Kansas Prevention Collaborative Conference Slated for September
A Conference to Connect Kansas Communities
TOPEKA – The Kansas Prevention Collaborative (KPC), an initiative of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), has scheduled a conference for September 19 and 20, 2018, marking the first behavioral health prevention conference in Kansas in many years. The conference will take place at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Topeka.
The purpose of the conference is to empower prevention coalitions to redouble their efforts in the community. The theme, Connecting Communities, echoes what has long been the work of coalitions: bringing community members together to work toward a common goal.
“This conference is one of the ways we are working to strengthen our prevention efforts statewide and to empower communities to prevent avoidable tragedies and lives derailed by substance abuse,” said KDADS Secretary Tim Keck. “I encourage everyone interested in behavioral health and prevention education to participate in this event.”
The KPC Conference provides educational opportunities to increase awareness of emerging trends, to build skills and knowledge of ways to prevent suicide, alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse, and to advocate for best practices. Registration begins July 1. Early bird registration (before August 1) is available for $100. After August 1, registration will be $125. For more information, visit kansaspreventioncollaborative.org.
Andrew Brown, KDADS Prevention Program Manager, invites everyone to attend.
“This conference reflects the values of the Kansas Prevention Collaborative in that it will be an opportunity for community leaders and organizers to learn from one another, meet experts in the prevention field, and enable
them to connect with other prevention coalitions doing similar work,” Brown said. “At KDADS, we believe that collaboration across communities is vital to preventing tragedies such as deaths of despair, and to improving the lives of Kansans for future generations.”
KPC is a group of eight organizations funded by KDADS working to integrate and innovate behavioral health prevention efforts. This conference is part of KPC’s strategy to ensure that Kansans get the tools they need.
Chad Childs, a Prevention Project Coordinator at Wichita State University’s Community Engagement Institute, one of KPC’s partners, is enthusiastic about the implications of a Kansas-specific prevention conference.
“The planning committee is comprised of Kansans who value suicide and substance abuse prevention work, so this conference has been designed to be educational and practical for priorities in Kansas communities. Attendees will leave with tools for overcoming obstacles facing their community and for making connections throughout the state. The goal is to make sure they know they’re not alone and there are resources to help them along the way,” said Childs.
The KPC is excited to provide this learning opportunity to communities across Kansas. For more information on the conference and the work of the KPC, please visit kansaspreventioncollaborative.org.
Please contact the KPC at KPCTeam@wichita.edu with questions.
About KDADS:
The Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services was created on July 1, 2012 by Governor Sam Brownback’s executive reorganization order that merged the former Department on Aging with the Disability and Behavioral Health Services Division from the former Department for Social and Rehabilitation Services and elements of the Health Occupations Credentialing Division at the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment. The agency administers services to older adults; administers behavioral health, addiction and prevention programs; manages the four state hospitals; administers the state’s home- and community-based services waiver programs under KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program; and directs health occupations credentialing. For interviews or media inquiries, please contact Angela de Rocha, Director of Communications, at angela.derocha@kdads.ks.gov.
About the Kansas Prevention Collaborative:
The Kansas Prevention Collaborative was created in 2015 to integrate and innovate behavioral health prevention efforts. A partnership of several different states, educational, and provider agencies, the KPC’s goal is to expand prevention efforts to be more inclusive of mental health promotion, suicide prevention, and problem gambling education and awareness, as well as to increase the availability of resources to adequately fund local-level prevention and promotion strategic plans. For interviews, media inquiries, or more information, please contact the Kansas Prevention Collaborative at KPCTeam@wichita.edu.