School of Education
Transforming the Mental Health System
Opportunities and Challenges
Public Policy Conference - Open to the Public
10 a.m.-2 p.m., Friday, March 30, 2007
University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis Campus, Opus Hall
Join a wide-ranging group of professionals and interested citizens who touch many aspects of the mental health system as we bring to the forefront opportunities and challenges surrounding
mental illness in Minnesota. You will leave informed and equipped with a variety of resources and possibilities for taking further action in the struggle to provide mental health resources for all.
Mental illness out of the shadows
Regardless of age, race, religion, socioeconomic status, occupation, lifestyle, or neighborhood—mental illness does not discriminate. Mental illness may have personally affected you, your family or friends. You’ve likely encountered mental illness in your community, work, church or in the public. Surely, mental illness has made an impact.
Who should attend?
Everyone should be prepared with the knowledge and resources to handle effectively situations involving someone who may have a mental illness.
- Clergy and other religious leaders
- Community volunteers
- Consumers and family members
- Correctional facility personnel
- Faith community
- Guidance counselors
- Hospital and health clinic personnel
- Human resources personnel
- Legislators
- Media
- Mental health service providers
- Police officers and other public safety personnel
- Public defenders and judges
- Retail and service business owners
- School nurses
- Seniors and senior-living administrators
- Social justice advocates
- Social workers
- Teachers and administrators
Program
9:30 a.m.
Registration – Opus Hall – Room 201 Atrium
10 a.m.
Panel Discussion – Out of the Dark Ages: Mental Health Progress in Minnesota
Panel Discussion – The Challenges We Face Today
Lunch
2007 Jean Harris Lecture
Keynote Address by Pete Earley
Insights from Professionals and Policy Leaders
Dr. Steven Altchuler, Mayo Clinic
Hennepin County Judge Richard Hopper
State Senator John Marty
Statement by Congressman Jim Ramstad
Charge to the Group
2 p.m.
Coffee and conversation
Partial List of Past Panelists and Speakers
Sue Abderholden, National Alliance on Mental Illness (invited)
Mark Anderson, Barbara Schneider Foundation
Steven I. Altchuler, Mayo Clinic
Sharon Autio, Department of Human Services Mental Health Program Division
Glenace Edwall, Children’s Mental Health Division Department of Human Services
Bravada Garrett-Akinsanya, Brakins Strategic Initiatives
Paul Gillies, Minneapolis Police Department
Pamela Hoopes, Minnesota Disability Law Center
Richard Hopper, Hennepin County Community and Mental Health Crisis Courts
Lissa Jones, African American Family Services
Maureen Marrin, Minnesota Consumer/Survivor Network
John Marty, Minnesota State Senator District 54
Dennis O’Brien,Governor's Health Cabinet, Minnesota
Jim Ramstad, U.S. Congress
Charles Slocum, The Williston Group
Parking The Minneapolis campus is conveniently connected to the downtown Minneapolis skyway system, allowing indoor access from a variety of parking locations. Parking fees are the responsibility of conference participants.
Conference Planning Committee
Patricia Jensen, conference chair and former vice president, dean and director of the College of Agriculture at North Dakota State University*
Sue Abderholden, executive director, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Minnesota Chapter
Mark Anderson, executive director, Barbara Schneider Foundation
Sharon Autio, director of the mental health program division, Department of Human Services
Robert Brown, professor emeritus, University of St. Thomas
William R. Carter, III, public safety special projects administration, University of St. Thomas*
Glenace Edwall, director of the children’s mental health division, Department of Human Services
Pamela Hoopes, legal director, Minnesota Disability Law Center
Cindy Lavarato, associate professor, University of St. Thomas
Duane Reed, president, NAACP Minneapolis
Mona Schmitz, associate principal, Cretin Derham Hall
Veronica Schulz, coordinator, Hennepin County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative
Charles Slocum, president, The Williston Group*
Sandra Vargas, president and CEO, The Minneapolis Foundation*
Patrice Vick, communications, Department of Human Services
Sue Zuidema, acting director of behavior and mental health, Hennepin County
* Members of the Advisory Committee, University of St. Thomas Public Policy and Leadership Program
Jean Harris Lecture Keynote Speaker
Pete Earley, author of Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness
Earley, a former reporter for The Washington Post is the author of several non-fiction books including New York Times bestseller Family of Spies and Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Winner The Hot House.
Drawing from the personal story of his son’s journey through diagnosis and treatment for bipolar disorder, Earley examines
the complex entangle-ments of America's mental health system. He learns not only that mental illness can happen to anyone at any time, but also that jails and prisons are places where people
with mental illness are hidden rather than rehabilitated.
Earley will share his personal devastation and how his experience became a work of advocacy for looking at how the mental health system can be trans-formed from its current state of inadequacy.
Complete list of books published by Pete Earley:
- Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring (1988)
- Prophet of Death: The Mormon Blood Atonement Killings (1991)
- The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison (1992)
- Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town (1995)
- Confessions of A Spy: The Real Story of Aldrich Ames (1997)
- Super Casino: Inside the "New" Las Vegas (2000)
- WITSEC: Inside The Federal Witness Protection Program (2002)
- The Big Secret (2004)
- Lethal Secrets (2005)
- Crazy: A Fathers Search Through America's Mental Health Madness (2006)
