Tuesday, September 29
7:30am – 8:45am
Registration & Networking Continental Breakfast (Foyer)

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8:45am – 9:00am
Opening Remarks (Ferris Grand Ballroom (Ballroom Level-BL)

• Allashia Smith-Harris, DHS, LMHC-D, CASAC-A, Director of ACT Institute, NYS Psychiatric Institute

• Robert Moon, Deputy Commissioner, Community Program Policy and Management​

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9:00am – 9:45am 
Keynote Speaker (Ferris Grand Ballroom (Ballroom Level-BL)
Dr. Shawna Aarons-Cooke, MSW, LCSWR
ACT Empowered: Wellness Work Without Losing You

Knowing coping and wellness strategies,
as well as the wonderful array of techniques
and theories that abound in the health and
wellness professions can prove pivotal to
being in service for others. Our humanity and
individuality require even more of us to live
well while working in service of others.

 

ACT Empowered: Wellness Work Without Losing You offers inspiration and empowerment – an invitation to embrace a commitment to the self-work and supports necessary for your wellness on this incredible and often intense path you’ve chosen. Download Powerpoint

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9:45am – 10:00am 
Break with Vendors (Foyer)

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10:00am – 11:15am
Concurrent Sessions
1. Reframing the “Difficult” Client: Reflecting on Attitudes and Beliefs (Osborn Amphitheater (Meeting Level-ML)

• Mya Haley, Coordinator of Best Practices and Fidelity, Center for Practice Innovations

This presentation aims to engage the audience in a reflection and discussion on what it means to work with someone who has been labeled as “difficult” or "non-compliant", informed by the perspective of lived experience. Throughout the session, the room will explore what is meant when people are labeled in negative, power robbing ways, how our interpretations and biases can have lasting impacts on relationships, and the work/ engagement. Download Powerpoint
 

2. Building High-Performing ACT Teams (Roebling Library (Meeting Level-ML)

• Catherine Mammoser, Vice President of Intensive & Rehab Services, BestSelf Behavioral Health

• Stephanie Avery, LMHC, Senior Director, BestSelf Behavioral Health

High-performing ACT teams don't happen by chance—they are built through intentional leadership, clear expectations, strong relationships, and a commitment to continuous improvement. This session will share real-world strategies for transforming team culture, improving collaboration across disciplines, increasing accountability, and using performance data to drive better client outcomes. Participants will gain practical tools they can immediately implement to strengthen their teams, enhance staff satisfaction, and deliver high-fidelity, recovery-oriented ACT services. Download Powerpoint

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3. Building Trust, Supporting Recovery: The INSET Approach (Sage 2 (Lobby Level-L)

• Em Wasserman, NYCPS, Deputy Director, Office of Advocacy and Peer Support Services, NYS Office of Mental Health

• Liz Breier, MA, CPRP, Chief Advocacy Officer, NYS Office of Mental Health

For decades, the mental health system has grappled with the complex challenge of supporting individuals labeled with serious mental illness (SMI) who are disconnected from support; many of these individuals have been historically marginalized due to the intersecting impacts of trauma, systemic inequities, housing instability, repeated mental health and criminal legal systems involvement, poverty, discrimination, and more. Too often these experiences contribute to mistrust of services and create barriers to meaningful engagement. The Intensive and Sustained Engagement Team (INSET) model is a voluntary, peer-led approach to engagement that recognizes authentic relationships as the foundation for support and recovery. This session introduces INSET and explores how intensive peer support can strengthen connection with individuals who are historically marginalized, under- and unserved by traditional mental health service models through sustained community-based outreach, mutuality, lived experience, and relationship-centered practice. Presenters will share the core components of the model and peer support practice, implementation strategies, preliminary outcomes, and examples that demonstrate how peer-led engagement can foster trust, expand access, and support recovery.  Participants will leave with an understanding of how relationship-centered, peer-led engagement can strengthen the service landscape, including examples of how ACT and INSET can collaborate, and support more equitable, person-centered systems of care. Download Powerpoint

11:15am - 11:30am
Break  (Foyer)

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11:30am – 12:45pm  
Concurrent Sessions​
1. Interpersonal Relations in Nursing: Bringing Nursing Theory to the Wellness Self Management Recovery Program (WSMRP) Visit (Roebling Library (Meeting Level-ML)

