2015 NNHVIP Conference Call for Workshops
“Healing is Justice: Helping Systems of Care Promote Equity”
September 28-29, 2015
The California Endowment’s Center for Healthy Communities, Los Angeles, CA
The National Network of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs’ annual conference
draws a diverse audience committed to breaking the cycle of violence and promoting healing in
communities where violent injuries occur. The over 200 attendees include: frontline gang
intervention workers, pediatric and adult physicians, public officials, experts and emerging
researchers from various academic fields, crisis responders, community-based programs and
organizations, social workers, mental health providers, nurses, members of state/local/federal
government, and community members affected by and/or responding to violence. Presentations
are encouraged that honor, promote and build upon the expertise of conference attendees.
Proposed Session Title: Healing Works! Lessons on Practice and Community-Building for
People Working with Young Male Survivors of Color
Suggest a title (8-10 words) that is informative and clearly reflects the presentation content.
PRESENTER(S) BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Name of Lead Speaker/Proposal Submitter: Charlene Allen, Esq.
This person will be the contact and is responsible for all session logistics
Job Title: National Leader, Common Justice Healing Works Organization: Common justice/Vera
Institute of Justice
NNHVIP affiliation (i.e. member program, emerging program, other.):non-member
Street Address:540 Atlantic Avenue
City, State, Zip: Brooklyn, New York 11217
Telephone: 718-747-8774
Email: callen@commonjustice.org
NNHVIP 2015 Conference
Call for Workshops
Page 2 of 5
Additional Speakers: If applicable, identify any additional speakers below with e-mail and phone
information.
Name
E-mail address
Phone #
Click here to enter text.
Professional Background: Provide a 1-4 sentence biography for each speaker to be used as an
introduction as well as an overview of your knowledge and experience related to the proposed
session topic and HVIP field; i.e.: years of experience in the related field, degrees held and from
what academic institutions, current appointments, concurrent responsibilities, areas of specialty,
past speaking engagements, etc.
Charlene Allen, Esq. has worked with survivors of crime and trauma for more than twenty years
as an attorney, advocate, and educator. In the late 1980s, she led one of the first statewide
domestic violence coalitions as Lobbyist/Organizer for Jane Doe, Inc., and later served as
Executive Director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, and Supervising Attorney at
Northeastern University Law School’s Domestic Violence Law Clinic. Recognizing the need to
address violence and trauma in a context that confronts systemic oppression and also provides
mechanisms for accountability, Charlene served as Legal Director of Emerge, the first abuser
education program in the United States. For the past decade, she has been a member of the
Criminal Justice Initiative, a national funding collective that supports community-based
organizations combatting exploitation, abuse, and racial bias within the criminal justice system.
NNHVIP 2015 Conference
Call for Workshops
Page 3 of 5
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION
Presentation Learning Objectives: List 3 educational goals of the presentation that specify
what participants will learn as a result of attending the presentation. (NNHVIP reserves the right to
edit objectives to meet requirements for CEUs)
-To understand the scope of social, historical, and cultural issues that affect trauma reactions and
healing in young men of color.
-To identify and share best practices for working with young male survivors of color.
-To learn about the Healing Works Learning Collaborative for people working, and learning to
work, with young male survivors of color. The Collaborative provides a mechanism for
practitioners to share lessons learned, grapple with challenges, and support one another in
developing and strengthening effective programs.
Session Categories: Check one or more categories that best represent the focus area of the
presentation.
☒ Promoting Equity / Addressing Bias
☒ Best Practices in Direct Services
☐ Policy and/or Advocacy
☒ Trauma-Informed Care
☒ Bridging Direct Service & Advocacy
☐ Mental Health
☐ Research
☐ Hospital-Community Partnership
☐ Other: Click here to enter text.
☐ Healing the Healers / Self-Care
I submit this workshop proposal for consideration for the preferred following event format(s):
(Check all that apply)
Presentation Length:
☒ 90 minute breakout session
☐ 40 minute presentation to be paired with another presentation on a similar topic
Presentation Format:
☐
Presentation (with or without Q&A to follow)
☒
Interactive training or conversation
(At this year’s conference, the planning committee is giving special consideration
to interactive workshops that build on the skills and expertise of audience
members. If checked, please specify what methods will be used to ensure
audience participation and interaction on the topic presented.)
Teaching methods will include a lecture-style overview of the Healing Works learning
collaborative and initial lessons-learned, including best practices for working with young male
survivors of color.
Participants will then break into small groups to engage in learning-collaborative style
roundtables, where they will have the opportunity to share their success stories as well as their
toughest challenges in working with young male survivors. Roundtable topics will be generated
by the group (depending on their interests), but might include topics such as: challenges at
intake; developing funding opportunities; addressing the normalization of trauma in communities
of color; incorporating culture in healing; or challenges in training and supervision.
The session will end with a facilitated discussion of issues that arose in the groups.
NNHVIP 2015 Conference
Call for Workshops
Page 4 of 5
NNHVIP 2015 Conference
Call for Workshops
Page 5 of 5
Session Narrative: Please summarize the presentation in no more than 500 words).
This will be utilized to evaluate the overall relevance and quality of the proposed presentation. If
your presentation is selected, this narrative will also be adapted for the Conference Program.
In recent years, the challenges facing young men of color have moved to the forefront of public
discourse on equity and opportunity. Attention is increasingly paid to the barriers they face and,
more prominently, to their disproportionate involvement in the criminal justice system as those
responsible for crime. Still missing, however, is recognition that these young men are also
disproportionately victims of crime and violence.
While the victim services field has worked to develop a system of support for victims of crime,
including specialized services, like those for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault,
that take into account the needs and experiences of particular victims, there has not been a
parallel effort to meet the needs of young men of color when they are victims of crime and
violence. This workshop will explore the myriad needs of young male survivors of color. It will
provide an overview of current research and best practices for working with these young men,
and present the initial accomplishments of the Healing Works learning collaborative which
identifies, supports, and builds community among those providing and learning to provide these
critical services.
Presentation Agreement:
 Submit my PowerPoint presentation via email or flash drive no later than September 21, 2015.
 Provide all required information and affirmations for CEU certification, by due dates requested.
 Prepare, duplicate, and distribute handout materials for my presentation at my expense.
 Allow NNHVIP to list my contact information on printed and online materials.
 Presenters may not sell, promote or pitch any specific product or service.
 I understand NNHVIP cannot pay honoraria, travel, per diem, handouts or other costs for
speakers. In appreciation for your contribution, one approved speaker may attend the conference
at no cost for registration.
By submitting your presentation, you are agreeing to the presentation agreement.
*** Email submissions by May 1, 2015, to Ahmed Ali-Bob at ahmed@youthalive.org ***