CT-AIMH 2024 Spring Conference

Please, join us at our 20th annual Spring Conference as we discuss our collective and continuing efforts to honor the diversity and beauty of all children, families, and communities that we serve across Connecticut. Particular areas of focus will include reflecting on our own capacities to engage in diversity-informed practice and best ways to use the "self" to deepen our relationships with families in our work and to understand how cultural/community traditions and expectations influence early attachment, mental health, and development in very young children.

Key Note Presenter:

Melissa Mendez, LCSW, IMH-E

Melissa Mendez, LCSW, IMH-E, is a licensed clinical social worker and child development specialist who has been working with young children and their families for over 20 years. Melissa is Director of Early Childhood Programs and Access Mental Health at Wheeler Clinic in Connecticut. Her work has primarily targeted young children and families with challenging life circumstances such as poverty, abuse and neglect, and traumatic childhood experiences. Melissa works with child and family professionals in Connecticut and throughout the U.S., and internationally, to provide training, support, and consultation for organizations that serve young children and families. Her international work spans over 22 years of supporting programs for orphaned and abandoned children in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. She is also a part-time instructor of clinical practice with children and families at Southern Connecticut State University and teaches courses in human development and family sciences at the University of Connecticut Stamford.

Panelist:

Michele Scott 

Michele Scott is a Tribal Councilor for the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and a Master of Science degree from Quinnipiac University. She also received a Certification in Genealogical Research from Boston University. Michele chairs the Tribe's Economic Development and Health & Human Services Committees. Her commitment to health and economic development has been at the forefront of her professional career; she was Chairwoman of the Mashantucket Pequot Health Care Advisory Board and a founding Director for Command Holdings, LLC. that focuses on federal contracting. She is also a founding member of the Tribal Leadership Council which she continues to serve. Prior to Tribal Council, Michele served as the Executive Director of the Health Education Center, Inc. (HEC) of Connecticut. Councilor Scott is committed to the broader community outside of her Tribal Council responsibilities. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Public Health Association, United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, and Co-Chair of Women United. Councilor Scott is an Eastern Region Alternate Delegate for the Indian Gaming Association, the National Institutes of Health's Tribal Advisory Committee Nashville Region Delegate, and appointed to the Office of Minority Health's Advisory Committee on Minority Health. Councilor Scott is a member of the Connecticut Chapter of the International Women's Forum. For her years of work training healthcare professionals and community advocates, Michele was selected as a Leaders In Action Fellow by the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut. She was recognized as a National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development's Native American 40 Under 40 Award recipient. Councilor Scott is an enrolled citizen of the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation and is equally proud of her Eastern Pequot, Narragansett, Shinnecock, and Black ancestry. She resides on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation with her family.

Date:

Thursday, May 30, 2024

8:30am- 12:30pm

Location:

The Woodwinds

29 Schoolground Rd. Branford CT 06405

• Breakfast provided
• 3 NASW/CEC Pending
• Certificate of Attendance
• Simultaneous Spanish Interpretation will be available

A Special Thank you to the following Sponsors:

CT-OEC

CT-DSS

CT- DCF