Centerstone to present at A Healing State of Mind: From Crisis to Recovery for All

Centerstone will present at A Healing State of Mind: From Crisis to Recovery for All by the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) on October 15 and 16.

NAMI Illinois’ 2021 virtual state conference is a forum for learning and dialogue about the critical issues and actions needed to shape a stronger and more equitable mental health system that supports everyone. The conference will focus on challenging stigma, implementing innovative services, and achieving the parity, quality and comprehensive reach that our state’s multi-faceted, richly diverse population deserves.

Centerstone staff will present “The Culture of Trauma-Awareness: Essential to Consumers and Providers” during the conference. The presentation focuses on the importance of creating a culture of trauma sensitivity in the workplace for the benefit of both employees and clients.

The panel of experts providing the presentation will be:

Megan Ragan, Centerstone’s Trauma Training and Care Coordinator for Centerstone’s Trauma, Treatment and Training (CT3) program
Ragan has accrued more than 250 hours of training in the subject of childhood trauma, traumatic stress, and other related subjects. Ragan has 10 years’ experience in child-serving systems and graduated with her Masters of Social Work from Louisiana State University in August 2021. Ragan is certified and experienced in multiple therapeutic modalities including Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, Child Parent Psychotherapy, and Managing Adaptive Practices Therapy. When Ragan is not providing direct service support to children and families, she is training on the subject of childhood trauma.

Paul Frankel, Centerstone Program Evaluator
Frankel, a senior researcher in the fields of community mental health and child welfare, and a member of the research staff at the Centerstone Research Institute, has a long history of conducting program evaluations, training and capacity building, and advocating on behalf of children and families in underserved and vulnerable communities. Dr. Frankel has worked for more than 20 years in diverse communities to provide technical assistance, resources and support. He has designed assessments, questionnaires, and surveys, developed educational materials for child welfare staff, and has been privileged to collaborate with dedicated colleagues, universities, corporations, and nonprofit organizations. Dr. Frankel has managed local, national, and international research, and has provided assistance and support to state agencies, counties and indigenous tribes.

Prior to joining the Centerstone Research Institute, Dr. Frankel served as the Director of Evaluation at Youth Villages, where he led YV’s survey call center and data management teams that collected long-term follow-up surveys on behalf of clinical and residential services. Previously, Dr. Frankel was part of the evaluation team at the American Humane Association that demonstrated the impact of innovative child welfare services provided to nonresidential fathers involved in cases of child maltreatment. As a gifted trainer and presenter, Dr. Frankel has shared his knowledge through local and national conferences, including highly interactive training sessions conducted throughout the United States.

Dr. Frankel has volunteered for the YMCA, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, at primary and secondary schools, and has taught undergraduate psychology courses at Tulane University in New Orleans, the University of Colorado at Denver and Metropolitan State University of Denver. Dr. Frankel holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in experimental social psychology from Tulane University, and a B.S with Honors in the social sciences from Michigan State University.

Kelsey Watterson, Centerstone Evaluation Associate
Watterson graduated from Hanover College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 2017. During her time at Hanover College, Watterson designed and analyzed multiple research projects with various scopes, blending her psychology interest with her interest in physical health. Watterson works at Centerstone’s Research Institute as the lead evaluator for two Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) child trauma grants, and previously as the lead evaluator for a fatherhood grant and an offender re-entry grant. During her time at Centerstone, she has presented at multiple conferences and poster sessions, including the 2019 National Association of Social Workers annual conference, the Indiana Attorney General’s 10th Annual Drug Abuse Symposium, and the 2018 and 2019 American Evaluation Association annual conferences. In 2020, Kelsey published a co-written article titled “Predictors of Successful Housing in a Housing First Program” in the Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness.

Angela Quigley-Ragland, Centerstone Clinical Coordinator
Quigley-Ragland, LCSW, has dedicated her life to serving others, evaluating and expanding needed services to the community and individuals, and identifying service gaps and systematic issues to advocate for change to provide a continuum of evidence based care. Quigley-Ragland received her Illinois Child Welfare License in 2006. For 12 years, she served Department of Children and Family Services’ (DCFS) southern region through POS agencies. These counties present additional barriers and challenges due to the area being rural and the lack of necessary resources. She provided direct care and supervision for 15 years. During this time, Quigley-Ragland saw firsthand the impact of generational trauma, substance misuse, mental health, abuse, neglect, and homelessness.

In 2018, she made a career move and began working at Centerstone. Her desire was to continue serving most of the same clients as she was before. However, from a different viewpoint. Her previous experience has been invaluable in her current position. Her team in clinical outpatient services provides the majority of the substance use treatment for the agency. She has increased Centerstone’s presence in county drug courts, obtained a state gambling grant, and is building a team to work directly in DCFS courts and provide wrap around services for those families.

Quigley-Ragland is also the Project Director for two SAMHSA grants including Grant to Benefit Homeless Individuals (GBHI) and CT3. Both grants have recently started the second of the five year grants and are meeting all goals. Her current grant options have allowed her to focus on the homelessness populations and childhood trauma. Her previous experience working in child welfare aided in the ability to identify service care gaps and pull her current programs together to better meet the needs of all clients.

“We will discuss information related to the prevalence of trauma exposure in the workforce and its impact on employee performance, satisfaction, and quality of life,” said Megan Ragan, Centerstone’s Trauma Training and Care Coordinator for Centerstone’s Trauma, Treatment and Training (CT3) program. “Additionally, we will discuss the concept of the 4 Cs of trauma sensitivity (consideration, collaboration, compassion and connection) and how implementing these simple changes can truly change a work environment.”

The presentation pushes supervisors and team leads to set important precedents in their organization to value the 4 Cs of trauma sensitivity.

For more information about this presentation or to schedule the presentation at your organization, contact Ragan at Megan.Ragan@centerstone.org.

The presentation is sponsored by the CT3 program.

“CT3’s aim is to increase access to trauma-focused treatment for children, adolescents and their families who have experienced traumatic events, including children and adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system and children of veterans,” said Ragan, CT3 Trauma Training and Care Coordinator.

The counties covered in the CT3 program include Franklin, Jackson, Madison, Perry, Randolph, St. Clair, Union, Washington and Williamson.

CT3 services include:

• Direct trauma and treatment services
• Therapy
• Care management
• Professional training and community education
• Outreach and engagement
• Screening and assessment
• Linkages to services and supports

CT3 develops and maintains local capacity to implement trauma-informed practices and provide evidence-based, informed trauma treatment interventions. The goals of the program are:

• Establish a community-based, culturally competent, quality, accessible program to provide and increase access to effective trauma focused treatment and services systems for children, adolescents, and their families who witness or experience traumatic events.
• Develop a sound infrastructure and increase community capacity to implement trauma-informed services for the focus population.
• Improve the health status and outcomes for young children – ages 2 to 9 years old, adolescents – ages 10 to 17 years old, and families as measured at intake, 6 months and discharge follow-up.
• Develop and disseminate a thoroughly documented model with measurable objectives for statewide and national replication and adoption.