• Anthony Roman, RN, Senior Director of Nursing, CASES

In a 2014 study aimed at looking at the clinical challenges of transitioning ACT clients into a lower level of care, “Limited wellness management skills” were directly cited by ACT staff as a concern. “We’re not teaching our clients well enough that their illness is cyclical, about their triggers to relapse, how to identify [when] things are going bad and what to do… and that they don’t necessarily need the ACT team.” (Finnerty et al., 2014)    The ACT treatment model implements a comprehensive and dynamic framework that draws on multiple mental health specialties in tandem to deliver intensive services aimed at helping clients reconcile their own internal diatheses while also equipping them with the tools they need to mitigate the stressors of life. To address the concern that ACT clients may not be well equipped for their eventual transition to lower levels of care, I propose that it’s time we systemically re-examine the full agency of psychiatric/ mental health nursing and the distinct skill set it brings to the multidisciplinary table.   In 1952, Dr. Hildegard Peplau ED.d., a psychoanalytic trained nurse-therapist, revolutionized mental health care with the introduction of her Theory of Interpersonal Relationships in Nursing. Peplau advocated that the agency of the mental health nurse could go beyond the confines of psychiatry and pharmacology and argued that the nurse, through her own personality, could be the driving force of change for a client. Bringing Peplau’s body of work directly into the ACT treatment model could serve to bridge the gap between long-term client care and providers’ concerns about success after the ACT team.  

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2. Trust Before Treatment: The Foundations of Engagement & Relationship Building (Sage 2 (Lobby Level-L)

• Dr. Allashia Smith-Harris, DHS, LMHC-D, CASAC-A, Director, ACT Institute at Center for Practice Innovations

• Chanel Weathers, MPA, LMHC, NCC, IPS Implementation Specialist, Center for Practice Innovations

Effective community mental health services begin with trust. This presentation explores how authentic relationships serve as the foundation for engagement, particularly when working with individuals who may have experienced trauma, systemic barriers, or mistrust of services. Participants will examine how trust develops in community-based settings and why relationship-building must come before clinical intervention. The session highlights practical strategies for strengthening engagement through consistency, natural supports, cultural sensitivity, and respect for autonomy, while emphasizing culturally responsive and culturally safe practices that honor the lived experiences, identities, and person-centered goals of the individuals we serve.    
 

3. ACT Workforce Solutions Lab: Strategies for Recruitment and Retention (Osborn Amphitheater (Meeting Level-ML)

• Sam Fletcher, Ph.D., MSW, Director of Workforce Development/ Indigenous Nation Liaison, New York State Office of Mental Health

• Olivia Knox, MSW, Menta Health Program Specialist, NYS Office of Mental Health

• Amanda Krayton, MSEd, Project Administrator III, NYS Office of Mental Health

• Amelia Lochner Malave, Program Research Specialist II, NYS Office of Mental Health

This workshop will be facilitated by staff in the Office of Mental Health’s Workforce Development unit. The unit is charged with addressing the public mental health workforce crisis. This crisis is complex with multiple causes that call for a multitude of solutions. The first part of the workshop will focus on workforce initiatives. The last part will be interactive. The facilitators will solicit feedback to ensure the interventions match the needs of New York ACT teams.
 

12:45pm – 1:30pm
Lunch (Ferris Grand Ballroom (Ballroom Level-BL)
FACT Team Networking

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1:30pm – 2:45pm
Concurrent Sessions​
1. Parenting as a Recovery Role: Integrating Family-Focused Practice into Assertive Community Treatment (Roebling Library (Meeting Level-ML)

• Helle Thorning, PH.D., Clinical Professor, Columbia/ NYS Psychiatric Institute

Recovery is built through meaningful roles, relationships, and community participation. For many individuals receiving Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) services, parenting is one of the most valued and enduring life roles. Yet despite ACT's commitment to person-centered, recovery-oriented care, parenting is rarely addressed in assessment, treatment planning, or service delivery. This presentation introduces the concept of Parenting as a Recovery Role, proposing that supporting individuals in their role as parents is not an ancillary service, but a core component of recovery-oriented ACT practice. Grounded in current evidence on parental mental health, child well-being, trauma, and resilience, the presentation examines why parenting should be recognized alongside employment, education, housing, physical health, and community integration as a meaningful recovery domain. Participants will review the impact of serious mental illness on parenting and family relationships while challenging deficit-based assumptions by highlighting the strengths, resilience, and aspirations of parents living with behavioral health conditions. The presentation will also address barriers to discussing parenting in adult mental health services, including stigma, clinician discomfort, and concerns about child welfare involvement. Drawing on decades of experience in recovery-oriented practice and ACT implementation in New York State, the presenter will introduce a practical framework for integrating family-focused conversations into routine ACT services. The session will include an overview of a newly developed Parenting Workbook, designed for use by ACT teams to facilitate strengths-based discussions, identify parenting goals, promote family resilience, and incorporate parenting into person-centered recovery planning. Case examples will illustrate how the workbook can support engagement, enhance therapeutic relationships, and strengthen recovery outcomes for parents and their children. Recognizing parenting as a recovery role expands the ACT model in ways that honor individuals' identities, strengthen families, and promote recovery across generations. This presentation offers both a conceptual framework and practical tools for integrating parenting into everyday ACT practice. 
 

