2023 Domestic Violence and Elder Abuse Awareness Conference

Conference logo is a purple mountain.

Please join AppalReD Legal Aid for our 20th annual Domestic Violence and Elder Abuse Awareness Conference on September 15th from 8:30 a.m.- 3:15 p.m. This year's conference will be livestreamed over Zoom.

Participants can earn free CEUs and CLEs.

Registration

Registration is closed.

Please click here to register. As always, this conference is free.

Agenda

8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks

8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Clients Without Homes: Legal Protections and Strategies for Effective Advocacy

9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Elder Abuse: When Should I Call Protective Services?

10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Morning Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Communication and Language Access: Providing Quality Services for Clients Who Communicate Differently Than You

12:00 p.m - 1:00 p.m.

Lunch Break

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m

Trauma Informed Advocacy: Trauma in Children

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Helping Survivors in Recovery: Overcoming Stigmas for Successful Advocacy

3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Closing Remarks

Session Descriptions

Elder Abuse: When Should I Call Adult Protective Services?

This presentation will be an overview of the laws and regulations that guide protective services for adults. The presentation also serves as a call-to-action to learn about the indicators of abuse, neglect, and exploitation and how to make a report.

Helping Survivors in Recovery: Overcoming Stigma for Successful Advocacy

This presentation will provide tools that can be utilized when advocating for individuals in recovery from substance use disorders. Attendees will learn how communication provides both education and empowerment. This opportunity will offer an understanding of what perpetuates stigma and how to use advocacy to break that cycle.

Clients Without Homes: Legal Protections and Strategies for Effective Advocacy

This is a co-session between Ms. Lainhart and Ms. Fisher. Ms. Lainhart will focus on housing barriers that victims of domestic violence face, as seen from the eyes of a domestic violence shelter director, and the barrier advocates must overcome to provide the survivors the services they need where housing is concerned. Ms. Fisher will be discussing legal remedies for survivors facing eviction and other barriers to housing, including housing denial. She will also discuss protections within the Violence Against Women Act, which does not require a protective order, in addition to Kentucky Revised Statute 383.300, which does. Ms. Fisher will also discuss the do's and don’ts of domestic violence court.

Trauma Informed Advocacy: Domestic Violence and Children

Ms. Stockton and Ms. Johnson will be talking about children in foster care: how they enter care, their behaviors, and how trauma impacts them. They will also discuss what advocates can do to support children, and what can be done to support them into adulthood so they can be successful.

Communication and Language Access: Providing Quality Services for Individuals Who Communicate Differently Than Us

This training will address the importance of language access for survivors of intimate partner violence, the provisions of language access as set forth in the federal register, and tools and best practices for providing language access.

Speakers

Clifton “Cliff” Bryant began his professional career working at a local community mental health center providing case management services to children, families and adults that were diagnosed with a developmental and/or intellectual disability. After seven years of providing case management services through state general funds, supports for community living, and the Michelle-P Medicaid waivers, he branched out into the protective services realm. Mr. Bryant has worked with Adult Protective Services (APS) for 13.5 years in various capacities. He has spent time working in the field as a frontline worker and supervisor. He now works on a macro-level, helping to ensure that the APS program continues to meet the needs of the adults they serve.

Lindsay Horseman is a lifelong resident of Clark County, Kentucky. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Morehead State University with her Bachelor’s degree in 2017 and went on to earn her Master’s degree in Social Work from Campbellsville University in August of 2018. She worked for four years as an Alternative Sentencing Worker for the Department of Public Advocacy in the Richmond Trial Office. Ms. Horseman is now the Director of Recovery Services for the Clark County Health Department. She is a person in long-term recovery from substance use disorder and celebrated 13 years of abstinence from drugs and alcohol in February 2023. She is married, and she and her husband share a blended family of five children.

