North Dakota Family Based Services Conference 2025

Join us for the 36th annual North Dakota Family-Based Services Conference: Looking Inward | Growing Outward. This year we highlight and promote family based services in North Dakota with those who share in our objective to maintain, strengthen, and empower families. The North Dakota Family-Based Services Association, along with our volunteer Board of Directors and committees, have a longstanding commitment to revitalize North Dakota’s diverse audience of social workers, counselors, addiction counselors, therapists, educators, family advocates, youth leaders, foster parents, adoptive parents, and supervisors through education and professional development. Attend the four-day conference designed to inspire hope as part of our commitment to serving children and families of North Dakota.

TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2025

Pre-Conference: The Impact of Implicit Bias

The Impact of Implicit Bias 1:00pm-2:30pm, 2:45pm-4:15pm

Joel Friesz & Laeticia Hellerud

In this session, participants will explore the concept of implicit bias, gaining a deeper understanding of its meaning and how it influences individuals, services, and systems. The session will delve into the ways implicit bias can shape decision-making, interactions, and outcomes, particularly within professional settings. Participants will also develop practical strategies for recognizing and monitoring their own biases, while strengthening their ability to manage and reduce the impact of these biases within their workplaces and broader systems. The goal is to foster more inclusive, equitable environments through greater self-awareness and actionable change.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 2, 2025

Continental Breakfast Provided- 7:30-8:15am

Keynote: 8:30-10:00am- Fort Totten Indian Boarding School: A Lived Perspective

Dr. Ramona Klein

In this session, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the historical impact of Indian Boarding Schools by comparing them to today’s educational systems. Participants will also learn how to offer meaningful support to survivors and descendants of Indian Boarding Schools by creating a safe space for sharing their stories, listening without judgment, and acknowledging the trauma these individuals have experienced.

Plenary: 10:30-11:30am- Strengths Based Strategies for Diverse Populations

Katie Krukenberg

In this session, participants will gain greater self-awareness regarding their behaviors as professionals and how these actions can either strengthen or hinder rapport with clients from diverse backgrounds. Attendees will explore key concepts such as unconditional positive regard, strengths-based perspectives, and cultural humility, learning how to integrate these principles into their practice. Additionally, the session will provide practical strategies for intervention and assessment that align with ethical standards, ensuring culturally responsive approaches in all aspects of client care.

Lunch Provided- 11:30-1:00pm

1st Breakout Sessions- 1:00-3:00pm

A- 1: Ethics

Katie Krukenberg

In this session, participants will explore ethical standards related to self-care for helping professionals, with a focus on maintaining healthy boundaries with colleagues and clients. Attendees will learn to identify ethical dilemmas unique to social work in rural areas, such as challenges surrounding confidentiality, dual relationships, and limited resources. The session will also provide practical strategies for resolving these ethical dilemmas and ensuring ethical practice in family-based services, helping professionals navigate complex situations while upholding the integrity of their practice.

A- 2: Laugh for the Health of it

Dr. Ramona Klein

In this session, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the historical impact of Indian Boarding Schools by comparing them to today’s educational systems. Participants will also learn how to offer meaningful support to survivors and descendants of Indian Boarding Schools by creating a safe space for sharing their stories, listening without judgment, and acknowledging the trauma these individuals have experienced.

A- 3: Central Dakota Forensic Nurse Examiners

TBD

2nd Breakout Sessions- 3:30-5:00pm

A- 4: Working with Youth and Families with Co-Occurring Disorders

Emily Althoff

This 90-minute presentation will provide in-depth information surrounding co-occurring disorders, the presence and interaction of mental illness and substance use disorders. Attendees will be able to recognize signs of these conditions and behavioral presentation. You will learn about the circular impact that mental health and substance abuse have on each other and various family driven intervention strategies. Time will be spent reviewing a case study to apply your learning from this presentation to a real case.

A-5: Supervised Parenting Time

Kayla Jones & Jayme Burlison- ND Domestic & Sexual Violence Coalition

This session aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the role and purpose of supervised parenting time and safe exchange centers, with a focus on the dynamics of post-separation abuse and its impact on both parents and children. Participants will explore how trauma manifests during these supervised interactions and deepen their knowledge of the emotional and psychological challenges involved, equipping them with the tools to better navigate these sensitive situations.

A-6: Using Yoga to Promote Resilience

Roberta Pytlik

This experiential seminar will offer a brief exploration of yoga as we understand it in the United States, how this ancient practice and philosophy has a significant benefit for our consumers recovering from traumatic experience, and an opportunity to experience for ourselves how this practice can affect the nervous system, attention and focus, and our mobility. We will weave lecture in between yoga asana (poses), meditation, and breathwork, so you have the tools to take back to your professional practice and personal experience.

THURSDAY APRIL 3, 2025

Continental Breakfast Provided- 7:30-8:15am

Keynote: 8:30-10:00am- Positioned with Purpose: For Such a Time as This

Jenessa Fillipi

This session will explore the profound concept of being "positioned with purpose" as inspired by Esther 4:14, and how it directly applies to the work of family-based service providers in North Dakota. Using The Hero’s Journey narrative as a framework, we will delve into the unique and essential roles that counselors, social workers, and other family service professionals play in maintaining, strengthening, and empowering families.

