Review Editor for Frontiers in Psychology special section Positive Psychology, and honored by Teachers College, Columbia University with their 2021 Teaching Award.
In addition, Dr. Tomasulo developed Interactive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) and later Positive-Interactive Behavioral Therapy (P-IBT), forms of group psychotherapy for people with intellectual disabilities, and co-authored the American Psychological Association's first book on the subject. His latest book, Learned Hopefulness, addresses cultivating hope with strengths-based practices grounded in positive psychology. More information is available on his website: https://www.dantomasulo.com/.
Workshop Sessions
Check out these great workshops happening at the Conference!
Session 1: 10:00AM – 11:15AM
- Family Supported Housing Alternatives
Affordable housing is a challenge in New Jersey. For the many individuals with disabilities, the challenge is compounded by very low income and the need for services. System changes over the decades have led to new housing opportunities, but more creative alternatives are needed. A panel of families who have created successful models in the past will describe their efforts, as well as the challenges faced now and in planning for the future as well as ideas for advocating needed system changes.
Moderated By: Walter Kalman - Principal, McKallyn Group, LLC
Speakers:
Karen Harris, Five Friends
Michele Elmers, Founder, Rebecca’s Homestead
Steve Schoch, Principal, Thriven Design
Karen Fluharty, Founder, Parents With A Plan
Materials:
Family Supported Housing Alternatives
- Next Step, Housing!
Using SOAR to Maximize Income, Wellness, and Recovery!
SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) is a key step on the road to recovery and can lead to increased income, employment supports, increased access to treatment, and stable housing. Once housed, timely access to benefits promotes wellness, recovery and stretches your housing first dollars! SOAR is a nationally recognized equitable model, designed to increase access to Social Security's disability programs for eligible individuals who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have a serious mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. The SOAR model presents an innovative strategy for increasing access to income and in turn promoting housing stability. Supportive Housing providers can gain clear practical knowledge of how the SOAR program can leverage federal dollars to extend housing resources to more people. Successful collaboration with supportive housing partners throughout the state will be highlighted.
Speakers:
Pamela Heine - Senior Project Associate, SAMHSA SOAR TA Center
Diane Hirko - SOAR Senior Benefits Specialist, Catholic Charities Trenton
Materials:
Next Stop Housing - SOAR Presentation
- Using Data to Identify Shared Clients & Pool Resources
Opportunities to Scale up Supportive Housing Programs
This panel will focus on elevating New Jersey thought leaders who are focused on ending homelessness within our New Jersey communities. Discussion will focus on opportunities to scale evidence informed housing interventions like the Department of Children and Families’ Keeping Families Together (KFT) and Connect to Home by using data-sharing strategies across state agencies to break down silos, strengthen the alignment of resources and enhance the coordination of services moving forward.
Moderated By: Cassandra Warney, Senior Program Manager, CSH
Speakers:
Mike Callahan - Director, Department of Community Affairs, Office of Homeless Prevention
Kerry-Anne Henry - Asst. Director, Department of Children and Families, Office of Housing
Nancy Adams, Program Director, Acenda Integrated Health
Materials:
Using Data For Housing Presentation
- Advancing Medicaid and Housing Supports
New Investments in Housing Services and Housing Development
With the imminent renewal of the 1115 waiver, NJ Medicaid is taking bold steps to make real the adage “housing is healthcare”. Securing new funding to help service providers link people with a secure and stable place to live and developers create healthy homes is an exciting innovation for supportive housing. Come hear the latest from the Medicaid Housing team who are putting the building blocks together that will finally connect the dots between health and housing.
Speaker: Jennifer Langer Jacobs, Assistant Commissioner, Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services
Materials:
Advancing Medicaid and Housing
Session 2: 11:30AM – 12:45PM
- Finding a Home
National Research Offers Promising Strategies to Connect People with Housing
In 2022 SHA received an DCA Affordable Housing Innovation Grant to begin the Housing Navigation Project (HNP). The first phase of the project was to conduct National Housing Navigation Research to assemble and share the best practices and resources from programs from across the nation. The workshop will highlight the most promising strategies and tools that are helping more people find affordable places to live. The workshop will explore landlord recruitment and engagement strategies and explore how the power of technology is speeding the connection between landlords and renters to facilitate the efficient placement of people in need of permanent housing.
Speakers:
Kate Leahy, Project Manager, SHA
Eileen O’Donnell, Executive Director, Coming Homing Middlesex
Renee Koubiadis, Senior Policy Advisor, NJ Department of Community Affairs
Kevin McKee, Co-Founder, CTO, Padmission
Materials:
Finding a Home
Resources for Homelessness Prevention
Rental Assistance Fact Sheet 2022 - Remote Support in NJ
Technological and Moral Progress
Remote Support can enable individuals to live independently in the community, work in competitive and integrated environments, participate in inclusive community activities, improve their quality of life and increase their safety, health and privacy. While technology has made a difference in helping individuals become independent, important federal approvals that would make remote support more comprehensive and robust remain elusive. This workshop will illuminate how NJ can develop a policy and attain federal approval to permit the use of Remote Support for individuals with IDD. Examples of other states will underscore the importance of establishing promotional tools and sustaining efforts in order to realize the progress to achieved.
