IECA Atlanta 2012

The week of November 5- 10, 2012, I had the opportunity to visit Atlanta, Georgia and attended the annual Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) conference. The weather was beautiful and the colors of the leaves were changing into a deep red. Something I still appreciate given my upbringing in Southern California. The IECA event was exciting, overwhelming, and exhausting. This was the first IECA conference I had attended as a consultant. I had been to a previous IECA in Carolina several years ago as an exhibitor. The day before the conference commenced I was able to visit 3 local programs. The 3 programs were unique and serve young adults and that are challenged by sobriety and developmental disabilities. I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the programs and was impressed by the positive evidenced based outcomes.

• Skyland Trail is a non-profit, community-based residential and day mental health treatment facility for adults with serious mental illness. http://www.skylandtrail.org
• Talbott Recovery, "functions primarily as an alcohol recovery center, drug abuse treatment center, and addiction rehab center for young adults, professionals in the healing fields, and general adults in need of treatment. "https://www.talbottcampus.com
• Hope Homes Inc. is a long-term residential program designed to bridge the gap from early recovery to independent living.http://hopehomesrecovery.org

The conference itself was Wednesday-Saturday. I was able to attend many of the breakout sessions. The most memorable was a panel of directors from some of the most prominent young adult programs. The directors have created an organization, YATA (Young Adult Transition Association). The mission is to "promote young adult residential transitional schools and programs that support issues and practices of common interests and enhance the quality of care of the young adults and their families". Of course this is a topic of interest for me so I was happy to be able to participate in the dialogue. Other conference highlights included attending a beautiful dinner at Brandon Hall sponsored by several programs. The dinner was in support of Saving Teens, a very important program dedicated to assisting children and their families access necessary services despite financial struggles.http://www.savingteens.org

Over the course of the 3 days I had the opportunity to meet with several programs, clinical directors, and other consultants. It was at times a challenge to make it through a room but in the end I believe I was able to make long lasting connections. I am definitely looking forward to the next IECA in Chicago.