Association of Children's Residential & Community Services (ACRC) upcoming events

Webinar - Fueling the Work: Sustaining Quality Through Self-Compassion (10 Sep 2026)

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Webinar Overview

Quality improvement depends on a workforce that is not only skilled but also sustained. This interactive session equips participants with self-compassion practices that fuel the capacity to thrive in demanding roles. By reframing self-compassion as a professional competency rather than a luxury, Fueling the Work demonstrates how tending to the well-being of staff supports organizational excellence. Attendees will leave with accessible, repeatable practices to strengthen resilience, improve relational care, and ensure enduring commitment to quality.

How it Connects:

Self-compassion connects directly to quality, outcomes, and sustainability because staff who are regulated, compassionate toward themselves, and able to reset can provide higher-quality care and stay in the work longer.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the role of self-compassion in sustaining quality care and why it is essential for professionals in human service roles.

2. Recognize systemic and personal barriers to self-compassion that contribute to burnout and impact outcomes for staff, children, and families.

3. Practice evidence-based, trauma-informed self-compassion strategies that strengthen workforce resilience and innovation in daily practice.

4. Identify at least one sustainable self-compassion practice to embed in professional or organizational routines, supporting continuous quality improvement and long-term impact.

Attendance Certificates Available

*Must watch webinar LIVE to receive Certificate

*Each individual requesting a Certificate, must be registered and logged in to zoom under their own name.

If you have questions, please email Sarah.

TRC International Summit (15 Sep 2026)

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 13:30:00 GMT

REGISTRATION RATE

£350/$475

Webinar - Families and Family Therapy in Residential Care (24 Sep 2026)

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Webinar Overview

Most youth return to their family after residential treatment. While some families contribute to a youth's distress, they can—and should—serve as a vital safety net upon discharge. However, are we doing enough to support parents while their child is in our care? Is psychoeducation truly sufficient?

With the widespread adoption of telehealth, RTCs can now provide intensive family therapy during residential treatment. Family therapy teaches essential communication skills and helps family members practice them in session, all while addressing the family drama and trauma that impacts our youth. Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is an empirically supported, transdiagnostic, modular approach that helps therapists quickly identify and resolve the relational ruptures that drive youth distress. This 90-minute talk will provide a rationale for why family therapy is essential in RTC, and demonstrate how to deliver a trauma-informed treatment in 4–6 weeks. Video clips will be used to demonstrate the work.

Attendance & NASW CE Certificates Available

*Must watch webinar LIVE to receive Certificate

*Each individual requesting a Certificate, must be registered and logged in to zoom under their own name.

If you have questions, please email Sarah.

Michigan Midday Meetups (7 Oct 2026)

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Register & Select Your Dates

October 7, 2026 - Debriefing: Creating Cultures of Curiosity
November 4, 2026 - Supporting Your Workforce
February 3, 2027 - Trauma-Informed Practice
March 3, 2027 - Permanency/Family Engagement/Family Finding

Each session will be one hour, formatted as a drop-in discussion led by one of ACRC's expert consultants.

Webinar - Developing Organization Outcomes: Weaving the Work of Multiple Agencies to Measure Sustained, Collective Impact (13 Oct 2026)

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Webinar Overview

Outcome measures help us understand our impacts, communicate them, and make targeted improvements when we miss the mark. Organizations providing multiple services in multiple locations or by multiple teams can struggle with developing meaningful measures to assess end-of-service outcomes. Nexus Family Healing provides an array of services along the behavioral health continuum in five states. To develop outcomes, Nexus utilized its accreditation framework, harnessing program data and the practice wisdom of clinicians and staff to identify one to two powerful measures for each service line. To date, this multi-year effort has produced five of 11 planned service line measures that are available to all staff, reviewed regularly, and utilized by other key departments such as marketing and communication and development. This high-level understanding of impacts has already produced key learning on ways to adjust practices to drive better results for clients. Nexus will share this approach as it can be replicated by any size organization.

Learning Objectives

The basic components of a logic model and why they are important.
How to think about outcome measures as a clinician or direct practitioner.
How having an outcome measure anchors day-to-day practice in an end goal.
How to interpret changes in the results of an outcome measure to guide changes in service delivery (or, make improvements).

Attendance Certificates Available

*Must watch webinar LIVE to receive Certificate

*Each individual requesting a Certificate, must be registered and logged in to zoom under their own name.

If you have questions, please email Sarah.

Webinar - Workforce Innovation in Residential Child and Youth Care and Immigrant Voices (27 Oct 2026)

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Webinar Overview

This webinar explores the shifting dynamics of the global workforce in residential child and youth care programs, with a particular focus on the lived experiences of immigrant practitioners. Drawing from personal narratives and frontline practice, the session highlights how immigrant child and youth care practitioners—often navigating systemic barriers and cultural transitions—bring unique perspectives and resilience to therapeutic care environments. The immigrant experience, intertwined with hopes, losses, and grief, mirrors many of the challenges faced by the youth they serve. These voices, often underrepresented, are integrated throughout the presentation to illuminate both the challenges and strengths immigrant practitioners contribute to the sector.

Child and youth care practitioners come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of personality profiles, social lifestyles, and motivations to the profession. Some are driven by altruism, others by a commitment to social justice or personal experiences. These varied motivations enrich the field and shape the ways in which care is delivered.

Innovative approaches rooted in human-centered design are showcased, emphasizing culturally responsive care, community representation, and the importance of lived experience in shaping effective interventions. The presentation also examines workforce trends in Alberta and Canada, including demographic shifts and the growing presence of African and Indian practitioners in frontline and leadership roles.

