ARKANSAS – Dr. Joan Beasley, Director of the Center for START Services, kicked off the inaugural Ark-START Conference, held June 17, 2014, in Little Rock, Arkansas. The event’s unifying theme – “Bridging the Divide” – tied together presentations by nationally recognized experts in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and behavioral health.
The conference featured a full day of training for the 150 attendees. Dr. Beasley’s training provided an overview of the Center for START Services, a national initiative that strengthens efficiencies and service outcomes for individuals in the community with IDD and mental health needs.
Other topics included an overview of genetic syndromes in IDD by Dr. Jarrett Barnhill, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine; trauma-informed behavioral interventions by Dr. Karyn Harvey, Assistant Executive Director of Quality Supports for the Arc of Baltimore; and mental wellness and positive psychology for individuals with IDD by Dr. Dan Baker, Director of Community Positive Behavior Support, Transition, and Supported Employment Projects, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities.
START has been providing service supports, clinical, emergency and respite services since 1989 and was founded by Joan Beasley, Ph.D. START was cited as a model program by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office in the 2002 report, CLOSING THE GAP: A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of Persons with Mental Retardation.
Photo: Ark-START 2014 Conference. From L-R: Dr. Karen Harvey, speaker; Veronica Myers, parent participant; and Dr. Joan Beasley, speaker
The Center for START Services was founded in 2009 at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire to respond to a nationwide demand to develop START services and provide technical support, education, and guidelines to ensure model fidelity. Driven by a person-centered approach in the context of the system of support, the START model offers proactive, clinically based consultation and training for crisis prevention and intervention.
For more information, please visit www.centerforstartservices.com.
The Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire was established in 1987 to provide a university-based focus for the improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. Its mission is to promote full access, equal opportunities, and participation for all persons by strengthening communities and advancing policy and systems change, promising practices, education, and research.
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.
