Our President’s Message: ATSA Conference Take-Aways

Dear Members and Board Members,

This year’s ATSA conference took us to beautiful Vancouver, BC, CA

I thank all of our members who continue their support for us to remain involved in the community which seeks to assist us through fact seeking research and creation of best practice for treatment and management as well as identifying best ways to inform and influence public policy.

It is critical we are always on the front lines with this group of international experts.

I participated in a number of sessions and had the great fortune to listen to the keynote speakers on each day. One of the most interesting I felt was the presentation by Dr. Ruth E. Mann, PhD., our opening plenary.  What I was most impressed by besides her humanity and the humility she demonstrated, was actually the content of her presentation as she described how her program actually failed and what was learned by those results. I’m very grateful to her to have the courage to speak up and speak out about what didn’t work, to keep going to learn from the failures and strive to identify what does.

I’ve included the ppt: Plenary_1_Mann.original.1538750991

PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE OR USE ANY CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM ITS AUTHOR!!!

The speakers as always were interesting, informed and inspirational.

One of the takeaways form the overall conference, is the recidivism rates continue to be low, which is great news. It confirms what we all already know and must continue to share with everyone with which we have the opportunity to speak.

What I was focused on this time round was to find out as much as I am able regarding treatment.

A few points:

• THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL.
• THE CONTAINMENT MODEL IS NOT THE BEST PRACTICE. (but we already knew that)
• TREATMENT IS HANDLED DIFFERENTLY IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
• WHAT IS AGREED BY ALL, TREATMENT NEEDS TO BE MEASURABLE (SUCCESS OR FAILURE, IMPACT GOOD OR HARMFUL)
• FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT IS A KEY FACTOR IN SUCCESSFUL REENTRY and DESISTANCE
• ADDRESSING ISSUES: SUBSTANCE ABUSE, MENTAL HEALTH, SKILL DEFICITS, BASIC LIFE SKILLS ARE KEY FACTORS TO SUCCESS FOR ALL HUMANS

I also had the opportunity to engage in a number of one on one conversations with other attendees of the conference from many parts of the country and the world. What I found is everyone regardless of their role seem to all agree, there is nothing specifically unique to our population which renders them different from the rest of the human population that would indicate basic human needs do not apply. Each person is an individual and the best way to address their care must be individualized. How much treatment does one need, what intensity is appropriate and for what duration? Should everyone get treatment? Should we regardless of offense be treated together in a group setting? Should individualized treatment be administered along with group? These are some of the questions that still seem to be on everyone’s mind.

IT SEEMS NO ONE HAS THE FORMAT OF A PROGRAM, (at least not one they’re willing to share). MANY FOLKS WERE ASKING FOR AND SEEKING SOMETHING.

There was an excellent Session I attended where we looked at many different aspects of care and measures….

Essential Elements of a Delivery System for Effective Treatment
Alan Listiak, PhD, Minnesota Department of Corrections
Mark S. Carich, PhD
Wexford Mental Health Center

I am currently waiting for permission and an electronic copy of the power point which I will be happy to share.

Another point I took away, were 2 areas which seem to be growing:

• Trauma informed care, PTSD diagnosis among those required to register
• Damages done to family members of those required to register  (these family members may also be suffering from PTSD).

Stay tuned as FAC is working to bring support to families of people required to register.

Another area which continues to be on everyone’s mind, RISK. A few other questions still being asked and discussed:

• Should we use risk assessment tools?
• Which ones?
• For what should they be used?
• Who should be administering?
• How valuable are they in the big picture for treatment, registry tiering, registry removal, need for incarceration vs. community probation or parole?

We will remain your eyes and ears as we continue to keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening globally and what’s being said and researched by the “experts”.

This is key in our being effective advocates for change as we promote evidence based policy for all.

Thanks as always for your confidence and support for FAC and allowing me the privilege to once again represent you at the international ATSA conference.. I am always humbled by your generosity and compassion for others.

Gail