Speakers:
Susan McCarthy - Executive Director, Sevita
Cathy Chin - Executive Director, ABCD NJ
Materials:
NJ Remote Supports Presentation - Are You Ready for Medicaid Income Redetermination?
Preventing Gaps in Coverage
As the COVID public health emergency ends, so does the easing of temporary waivers that prevented people from losing their health coverage during the pandemic. In the next few months states across the nation will “unwind” from continuous enrollment and take steps to assess whether people are still eligible for Medicaid. The income redetermination process with potential disenrollment will resume soon with the potential to disrupt coverage. It will take “all hands-on deck” to make sure members are fully engaged in this process and to ensure people do not fall through the cracks. The workshop will highlight the role of the public and private stakeholders engaged in this significant work effort including; State and County government partners as well as the Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), housing sponsors, healthcare providers, navigators, and other stakeholder groups.
Speakers:
Patrick Gillespie, Regional Vice President, State Affairs, Elevance Health
Jennifer Langer Jacobs, Assistant Commissioner, Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services
Representative of County Board of Social Services
Materials:
Medicaid Income Redeterminations Unwinding Updates - Follow the Money
Investments in Supportive Housing Create New Municipal Opportunities
After years of stalled development an unprecedented $300 million investment in capital funding aims to increase 100% affordable housing in towns across the state. This panel will explore how the new Affordable Housing Production Fund and other leveraged investments can be used to help municipalities meet their affordable housing obligation. Participants will share their experience in successful collaborations that have created win-win opportunities that have led to much needed homes for people with special needs.
Moderated By: Jacob Day, Community Investment Business Development Associate, Federal Home Loan Bank of NY
Speakers:
Melanie Walter, Executive Director of NJHMFA
Adam Gordon, Executive Director of Fair Share Housing
Noah Freiberg, Senior Developer, Pennrose LLC
Erin Stankiewicz, Planner, CGP&H
Materials:
Follow The Money Presentation
Session 3: 2:45PM – 4:00PM
- Dealing with the Staffing Crisis
Coping with Staff Shortages, Reimaging Business Strategy, and Using IT to Fuel Employee Engagement, Retention, and Improved Outcomes.
It is no secret that New Jersey is facing an unprecedented staffing crisis. The human service field is no exception, but the impact goes beyond business. As agencies are impacted, clients do not receive the critical services they need. Finding and retaining staff in today’s market will take a paradigm shift in thinking and a retooling of practices to stay ahead. The workshop will focus on practical strategies to address the current challenges. Topics will include effective management practices, reducing stress and burnout, rebalancing staff workload, and how technology can be used effectively to recruit, screen and set the stage for mutually advantageous, long-term productive relationship.
Speakers:
Treena Rivera, Director of Development and Client Relationships, Act-Cess USA
Christopher D’Marco, Managing Member of Change & Response Strategies, LLC
Jarrod Bell, Executive IT Advisor, Hartman Executive Advisors
Materials:
Dealing with the Staffing Crisis - Building Alliances and Improving Communities for All
With almost one in four people living with a disability and a growing population of older adults in New Jersey, improvements (or accommodations) that allow people to stay healthy, live independently and find homes throughout the state are essential. In order to promote change, we need policies that promote access to services, a robust direct care workforce and innovative housing models. Fortunately, we have opportunities to continue to promote inclusion through building strong bridges between the aging and disability communities. Reviewing initiatives that help people of all ages and abilities thrive, the panel will discuss the findings of SHA’s Integrated Community Project, home and community-based services gaps, and progress in creating Accessory Dwelling Units.
Moderated By: Frank Latham, Grants Manager, NJCDD
Speakers:
Kate Kelly, Integrated Community Project Manager, SHA
Katie York, Associate State Director, AARP
Marina Rubina, Founder, Princeton Progressive Action Group
EJ Vizzi, Director of Senior Programs, Brightside Manor
Materials:
Building Alliances - Racial Equity within Service Delivery for Supportive Housing
Centering racial equity is important in advancing supportive housing in our communities. There are significant overrepresentations of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) across multiple crisis public systems in New Jersey due to historic and systemic racism and marginalization, like the homeless systems. Supportive housing receives referrals from these systems and this panel will discuss why it is essential that the service delivery be designed with a racial equity lens for residents as well as how providers should be approaching this work.
Moderated By: Brian McShane, Associate Director, CSH
Speakers:
Shahilda Boynes, Director of Programs and Impact, Bridges Outreach
James Williams, Director of Racial Justice Policy, Fair Share Housing Center,
Carol Sainthilaire, CEO, Community Enterprise Corporation
Materials:
Racial Equity in Service Delivery - Joint Ventures and Partnerships
Joining Forces to Create Supportive Housing
This workshop will delve into the benefits of partnering with another organization to create supportive housing. For nonprofits newer to the housing development world, partnering with a more experienced developer--nonprofit or for profit--can be a way to achieve the goal of creating supportive housing more quickly and with less risk to the organization. For experienced developers, working with nonprofit supportive housing or service organizations can unlock new funding sources and enhance the competitiveness of a development. The discussion will include the process for moving from concept to agreement, key deal points for each partner to consider, and negotiating tips.
Speakers:
Penny Indictor - Partner, Berman Indictor LLP
Sue McPhedran - Director of Development, Mission First Housing Group
Buddy Garfinkle, Associate Executive Director, Bridgeway Behavioral Health Services
Materials:
Joint Venture Presentation