TSA's Health & Wellness Conference 2025

TSA's Health & Wellness Conference 2025 - In Person Registration

(Cost $120 for in-person attendance; $80 for virtual attendance)

**Early Bird Registration March 15 - 31, 2025 - 20% discount ($96 In-Person; $64 Virtual)

Join us for an exciting in-person event at the Fairview Community Health and Wellness Hub in Saint Paul, MN, USA. This workshop is geared for professionals working in various capacities with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind and/or Hearing people of all ages in the areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Chemical Dependency, Spirituality, Lifespan Services, Vocational Rehabilitation, Interpreting/Communication, Trauma, Domestic Violence, Advocacy, Education, Technology and Healthcare. Please feel free to share this information with any of your colleagues. Newcomers always welcomed!

(Free parking sponsored by U of MN Fairview Customer Experience and Language Services) Detailed information for parking at the bottom of event.

ATTENTION - This registration page is for the in-person conference. If you wish to attend the virtual conference, please use the virtual event link below to register:

https://Virtual-HealthandWellnessConference2025.eventbrite.com

Presenters:

Gabriel Lomas, Ph.D.

Gabriel Lomas is a Professor and Director of Counseling Programs at Gallaudet University.

Formerly, Dr. Lomas taught at Western Connecticut State University where he developed the Connecticut Center for School Safety and Crisis Preparation. Both as a professor and clinician, he has worked in the field of crisis preparation, response, and recovery for over 20 years. Lomas has published widely on topics related to assessment, forensics, deaf and hard of hearing, as well as crisis preparation. He has received over $6M in funding to grow the integrated healthcare workforce in Connecticut and to develop a statewide center for school safety. Additionally, Lomas has completed over 2,000 forensic evaluations for a variety of agencies, attorneys, judges, and courts. He has offered expert testimony in over 200 cases, most of which involve deaf people and the justice system. In collaboration with colleagues, Lomas is a co-editor of the book “Deaf People and the Justice System: Selected Topics on Advocacy, Incarceration, and Social Justice” published in 2021 by Gallaudet Press.

Grace Lester, LMSW

Grace Lester (she/her) is a late-deafened mental health provider with My Deaf Therapy. In her undergraduate at Gallaudet University, Grace founded a chapter of Students Against Mass Incarceration, which took a deaf-centric approach to creating channels for advocacy and education about Pr*son injustice. Grace received her masters in social work from the University of Chicago, with an emphasis on strategies for interrupting and preventing harm created by the carceral system. As an intern with the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, Grace conducted research regarding the experiences of deaf people in the Chicago civil and criminal court system, building upon the perspective she gained in her undergraduate research centering the experiences of formerly incarcerated deaf people. Grace is currently a volunteer with Believers Bail Out, a Muslim-led community bail bond fund in Chicago, and The Olive Guardians, a deaf-Palestinian led organization for global deaf empowerment. In 2024 she became a founding member of For the Most Beautiful One art collective, an art space within which she and her team have helped to raise thousands of dollars in mutual aid for deaf Palestinians in crisis, and provide education about the lives, language, and experiences of deaf people in Palestine.

Description of Conference

The School to Pr*son Nexus for Deaf Youth: Causation and Strategies for Disruption for all professionals working with Deaf People across the Lifespan.

Summary of presentation:

The presenters will address the causes of the disproportionate representation of deaf youth and adults in the United States criminal and civil legal systems, and present solutions to improving resilience in deaf youth. Case examples of deaf adults who were previously incarcerated will be shared.

Learning Objectives / Goals:

The audience will leave with clear strategies to disrupt the school-to-Pr*son pipeline for deaf youth. Additionally, the audience will receive an overview of evidence-based safety strategies for school-aged youth.

Continuing Education credits - 6 CEU's - (subject to change), will be applied for and awarded:

Minnesota Board of Psychology - Approval #202501.277

Minnesota Board of Social Work - Approval #1064

Minnesota Board of Marriage and Family Therapy - Approval #2055-055

Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health - Approval #2025.CE.071

(RID) RID CMP / ACET (CEU’s sponsored by MRID) Minnesota Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf is an approved RID Certification Maintenance Program (CMP) sponsor for continuing education activities. This Professional studies program is approved for .6 PPO CEUs at the some knowledge level. - applied

Accommodations provided:

The Fairview Community Health and Wellness Hub is wheelchair accessible. Computer Assisted Real-time Captioning (CART), ASL spoken and visual interpretation will be provided. Please request any additional accommodations or special interpretation needs (deaf-blind, low-vision) before April 6th, 2025, in order to give us ample time to find interpreter teams.

Online Registration:

Everyone must register online regardless of your payment choice. If you have difficulties with registration, please contact Brenda Roberts. If you need to pay by check instead of credit card, please reach out to Brenda Roberts prior to registering in Eventbrite for assistance with this.

Contact info for Brenda: [email protected] or (320) 629-7600, ext. 7519.

Meals:

A light continental breakfast, executive boxed lunch, afternoon snack and refreshments will be included.

Parking:

Free parking sponsored by U of MN Fairview Customer Experience and Language Services. Parking is free at THIS ramp only: (parking ramp is attached to the U of MN Fairview Community Health & Wellness building):

Parking Ramp located at 59 10th St East, St. Paul, MN (see street view below)

Therapeutic Services Agency, Inc. does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities, events, or operations.

Host or Publisher Therapeutic Services Agency, Inc.