Trainings

Drop In Center Model

Youth Era (YE) drop-in centers are created in partnership with young adults for young adults ages 14-25. They are designed to be safe, welcoming, and inclusive spaces for youth/young adults to receive peer support, gain leadership skills, meet new people, set goals and implement steps to achieve them. These centers foster a stigma-aware, safe, outcomes-driven environment reflective of the community’s values.  Our services engage youth/young adults who are navigating youth-serving systems and provide them with the tools to create change within those systems.  We provide support through one-on-one peer support, support groups, and via wraparound teams.

The Drop In Center Model is a comprehensive 40-hour training for line staff and their supervisors on site. This training delivers all the core components needed to successfully open, operate, and sustain our model in a drop in center.  These components include:

• Coping strategies

• Self-care

• Safety planning with youth

• Community outreach/collaboration

• Public speaking

• Cultural responsiveness

• Peer support

• Peer supervision/coaching

• Progress notes

• Outcomes and data

• 40 Developmental Assets
  

Youth and Professionals as Policy Partners

Youth as Policy Partners (YPx3) is a two part eight-hour training on how to successfully collaborate with youth/young adults. YPx3 is an eight-hour training broken up into two segments.  The first four hours brings youth together to learn about policy and decision making.  The second four hour session brings youth and professional allies together to learn how to work as partners. This training teaches clients how to work together while moving systems forward toward shared goals and outcomes.

This training is geared towards those interested in including/amplifying youth/young adult voices on their boards, committees, and other decision making bodies. The second session of the training requires a minimum of 50% youth/young adults and 50% youth/young adult allies. 

Session two covers:

• Youth culture

• Professional culture

• Team building activities

• Successful collaboration

YPx3 can also be used for Train the Trainers, where clients learn how to train others using the curriculum. This training provides clients with YE training materials including (but not limited to) presentations, activities, notes, discussion topics, and FAQs. Train the Trainers may require that clients complete the training as a participant or have previous experience as a trainer before they can attend the course.

The Helix Effect: Preparing professionals to support youth at the decision making table

The Helix Effect is a four-hour training on strategies to promote better collaboration amongst community partners/professionals and youth/young adults. This training also focuses on ways to  empower youth/young adult voices in policy planning and decision-making conversations. The Helix Effect customizes YE's Youth and Professionals as Policy Partners training core concepts to better fit a group with an adult ally majority. The training includes activities and conversations surrounding oppression within youth/young adult populations. We discuss how to reduce and confront the oppression, stigma, and discrimination facing many youth/young adults and young adult service providers. We share strategies that can be used to break down the barriers between youth/young adults and adult professionals. One such tool is the "Hart’s Ladder of Youth Voice" which can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of youth/young adult interactions. 

This training can be customized for any number of attendees. 

The Helix Effect can also be used for Train the Trainers, where clients learn how to train others using the curriculum. This training provides clients with YE training materials including (but not limited to) presentations, activities, notes, discussion topics, and FAQs. Train the Trainers may require that clients complete the training as a participant or have previous experience as a trainer before they can attend the course.

Peer Plus: Peer Delivered Services Training

Peer Plus is an Oregon Health Authority approved, 40-hour training for peer support specialists. This training is specifically tailored to fit the needs of youth/young adult peer support providers and enables those who complete the training to register with the state as certified peer support specialists. This training covers a variety of support methods centered around the lived experiences of the peer. Peer Plus was designed by and for adults up to the age of 30 who are or will be working as a peer support provider for youth ages 14 - 25.

Peer Plus topics include (but are not limited to):

• Trauma-informed care

• Person-centered planning

• History of the peer movement

• Development of the peer profession

• Youth developmental assets

• Ethics and boundaries
  

Certificates of completion are given to participants at the conclusion of the training.

Peer Plus can also be used for Train the Trainers, where clients learn how to train others using the curriculum. This training provides clients with YE training materials including (but not limited to) presentations, activities, notes, discussion topics, and FAQs. Train the Trainers may require that clients complete the training as a participant or have previous experience as a trainer before they can attend the course.

Peer Support: From Question Marks to Exclamation Points

Peer Support: From Question Marks to Explanations provides answers to the crucial questions surrounding peer support: what it is, who it helps, why it’s necessary, and how to integrate it into existing/future programming. This training focuses on how to provide direct support services to “the ones between” and explores how to effectively engage system-weary youth/young adults via peer support.

Peer Support: From Question Marks to Explanations can also be used for Train the Trainers, where clients learn how to train others using the curriculum. This training provides clients with YE training materials including (but not limited to) presentations, activities, notes, discussion topics, and FAQs. Train the Trainers may require that clients complete the training as a participant or have previous experience as a trainer before they can attend the course.

Shifting Professional Culture Towards Youth Driven Culture

Shifting Professional Culture Towards Youth Driven Culture focuses one of YE’s central goals: bridging the gap between adult allies/professionals and youth/young adults. Too often we find that outdated practices and outreach methods create barriers between these groups and hinder the thoughtful and engaging collaboration necessary to create lasting change. This training teaches adult allies how to update their practices, services, and general approach to fit the needs of youth/young adults.

Shifting Professional Culture Towards Youth Driven Culture can also be used for Train the Trainers, where clients learn how to train others using the curriculum. This training provides clients with YE training materials including (but not limited to) presentations, activities, notes, discussion topics, and FAQs. Train the Trainers may require that clients complete the training as a participant or have previous experience as a trainer before they can attend the course.

Peer Support Specialist in Residential Settings

Peer Support Specialists in the Residential Setting gives support providers the tools to provide effective support to youth/young adults in residential settings. This training explores in detail, the necessary methods and practices for peer support specialists working in a residential setting. This training model is used at the community, state and national level.

Peer Support Specialists in the Residential Setting can also be used for Train the Trainers, where clients learn how to train others using the curriculum. This training provides clients with YE training materials including (but not limited to) presentations, activities, notes, discussion topics, and FAQs. Train the Trainers may require that clients complete the training as a participant or have previous experience as a trainer before they can attend the course.