Throughout the session, I will share personal stories of overcoming challenges as an internationally trained immigrant professional practicing child and youth care in Alberta, Canada. These experiences have shaped my approach to human-centered design and professional practice, connecting theory with real-world application. The voices and experiences of practitioners will be integrated throughout the presentation to enrich learning and reflection. Participants will be invited to consider how organizations can better support immigrant professionals and leverage their unique strengths to improve outcomes in residential care.

Learning Objectives

Understand the impact of immigrant professionals on residential child and youth care programs.
Identify barriers and opportunities in integrating internationally trained workers.
Explore innovative, culturally responsive approaches to care.
Recognize the value of lived experience in workforce development and leadership.

Attendance Certificates Available

*Must watch webinar LIVE to receive Certificate

*Each individual requesting a Certificate, must be registered and logged in to zoom under their own name.

If you have questions, please email Sarah.

Michigan Midday Meetups (4 Nov 2026)

Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Register & Select Your Dates

Each session will be one hour, formatted as a drop-in discussion led by one of ACRC's expert consultants.

International Direct Care Summit (5 Nov 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 13:30:00 GMT

Webinar - Trauma Prevalence in Direct Care Staff: Preliminary Results from the Staff Stress and Support Survey (13 Nov 2026)

Fri, 13 Nov 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Webinar Overview

Despite an increased understanding of how youths’ trauma exposure impacts their mental and behavioral health, less is known about direct care staffs’ early adversity and its impact on their ability to provide high-quality, trauma-informed care to youth. While staff with histories of early adversity often report high levels of motivation for this work, they are also at greater risk for work-related negative psychological outcomes, including secondary traumatic stress and burnout, which can increase the probability of critical incidents, restraints, and re-traumatization for both youth and staff. Coupled with nationwide reports of high turnover rates, a system’s understanding of and responsiveness to staffs’ history of adversity is now as important as any other component of trauma-informed care. However, to date, there has been no study evaluating the prevalence of adversity in a sample of direct care staff only. This presentation presents preliminary findings from the Staff Stress and Support Survey, a nationally representative study of direct care staff from US-based residential treatment centers. Data regarding ACE prevalence (using the Expanded Philadelphia ACE), Professional Quality of Life, and burnout will be presented. The presentation will conclude with a brief discussion of best practices for supporting staff who may be coming to their roles with elevated histories of adversity or trauma, highlighting innovative ways to build skills related to staffs’ self-awareness and self-regulation, as well as agency-level practices that build trauma-responsive cultures.

Attendance Certificates Available

*Must watch webinar LIVE to receive Certificate

*Each individual requesting a Certificate, must be registered and logged in to zoom under their own name.

If you have questions, please email Sarah.

Webinar - KinFirst Approach to Congregate Care Reduction through Cross-Sector Partnerships (3 Dec 2026)

Thu, 03 Dec 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Webinar Overview

Every young person deserves meaningful connections to their kin, community, and culture—regardless of their placement setting or the length of their involvement with child welfare. A KinFirst approach prioritizes intensive family engagement and service efforts, spanning prevention through permanent custody and beyond. This webinar explores an innovative, real-time implementation partnership designed to enhance family search and engagement for youth in congregate care settings, facilitating safe transitions directly to kin. Participants will gain insights into lessons learned from groundbreaking public-private leadership initiatives, cross-sector strategies, and family-centered approaches with families. Shared examples will highlight the critical role of a KinFirst philosophy across all facets of child welfare—workforce development, organizational practices, provider collaboration, and courtroom advocacy.

Attendance Certificates Available

*Must watch webinar LIVE to receive Certificate

*Each individual requesting a Certificate, must be registered and logged in to zoom under their own name.

If you have questions, please email Sarah.

Michigan Midday Meetups (3 Feb 2027)

Wed, 03 Feb 2027 18:00:00 GMT

Register & Select Your Dates

Each session will be one hour, formatted as a drop-in discussion led by one of ACRC's expert consultants.

Michigan Midday Meetups (3 Mar 2027)

Wed, 03 Mar 2027 18:00:00 GMT

Register & Select Your Dates

Each session will be one hour, formatted as a drop-in discussion led by one of ACRC's expert consultants.

2027 Annual Conference Exhibitor Registration (22 Mar 2027)

Mon, 22 Mar 2027 14:00:00 GMT

ACRC EXHIBITOR REGISTRATION

Includes 1 conference registration, 1 in-person table

& participation in exhibitor bingo

$1,100 for Exhibitors that are ACRC Agency Members

$1,350 for Exhibitors that are non-member, non-profit, 501c3

$1,600 for Exhibitors that are non-members

$400 Additional Exhibitor fee per person for individuals NOT attending sessions.

Rates increase $200 after February 5, 2027 (Early Bird Cutoff)

2027 Annual Conference Sponsorship (22 Mar 2027)

Mon, 22 Mar 2027 14:00:00 GMT

ACRC SPONSORSHIP

$20,000 - Emerald City Includes 8 in-person registrations and virtual ‘all in’ registration for the entire organization. Also includes a half page ad.

$15,000 - Puget Sound Includes 5 in-person registrations and virtual ‘all in’ registration for the entire organization. Also includes a quarter page ad.

$10,000 - Pike Place Market Includes 4 in-person registrations and virtual 'all in' registration for the entire organization

$7,500 - Space Needle Includes 3 in-person registrations and virtual ‘all in’ registration for the entire organization

$5,000 - Mount Rainier Includes 2 in-person registrations and virtual ‘all in’ registration for the entire organization

$3,000 - Bainbridge Island Includes 1 in-person registrations and virtual ‘all in’ registration for the entire organization

$1,800 - Orca Includes 1 in-person registration or 3 virtual attendees

$500 VOICE Champion Sponsor the travel of our Youth Advocates