2. From Opposition to Opportunity: Adaptations for Engaging Individuals with Personality Disorders (Sage 2 (Lobby Level-L)

• Merrill Rotter, MD, Senior Forensic Advisory, NYS Office of Mental Health

• Anna Huh, MD, Psychiatrist, CUCS Intensive Management Team (IMT)

Assertive Community Teams were developed to provide community-based treatment to a population of individuals with serious mental who needs have been hard to meet through traditional office and hospital-based treatment.   Despite the intensive, client-centered outreach work, a subset of clients remains particularly challenging and often face assumptions that ACT services will be of limited benefit.  This group is often characterized by traits associated with personality disorders, particularly borderline (BPD) and antisocial personality disorders (ASPD). While ACT was not originally designed with this population in mind, they represent a significant subset of ACT clients Client outcomes for this subgroup may likely be impacted by a mismatch between traditional ACT structures and the interpersonal, behavioral, and trauma-related needs associated with challenging personality traits. In this panel, we review personality disorders generally, with a focus on Borderline and Antisocial personalities and describe approaches to understanding these clients that can address the disconnect between its ACT-based model and the clinical presentations of such clients, through adaptations to both personality disorder treatment and ACT. Download Powerpoint

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3. Building a Culture of Collaboration: Strengthening Teamwork, Agency Support, and Community Partnerships to Improve Client Outcomes Through ACT, Flex ACT and IPS (Osborn Amphitheater (Meeting Level-ML)

• Allison Nassoiy, LCSW, VP of Community-Based Services, Spectrum Health & Human Services

• Chelsea Connor, LCSW, ACT Senior Team Leader, Spectrum Health & Human Services

• David Isherwood, ACT Team Leader, Spectrum Health & Human Services

• Jessica Ashby, MSW, ACT Team Leader, Spectrum Health & Human Services 

This training will focus on why teamwork is one of the most important factors in providing quality behavioral health and human services. We'll review the foundations of ACT, Flex ACT and Individual Placement and Support (IPS), and explore how these approaches work together to support recovery, independence, and meaningful community living. Download Powerpoint

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2:45pm – 3:00pm
Break with Vendors (Foyer)

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3:00pm – 4:15pm
Concurrent Sessions​
1. Employment is Everyone's Job: Building an Employment-Focused Culture Across the ACT Teams (Sage 1  (Lobby Level-L)

• Philip Thomas, M.Ed., IPS Implementation Specialist, Center for Practice Innovations

• Chanel Weathers, MPA, LMHC, NCC, IPS Implementation Specialist, Center for Practice Innovations

Participants will explore how an employment-focused culture is created through intentional collaboration, shared language, and integrated practice rather than through the efforts of a single team member. The session will highlight practical strategies for embedding employment into everyday ACT services, helping teams move beyond role isolation and toward a unified approach that supports recovery through meaningful work.

2. Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) as Alternative-To-Incarceration (ATI) in New York City (Sage 2 (Lobby Level-L)

• Yee Shun (Erica) Kwan, LMHC-D, Senior Director, Assertive Community Treatment, CASES

• Allison Cantos, LMSW, Team Leader, Bronx Nathaniel ACT Team, CASES

This presentation will introduce the adaptation of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) for individuals with Alternative-To-Incarceration (ATI) mandate as developed and implemented by CASES. ACT ATI clients meet ACT eligibility criteria and are facing significant amount of prison time for felony charges. ACT ATI has additional staff members, including Criminal Justice Specialists, Housing Specialist, and Peer Specialists with lived experiences in the criminal legal system. Key partnerships are developed with CLS system stakeholders. This innovative approach combines the ACT model and ATI supervision to prevent recidivism and prolonged incarceration in addition to the foundational treatment focus of reducing psychiatric hospitalizations.     

3. NYS Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) and Enhanced Voluntary Agreement (EVA) (Osborn Amphitheater (Meeting Level-ML)

• Sarah Dougherty, Mental Health Specialist II, New York State Office of Mental Health

• Tom Gottehrer, Director of Statewide AOT Implementation, NYS Office of Mental Health

Participants will be provided with a general background of AOT and EVA in New York State, with a focus on engagement and support for ACT providers. This will include a general background, purpose, and overview or roles and levels of oversight as well as engagement considerations. A brief description of recent changes to the law as well as funding associated with the AOT/EVA population will also be covered. This presentation will include a discussion about best practices for serving individuals on AOT in ACT. Download Powerpoint

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4. Strengthening Partnerships Between ACT Programs and Social Care Networks: Improving Whole-Person Care Through Collaboration (Roebling Library (Meeting Level-ML)

• Janelle Shults, LMSW, Regional Director, Healthy Alliance

While both ACT and SCN programs are fully operational across New York State, there remains significant opportunity to strengthen awareness, communication, and collaboration between these service systems. Although ACT programs are encouraged to contract with SCNs when appropriate, participation is not required. At a minimum, ACT programs should understand the role of SCNs in order to educate clients and families and facilitate connections to available resources.

ACT and SCN services are complementary, not duplicative. Individuals receiving ACT services remain eligible to access SCN-supported resources and interventions that address social determinants of health and health-related social needs.

This session will discuss practical approaches to collaboration and highlight the enhanced HRSN services available to Medicaid managed care members.