Agenda Details - Wednesday, April 15
The Center for Practice Innovations presents
The Art of Engagement: A Pre-Conference Affair
Engagement is Harder Than Ever. Care managers across New York State are feeling the challenges of doing complex work in an increasingly demanding and complicated environment. Caseloads are heavier, participant needs are wide ranging, resources are limited, and trust in systems is often low. In this context, engagement doesn’t just feel harder...it is harder. Many care managers are navigating increasing pressure to keep things moving, manage risk, and still build meaningful connections.
The Center for Practice Innovations' I CONECT, ACT Institute, OnTrack NY, and IPS would like to invite you to participate in one of the more important conversations at this moment. How do we engage individuals in the community? How do we connect individuals to services and resources? How do we develop positive, productive, and therapeutic relationships with the individuals working with us? It's all about connections, right? What does that mean???
Let's talk!!!
Other goals that we are exploring:
· Acquiring more knowledge about behavioral health community-based services.
· Sharing best practices in the behavioral health field.
· Learning about and linking resources across community-based services.
· Assessing what providers continue to need in training and support.
· Developing community with agencies leadership, community providers, and policy makers.
· Increasing CPI’s outreach in ROS regions of NYS.
11:00am – 12:00pm
Registration
12:00pm – 12:15pm
Welcome Remarks & Lunch
Luis Lopez, MA, MS, Director, ICONECT, Institute for Care Management, Outreach, Networking, Engagement, Connecting and Training, Center for Practice Innovations, Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research, Center for Practice Innovations at Columbia Psychiatry, NYS Psychiatric Institute
12:15 – 1:00pm
Keynote Presentation: The Art of Engagement: CPI Expert Panel
Facilitator – Luis O. Lopez, Director, I CONECT
Mya Haley, Coordinator of ACT Fidelity and Best Practices, ACT
Jill Dunstan, Clinical Trainer and Fidelity Specialist, OnTrack
Philip Thomas, Trainer and Implementation Specialist, IPS
Elisabeth Salner, Trainer and Implementation Specialist, I CONECT
Marissa Messiah, Implementation Specialist/Trainer, ICONECT
Join members of the Center for Practice Innovations in a brief discussion and Q/A on best practices in the areas of engagement, outreach, and relationship building.
1:00 – 1:15pm
Break
1:15 – 2:30pm
Concurrent Sessions
1. I CONECT - Why Engagement Feels So Hard Right Now
Samantha Sonia Headley, Implementation Specialist/Trainer, ICONECT
Marissa Messiah, Implementation Specialist/Trainer, ICONECT
Diana Ponce, Administrative Coordinator, I CONECT
This two-part pre-conference takes an honest, practical look at why engagement feels so difficult right now and what helps. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, the session focuses on realistic, person-centered strategies that respect today’s constraints while supporting recovery-oriented practice. If engagement feels harder than it used to and you’re not sure what to change without burning out, this session is for you. You’ll leave with clearer perspective, shared language, and practical tools you can use right away to engage participants more effectively while protecting your time, energy, and boundaries.
2. Reframing the “Difficult” Client: Reflecting on Attitudes and Beliefs
Mya Haley, Coordinator of ACT Fidelity and Best Practices, ICONECT
Abbe Duke, Recovery Specialist and Trainer, OnTrackNY
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”, informed by the perspective of lived experience. Throughout the session, the room will explore what is meant when people are labeled “difficult”, how our interpretations can have lasting impacts on the relationships and the work.
3. From Model to Practice: Using Fidelity Measures to Strengthen Early Psychosis Care in OnTrackNY
Jill Dunstan, Clinical Trainer and Fidelity Specialist, OnTrack
Igor Malinovsky, Director of Data Collection, Infrastructure, and Communication, OnTrackNY
In this presentation we will highlight the OnTrackNY’s approach to engagement, including the components of the model intended to promote participant engagement, fidelity indicators related to engagement (i.e., community outreach, managing referrals, flexibility of services, and assertive outreach), and challenges and strategies to elevate engagement of OnTrackNY program participants.
4. I CONECT: The Impact of Culture on Motivation: Guiding Personally Meaningful Goals and Change Readiness
Erika Esquivel, Trainer and Implementation Specialist, I CONECT
Luis Lopez, Director, ICONECT
Elisabeth Salner, Trainer and Implementation Specialist, I CONECT
Culture plays a critical role in shaping motivation and recovery goals. This workshop highlights culturally responsive practices that help individuals connect personal values to meaningful outcomes. Attendees will gain tools for enhancing engagement and readiness for change through cultural humility.
2:30 - 2:45pm
Break
2:45 – 4:00pm
Concurrent Sessions
1. I CONECT - Now What? Engagement That’s Realistic and Sustainable
Samantha Sonia Headley, Implementation Specialist/Trainer, ICONECT
Marissa Messiah, Implementation Specialist/Trainer, ICONECT
Diana Ponce
This two-part pre-conference takes an honest, practical look at why engagement feels so difficult right now and what helps. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, the session focuses on realistic, person-centered strategies that respect today’s constraints while supporting recovery-oriented practice. If engagement feels harder than it used to and you’re not sure what to change without burning out, this session is for you. You’ll leave with clearer perspective, shared language, and practical tools you can use right away to engage participants more effectively while protecting your time, energy, and boundaries.
2. ACT Institute - Trust Before Treatment: Foundations of Engagement
Allashia Smith Harris
Darlene Carrera
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. Every Conversation Counts: Engagement, Trust, and the Path to Employment and Education
Philip Thomas
Meaningful vocational and educational outcomes begin long before a job offer or class enrollment. This presentation explores how practitioners can use Individual Placement and Support (IPS) principles to redefine engagement in supported employment and education. Participants will be challenged to view every interaction as a stepping stone toward client-defined goals, while building trust through consistent presence and exploration of individual aspirations. Learn how these everyday moments create the foundation for lasting, meaningful outcomes.
4. I CONECT: Simple Tools for Engagement
Luis Lopez, Director, ICONECT
Nandini Chakravarty, Erika Esquivel
The workshop will review several best practices in the art of engagement. Facilitators will provide examples and practical ways of implementing these practices in everyday work.