PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE NEWS RELEASE Contact: Connie Watson 512-943-1663 (office) 512-844-3542 (cell) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2ND ANNUAL MENTAL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS CONFERENCE October 22, 2012 (Williamson County, TX) Williamson County Juvenile Services, in conjunction with the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Subcommittee of the Williamson County Mental Health Taskforce, is hosting the 2nd Annual Mental Health in Schools Conference. The conference will be held October 25 and 26, 2012, in the Main Training Room of the Juvenile Justice Center, 1821 SE Inner Loop, Georgetown, TX 78626, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days. This years conference is titled Assessing Needs and Building Strengths: Collaboratively, and conference presentations include, Motivational Interviewing, Empowering Responsible Student Decision-Making, Community Resource Coordination and Improving Student Outcomes through Facilitated Self-Assessment. On Thursday, the keynote presentation on Diverting the School to Prison Pipeline will be delivered by Texas Appleseed Deputy Director Deborah Fowler, J.D., at 8:30 a.m.; followed by a presentation from Dr. Molly Lopez and Dr. Erin Espinosa of the University of Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health on The Impact of Childhood Trauma on the School Environment at 10 a.m. On Friday morning, 13 community agencies, non-profits, and organizations will be presenting in an Expo designed to educate attendees about community behavioral health and support services available to schools. Approximately 70 independent school district and community agency professionals will be in attendance at the conference representing all 11 school districts in Williamson County including superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, counselors, school psychologists, special education coordinators, school resource officers, and parent liaisons among others. The conference will conclude on Friday with a powerful presentation, Williamson County Youth Speak, facilitated by students from the Service Learning Class at the Williamson County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program. Through the generosity of the conference presenters and the support of conference sponsors Bluebonnet Trails Community Services, Williamson County Juvenile Services, Jervey & Associates Psychotherapy, and the Georgetown Health Foundation, this conference is provided at no cost to attendees for the second year in a row. This years conference is designed to build on learning from last years inaugural Mental Health in Schools Conference with the ultimate goal of strengthening countywide vision and capacity for creating a school/community continuum of care that includes a full range of behavioral health supports for our youth.

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