Pre-Conference Institutes

Registration for TNOYS’ Annual Conference is now open. Use the form below to register for the in-person conference, virtual day, and/or pre-conference institutes.


Pre-Conference Institutes are full-day (4-6 hours) training sessions on an in-depth clinical skill or evidence-based tool or approach. Participants typically walk away with a certification in a tool, practice, or skill, as well as CEU credit hours.

Pre-Conference Institutes will take place Tuesday, June 13 at the Hilton Houston North (12400 Greenspoint Drive, Houston, TX 77060). Space is limited for all Pre-Conference Institutes, and separate registration is required. You will be able to register for the Pre-Conference Institute of your choice through the online registration form. You may register for pre-conference institutes alone or add one to your conference registration. Save $50 when you add pre-conference institute registration to your registration for the full conference!

Is Compassion Really Fatiguing? Going Beyond Self-Care [6 CEUs]

  • Date: Tuesday, June 13
  • Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  • Cost $125 alone or $75 when added to conference registration.

Have you ever come away from helping someone else and felt energized? If so, then acting compassionately is not always draining! Yet, merely surviving our roles as helpers or caregivers doesn’t cut it. The impacts of work-related compassion fatigue, AKA secondary traumatic stress, in child helping services are well documented and shown to play a major role in job turnover. So, what do we do? Come learn how to PRACTICE a new evidence-informed model for combating compassion fatigue and secondary trauma for ANY helper: Components for Enhancing Career Experience and Reducing Trauma (CE-CERT) – tools for guarding or reigniting your passion for your work.

Presented by Roy Van Tassel, M.S., LPC, Director Trauma and Evidence-Based Interventions, Centene

Introduction to Youth ThriveTM [5 CEUs]

  • Date: Tuesday, June 13
  • Time: 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  • Cost: $125 alone or $75 when added to conference registration.

Youth Thrive™ is a research-based approach that identifies protective and promotive factors to increase the likelihood that adolescents develop into healthy, thriving adults. This session will provide an introduction to Youth Thrive™ and cover select protective and promotive factors from the curriculum. TNOYS will offer the full curriculum in a distinct training series later this year. Youth Thrive™ is relevant to everyone who works with young people, including child welfare system administrators, caseworkers, and staff at private agencies and nonprofits. 

Presented by Sedoo Ijir, MPH, Program Manager, and Kennedy Huerta Quintanilla, Partnerships Manager, TNOYS

Commercial Sexual Exploitation-Identification Tool (CSE-IT) User Training [4 CEUs]

  • Date: Tuesday, June 13
  • Time: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • Cost: Free for annual conference registrants! Please note: This institute is only available to conference registrants.

The CSE-IT is a research-based screening tool that helps improve early identification of commercially sexually exploited youth (CSEY). The tool is appropriate for use by any provider serving youth, including child welfare workers, probation officers, mental health clinicians, and first responders. In Texas, CSE-IT is integrated within Lighthouse, an innovative software platform that enables users to complete screenings online and access and analyze CSE-IT data at any time. In this training, participants will become certified CSE-IT users and learn next steps to access and use the Lighthouse platform.

*Please note that this training does not meet the requirements for DFPS personnel.

Presented by Ann-Charlotte Proffitt, MPAff, Director of Practice, and Alex Polk, Program Coordinator, TNOYS