Through the lens of Esther’s courage, purpose, and resilience, participants will explore how they can embrace their own roles with confidence and intention, recognizing that their work is not only a calling but a journey of growth and impact. The session will use the Down Home story as a real-life example of a Hero’s Journey, showcasing how answering the call to service can create lasting change. Participants will leave with practical tools to reframe challenges as opportunities for growth, see their work as a journey of purpose, and further empower the families they serve.

Plenary: 10:30-11:30am

TBD

Lunch Provided- 11:30-1:00pm

1st Breakout Sessions- 1:00-3:00pm

B-1: Ethics & Supervision

Jeremy Carne

B-2: Poverty & The Intersection with Life

Christine Litzinger & Logan Kassa

In this session, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the societal factors that contribute to poverty and its far-reaching impacts on individuals, families, and communities. Attendees will explore the challenges faced by youth and families living in poverty, and learn effective support strategies for engaging and empowering them in a compassionate, strengths-based way. Through practical tools and real-world examples, participants will leave with a better understanding of how to provide meaningful assistance and foster resilience in youth and families experiencing poverty.

B-3: Courageous & Daring Leadership for Supervisors

Dr. Jill Nelson

In this interactive session, participants will learn about the concept of “Daring Leadership,” exploring what it truly means and what it isn’t, as well as the critical role courage plays in leadership and clinical supervision. Attendees will discover that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather a skill that can be cultivated. The session will introduce the Four Skillsets for Building Courage, providing tools for applying these skills in leadership and supervision contexts. Through reflection and discussion, participants will have the chance to identify ways they can embody Daring Leadership and choose new skills to practice in their own professional growth.

2nd Breakout Sessions- 3:30-5:00pm

B-4: Children Who Experience Domestic Violence

Suzanne Kramer

This session will deepen participants' understanding of the defining characteristics of children who experience domestic violence, focusing on how trauma affects their emotional, psychological, and behavioral development. Attendees will enhance their knowledge of the long-term impacts of domestic violence on children and gain practical skills for responding effectively to a child’s disclosure of abuse. Emphasis will be placed on creating a supportive, trauma-informed environment that fosters healing and provides children with the care and attention they need.

B-5: Positioned With Purpose: For Such a Time as This

Jenessa Fillipi

This session will explore the profound concept of being "positioned with purpose" as inspired by Esther 4:14, and how it directly applies to the work of family-based service providers in North Dakota. Using The Hero’s Journey narrative as a framework, we will delve into the unique and essential roles that counselors, social workers, and other family service professionals play in maintaining, strengthening, and empowering families.

Through the lens of Esther’s courage, purpose, and resilience, participants will explore how they can embrace their own roles with confidence and intention, recognizing that their work is not only a calling but a journey of growth and impact. The session will use the Down Home story as a real-life example of a Hero’s Journey, showcasing how answering the call to service can create lasting change. Participants will leave with practical tools to reframe challenges as opportunities for growth, see their work as a journey of purpose, and further empower the families they serve.

B-6: Burnout Prevention & Living BIG

Dr. Jill Nelson

In this session, participants will gain a deeper understanding of burnout, learning how to recognize its signs in themselves and others. Attendees will explore how burnout stress develops and discover effective strategies for reducing its negative impact on their lives. Practical, simple stress-reducing techniques will be introduced, providing tools that can be immediately implemented. Additionally, participants will learn about the concept of Living BIG (Brave, Inspired, and Grateful) and how adopting this mindset can transform their approach to life and work, fostering resilience and well-being in the process.

FRIDAY APRIL 4, 2025

Continental Breakfast Provided- 7:30-8:15am

Keynote: 8:30-10:00am- ND Safety Framework Practice Model Panel/Child Welfare from Intake to Case Management

Sara Bushaw, Leah Honeyman, Kortney Sturgess

In this session, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the various program roles within the North Dakota Child Welfare System, including intake, CPS, and case management. Attendees will explore the critical safety decisions made at each stage of the process, with a focus on how these decisions impact families and children. Additionally, the session will provide insight into the outcomes of safety decisions, helping participants better understand the long-term effects of these decisions within the context of child welfare in North Dakota.

Keynote: 10:30-12:00pm- Flourishing With Courage, Compassion, and Connection

Dr. Jill Nelson

In this inspiring and interactive session, participants will explore simple practices designed to help them move from playing small to living the life they’ve always imagined. Attendees will learn key skills for cultivating bravery, including courage, compassion, and connection, and will gain insight into the common obstacles that can prevent them from embodying these qualities. Through reflection and discussion, participants will be encouraged to apply these skills in their own lives, leaving the session with practical tools and renewed inspiration to live a braver, more fulfilling life.

Lodging: Holiday Inn, Fargo, ND

Please book hotel room reservations directly with Holiday Inn at 701-282-2700.

A block of single rooms and double rooms have been set aside at the Holiday Inn for conference attendees under ND Family Based Services Association. The Conference Rate is $132.00 for a standard room. Blocked rooms will be held at conference rates until March 1, 2025.

For a State Rate room, when you book the reservation, you will initially get the block conference rate. Upon check-in, you must provide a State ID Card to get the state rate of $110 for a single occupant.

Potential for up to *18 CEUs for North Dakota social work, counseling, addiction counseling. This conference is approved for Wraparound Recertification.

* This is an estimate of potential CEU earnings and is subject to change.

Please visit our website to nominate a deserving individual or program for a North Dakota Family Based Services award.

https://www.ndfamilybased.org/

Host or Publisher North Dakota Family Based Services Association