Contextual Considerations in SOT Service Provision: Responding to International, National, and Local Challenges

Join us for Contextual Considerations in SOT Service Provision: Responding to International, National, and Local Challenges Webinar hosted by The National Capacity Building (NCB) Project at the Center for Victims of Torture and The National Consortium of Torture Treatments Programs (NCTTP).

Description

This webinar will speak to the contextual issues and pressures facing displaced people and survivors of torture seeking new lives in the US. We will discuss international issues, such as receiving “bad news from home,” ongoing familial separation and survivor guilt. Within this, we will discuss best practices in sleep hygiene, meaning making, and the importance of familial communication. In terms of domestic/national issues, we will explore potential changes to the US government’s approach to asylum, ways of supporting marginalized clients, and the challenges/possibilities within the new funding realities. At the local level, we will discuss “Know Your Rights” initiatives, crisis intervention, and having access to up to date information re: local resources.

Learning Objectives

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:  

• Attendees will have a sense of the ongoing stressors that argue against the “post” in PTSD, and will discuss ways to maintain familial connections, maximize meaning making, and facilitate improved sleep hygiene.
• Discussion of the impact of proposed changes of policy (legal and financial), and ways for service providers and centers to support their clients and their programs.
• Sharing the most updated “best practices” for assuring that clients know their rights and are prepared for potential challenges in terms of local resources and supports.

Who should attend?

Staff of torture rehabilitation programs that are funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement and/or are members of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs as well as others who provide services to survivors of torture. This session is designed for providers working with survivors of torture and forced migration populations.

Meet the Presenters

Alison Beckman M.A.
Alison Beckman is a senior clinician for external relations with a focus on issue-based advocacy towards building fair and just protection systems for refugees and asylum seekers pursuing safe haven in the United States along with other CVT policy priorities. She has experience at CVT providing psychotherapy, training, supervision and consultation. She holds a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Minnesota and is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker.

Clint Carney
Clint Carney is the Government Affairs Manager at Survivors of Torture, International in San Diego. Clint leads the advocacy and government relations efforts of SURVIVORS, which provides healing services to torture survivors from more than 90 countries, speaking more than 60 languages. Clint coordinates advocacy efforts on policies and programs impacting torture survivors, and he participates in several immigration-focused organizations supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Clint also coordinates advocacy mentorship and training for survivors who wish to continue their advocacy for human rights issues as they had done in their home country. Before joining SURVIVORS, Clint held government and public affairs positions for more than 20 years focusing on public and private issues, and he was a board member and government affairs advocate for Alliance for HOPE International and its technical support programs developing co-located multi-agency domestic violence service centers, training on the forensics and prosecution of strangulation crimes, mentorship and STEAM development programs for child survivors of domestic violence, and community-building events for survivors.

Domonique Quevedo, Esq.
Dominique Quevedo is the Managing Attorney of the Immigration Access Workgroup at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), which represents survivors of violence in affirmative hearings, removal proceedings and applications before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ms. Quevedo began her career at LAFLA over 15 years ago and has held a number of positions within the Foundation, such as the managing attorney of two of three courthouse-based domestic violence clinics. She has spoken at local and national conferences regarding immigration law, trauma-informed lawyering and vicarious trauma in the legal aid profession. In 2013, Ms. Quevedo was honored by End Abuse Long Beach for her representation of and commitment to families impacted by domestic violence. She is also the recipient of the 2009 CSULB President’s Commission on the Status of Women and the Department of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Lilian Robles Award for her legal advocacy efforts. Ms. Quevedo received her JD from Loyola Law School and her Master’s Degree in Social Welfare from UCLA.

Scott Roehm, J.D, M.A.
Scott Roehm is director of global policy and advocacy at the Center for Victims of Torture and an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law School. Prior to this, he was vice president of programs and policy at The Constitution Project, where he oversaw the organization’s national security, immigration and criminal justice portfolios. Before joining The Constitution Project, Scott served as the special counsel for pro bono at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. In that capacity he litigated federal civil rights and immigration cases and led Orrick’s participation in projects to address abuses arising out of U.S. counterterrorism practices, deficiencies in the immigration system, and a variety of international human rights matters. Scott has also worked with Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in Monrovia, Liberia and Greensboro, North Carolina. Scott is also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law School. He holds a J.D. from Fordham Law School and a Master’s in International Affairs with a specialization in human rights from Columbia University.

Hawthorne Smith, Ph.D
Dr. Hawthorne Smith is a licensed psychologist and the Director of the Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor at the NYU School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Smith received his doctorate in Counseling Psychology (with distinction) from Teachers College; Columbia University. Dr. Smith had previously earned a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, an advanced certificate in African Studies from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, as well as a Masters in International Affairs from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Among his clinical duties, Dr. Smith has facilitated a support group for French-speaking African survivors of torture for the past 25 years. He also speaks extensively at professional conferences and seminars on providing clinical services for survivors of socio-political violence, and enhancing cross-cultural clinical skills among therapeutic service providers. Dr. Smith has been recognized for his work with such awards as: the Robin Hood Foundation’s “Hero Award”; the “Frantz Fanon Award” from the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health; the “W.E.B. DuBois Award” from the International Youth Leadership Institute; the “Distinguished Alumni – Early Career Award” from Teachers College; the “Man of Distinction Award” from the National Association of Health Service Executives; the “Union Square Award for Community Advocacy” from the Fund for the City of New York; and a “Humanitarian Award” from the Consul General of the Republic of Haiti. Prior to coming to Bellevue, Dr. Smith was a youth counselor to “court involved youth” in Washington, DC during the height of the crack epidemic. He then coordinated care at a shelter for homeless families in San Francisco prior to, and in the aftermath of 1989 earthquake. Dr. Smith was also a co-founding member of Nah We Yone, Inc. (a non-profit organization working primarily with refugees from Sierra Leone, as well as other displaced Africans in New York), and helped to coordinate the International Youth Leadership Institute (IYLI), a leadership program for marginalized New York City teens. Currently, Dr. Smith provides forensic evaluations, human rights consultations, and mitigation services on capital cases for private legal firms and public entities such as the US Department of Defense and the US Office of the Federal Defender. Dr. Smith is also a professional musician (saxophonist and vocalist) with national and international experience.