Making It Happen: Effective Systems of Care

Monday, April 30 - Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Boise State University, Student Union Building
Boise, Idaho

Overall conference evaluation summary report

The compiled data in this report is drawn from one hundred and eighty evaluations collected at the conclusion of the conference. This was the fifth annual Systems of Care Conference. On-line registration for the conference was again offered this year, and the attendees responded with a nearly 100% on-line registration rate. This was an increase of 35% from 2006.  Due to the overwhelming on-line response in the registration process, the decision was made to launch the overall conference survey over the Internet.  Once again there was 15% increase in the number of surveys collected in 2007 over last year.

This two-day educational event was supported by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, Idaho Head Start Collaboration, Idaho Council for Children's Mental Health, Idaho Department of Education, Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, Idaho Child Welfare Research and Training Center, Idaho Parents Unlimited, Preferred Child and Family Services, Inc., National Child Traumatic Stress, Idaho State University, Institute of Rural Health, Eastern Washington University, Northwest Nazarene University, Boise State University and Positive Connections.   Scholarships were offered by the regional councils in an effort to address potential attendance restrictions to families needing assistance with travel, lodging and child care expenses. The scholarships were handled by the Federation of Families. 

The Adult/Professional track ran on Monday and Tuesday with nine breakout sessions in three time slots throughout the day.  Keynote presenters, Ira Lourie, Ph.D. and Michael E. Davis were identified to support and promote conference goals.   Dr. Lourie presented a workshop titled, The Ten Principles of Wraparound," and Mr. Davis presented two workshops titled, "The Magic of Focus" and "Chocolate to Ecstasy." All sessions, as well as all meals, were conducted in one facility, the Boise State University Student Union Building conference facility.  Additionally, a track for youth, ages 12-19, was offered, which ran on the same schedule as the Adult Track.  The youth track was facilitated by the Federation of Families.

On Monday, 27 sessions were presented with 24 of those sessions being repeated Tuesday to insure attendees had an opportunity to hear a particular speaker or topic.  This year a total of 25 out of 27 workshops were approved for Idaho Child Welfare Partnership Continuing Education Units at LSW, LMSW and LCSW level. 

As three out of the four stated conference objectives involved "networking, integrating and engaging" youth and families, one of the conference vendors, Simply Fun, organized a highly energetic and "fun-oriented" event at the Monday lunch overseen by the company's chief marketing director, Mark Molen.  Simply Fun provided games, activities and volunteers for conference attendees and donated door prizes to the Federation of Families for the awards dinner.   This 60-minute game time was solely focused on creating an opportunity for attendees to assemble with other parents, youth, teachers and professionals from other regions of the State of Idaho.

On Monday night, the Idaho Federation of Families hosted an Awards Dinner.  The festivities helped promote interactions and networking among families, speakers and practitioners.  Many attendees had an opportunity to meet conference presenters and enjoy a buffet dinner and door prizes.