Jennifer Lainhart has been the Executive Director of Hope’s Wings Domestic Violence Program since 2012. She began her career at Hope’s Wings in 2009 after graduating from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in Social Work. Jennifer has served on many boards and committees, such as the Homeless and Housing Coalition of KY and the Families and Boosters for the Handicapped of Madison County, that enhance services for vulnerable populations. She has also been recognized for her work in Madison County by the Bluegrass Alliance for Women as a recipient of an Impact Award. Through her work at Hope’s Wings, Jennifer is committed to changing the social atmosphere of the community for victims of domestic violence by coordinating the Madison County Blueprint for Safety and working closely with the criminal justice system to better address the crime of domestic violence.

Michelle Fisher is currently a Legal Assistance to Victims Attorney with AppalReD Legal Aid. She has been with AppalReD for almost 7 years. She graduated from Vassar College with a double major in Political Science and Philosophy. She attended Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans, and it was there she began volunteering for a battered women’s shelter. She came to Kentucky in 2016 specifically to work with survivors, and she hasn’t looked back since. She is the current president of PFLAG Somerset, has been the Vice President of Operation Unite, and was the President of St. Mildred’s Parish Council. She is currently raising a teenager and a toddler with her husband (along with much-loved cats and dogs).

Cassie Stockton graduated from Campbellsville University in 2020 with a Bachelor's in Social Work. She has been with DCBS since 2021. She was an investigative worker before coming to the R & C unit. When Cassie isn't working to recruit and train new foster parents, she is spending time with her three month old daughter.

Brittany Johnson graduated from Morehead State University with a Bachelor’s in Social Work in 2014 and has been working with the Department for Community Based Services since June 2014. When she isn’t working with foster parents or helping raise awareness about how to support children in out-of-home care, she is more than likely at home chasing her toddler around the house or curled up with a good book.

Olivia Barrow Spradlin, MA, (she/her) began working in anti-violence at GreenHouse17 as an Americorps VISTA. She received her master’s degree from the University of Kentucky in Applied and Medical Anthropology with a focus on non-profit labor, secondary trauma, and health based social movements. She served as an advocate for The SwallowTale Project and has been a part of Arts and Advocacy projects through the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She previously held volunteer leadership positions in Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Graduate Appalachian Research Community. She has received grants and awards from Bryn Mawr College, Southern Methodist University, and the National Science Foundation and Davidson College. Currently, she serves on the steering committee for the Kentucky Rural Urban Exchange. She has trained nationally for Futures Without Violence and the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Olivia works for ZeroV, Kentucky United Against Violence, where she leads their Meaningful Access Project which focuses on building nondiscriminatory systems responses and service provision for all survivors of violence.

Meg Savage graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1988 and served on active duty with the US Navy Judge Advocate General Corps in San Diego and Key West. Upon returning to Kentucky, she worked as an Assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Russell, Wayne and Clinton Counties and then worked for Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky in Somerset. She moved to Anchorage, Alaska, in 1999, and worked for Alaska Legal Services as their Family Violence Project attorney. Returning to Kentucky in 2006, Ms. Savage began working as Legal Counsel for ZeroV, Kentucky United Against Violence (Formerly Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence). ZeroV oversees and supports 15 state and federally funded domestic violence shelters across the state. Currently, as Chief Legal Officer, Ms. Savage provides technical assistance and trainings state-wide on issues touching upon domestic violence and the court systems. She also lobbies at the state and national level for passage of laws which will increase the safety and wellbeing of domestic violence survivors and their children.

Is This Conference For Me?

Individuals who work in any capacity with individuals who have experienced domestic violence and those who work with older individuals in any capacity will benefit from this conference. This would include, among others:

social workers
health professionals
nursing home administrators
attorneys
case managers
court personnel
victim advocates
law enforcement officers
licensed clinical alcohol & drug counselors

CEUs/CLEs

In 2023, CEUs/CLEs have been approved for the following number of hours:

Continuing Legal Education 5.5
Nursing Contact Hours 6.6
Social Workers 6.5
Licensed Professional Counselors
Psychologists
Nursing Home Administrators
Clinical Alcohol & Drug Counselors

Questions?

Please email us.

Conference Funding

This project is supported by Grant Number VAWA-2022-Appalach-00029 awarded through the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice's STOP Formula Grant Program U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, the Office on Violence Against Women or the U.S. Department of Justice.