You're invited to a free online conference for parents and caregivers! This conference is organized by the UFT Bronx parent and community outreach committee but is open to all parents citywide. We'll enjoy informative workshops in English and Spanish, hear from and support fellow caregivers and get a chance to win raffle prizes. It will be a wonderful day of empowerment and mutual support. Register here for the conference to be held May 22, 10 am to 2 pm.
We’ll hear from UFT representatives before beginning the two workshop sessions. For each session, you can choose from among four topics. During the morning session from 10:15 to 11:50 a.m., the workshop choices are:
- NYC Civil Service 101: New York City agencies fill most of their jobs through civil service exams, but qualified candidates may be hired temporarily while waiting to take an exam. Want to know more about the city's civil service process and how to land a job? Sign up to learn more.
- Special Education Advocacy — Understanding Your Child's IEP: Join us to learn about special education services and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). You will leave understanding the role of your child's paraprofessional, knowing how to prepare for an IEP meeting, and knowing what parent counseling and training means as a related service in your child's IEP. In short, you'll become an even stronger advocate for your child.
- Healthy Homes: With so many of us spending more time than ever in our homes, this workshop will help you keep your home and family safe. We'll learn about lead and how to prevent lead exposure, how to reduce mold, how to keep a clean environment, how to get rid of pests like roaches and mice without endangering families and how to install safety devices such as carbon monoxide detectors and window guards.
- Mental Health — Life is Precious: During this informative and interactive workshop, we'll explore how self-care allows us to better care for our families, how to manage burnout, how to model balance for our children and how to set healthy boundaries. We'll also cover the statistics, warning signs, symptoms, risk factors, protective factors and coping mechanisms of common mental health issues encountered by children. Finally, we'll talk about why and how to discuss mental health with our families to destigmatize the need for emotional support.
During the afternoon session from 12 to 1:30 p.m., the workshop choices are:
- Special Education — Know Your Rights: During this workshop, we'll gain essential tools to navigate the special education system in New York City to ensure that children with special needs receive the educational services to which they are entitled regardless of the type of school — public, charter or private.
- Mental Health — Understanding the Language and Behaviors of Emotional Pain, Depression and Suicide: As more parents face the hard realities than many children are experiencing anxiety and depression and are at risk of suicide. the need for education and awareness is dire. We'll discuss the ways children, youth and adults experience mental illness and trauma that can lead to suicide risk, how to identify mental illness and trauma in others and how to respond effectively. We'll offer safety tips and best practices for parents to support children in managing the complexities of life.
- Salúd Mental — La Vida Es Preciosa (Spanish): Un taller informativo e interactivo de entendimiento sobre la Salúd Mental donde exploraremos el concepto de cuidarse a sí mismo para que pueda cuidar a sus familias, cómo manejar el agotamiento, modelar el balance y límites saludables para sus hijos. Además, discutiremos estadísticas, señales de advertencia, síntomas, factores de riesgo, factores de protección, mecanismos de afrontamiento respecto a la salúd mental y cómo abordar los problemas de salúd mental que puedan surgir con sus hijos. (This workshop will be conducted in Spanish.)
- Hogares Saludables (Spanish): Dado que muchos de nostros pasamos más tiempo en nuestros Hogares, este taller está disenñdo para enseñarle cόmo mantener su hogar y familia saludables. Tome medidas para prevenir la exposición al plomo: cubre qué es el plomo y los pasos para prevenir la exposición al plomo. Moho: cubre los hechos sobre el moho y los pasos para reducir el moho mediante la reducción de la humedad. Limpie su hogar de forma segura: cubre los pasos que puede tomar para tener un ambiente hogareño limpio. (This workshop will be conducted in Spanish.)
