Voinovich School to host statewide prevention and recovery conference

Ohio University preparing to welcome nearly 500 attendees

June 22, 2015

Nearly 500 prevention and recovery professionals from throughout Ohio will soon visit Athens as the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs hosts the Ohio Promoting Wellness & Recovery (OPEC) Conference, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS), June 29 – July 2, 2015 at Ohio University Baker Center.

“Building Resiliency and Hope through Collective Impact” is the theme of the 26th Annual OPEC Conference. The goal of the conference is to promote collective impact through building the capacity of Ohio’s prevention, early intervention and treatment workforce for children, families and communities through continuing education.

“We are excited to welcome the OPEC Conference to Ohio University. Through a strong relationship with OhioMHAS, the Voinovich School has worked collaboratively to offer a significant amount of diverse program material and sessions by national thought leaders to provide amazing resources to help our local communities deal with issues of prevention and recovery,” Dr. Holly Raffle, Voinovich School assistant professor, said.

The OPEC Conference will offer six subject matter tracks this year, with more than 60 sessions, including: early childhood mental health, adolescent and transition-aged youth, prevention, collective impact, youth development and cultural competency. New this year, the focus on collective impact will offer several sessions with national speakers Paul Evensen and Rhonda Molina from Community Systems Group in Missouri.

Ohio University’s own delfin bautista, director of the LGBT Center at OHIO, will be featured in the Cultural Competency track, focused on creating a more welcoming, safe and inclusive environment that contributes to improved health care quality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and their families.

The conference, traditionally held in Central Ohio, has shifted to Athens this year in order to expand the outreach to other areas of the state. To accommodate organizations on a limited budget, the conference registration fee has been held to $100 for the four days, and participants are offered an opportunity to stay in the residence halls on campus for an additional fee.

For information about the conference, visit opecconference.com or follow the conference on Twitter @OPECConference / #OPEC15.