Opening remarks were delivered by the Attorney General of Ontario, the Honourable Chris Bentley

Closing remarks were provided by the Honourable Deb Matthews, Minister of Children and Youth Services and Minister Responsible for Women's Issues

2009 Margaret McCain Lecture

Ben Barry, C.E.O. of the Ben Barry Agency, delivered this year's Margaret McCain Lecture on April 24, 2009. Ben is the first ever male recipient of the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case and is author of Fashioning Reality: A New Generation of Entrepreneurship. As a teenager, he founded the first modelling agency in the world to represent models of all ages, sizes, backgrounds and abilities, thus challenging the status-quo beauty ideal.

The Adolescent Brain: Under Construction

Dr. Jean Clinton of McMaster University delivered the keynote address. Her special interest lies in the crucial role relationship and connectedness play in brain development. Neuro-scientific discoveries are helping us understand the changes in a teen brain. How will this new information improve our understanding of their behaviour? How can it inform decisions we make about them? Or what we say? Her entertaining and humourous presentation reminded us how the teenage brain is a work in progress. Equally as important, she linked this observation with concrete implications for prevention and intervention in youth mental health.

Permission Engagement: Lessons in a Digital World

With hundreds of channels, millions of websites and personalized communication platforms, youth can now effectively prevent adults from ever interrupting them again. And you can be sure that for most young people, most of the time, messages around mental wellness will be seen as an interruption if not delivered in a timely and relevant manner. Are you relevant? If the answer is no, you don't exist. This is just one of the lessons discovered by the mindyourmind.ca team, a grass roots, youth driven initiative, as they ventured out to create an online presence.

Representing the Mind Your Mind team was Heather Miko Kelly, Christine Garinger and Warren Brooks of Family Services Thames Valley.

Courting Justice: Youth Mental Health Diversion

The compassionate Mental Health Court team highlighted lessons learned on how a criminal court can offer more than merely sentences to those affected by mental illness, as they celebrate their first Anniversary. The process was described and two success stories shared. Speakers were Justice Deborah Livingstone, Assistant Crown Attorney Kenna Dalrymple, Mary Kay Arundel, the Centre's Youth Mental Health Court Worker, defence attorney Chris Dobson and probation officer Brian Shewfelt.

Brian Smegal of the Ministry of Children & Youth Services updated the participants on the on-going evaluation of 13 youth diversion pilot sites across Ontario. His PowerPoint presentation is provided here:

The Evolution of the Youth Mental Health Court Worker

Visions for Collaboration Moving us Forward

Everyone agrees collaboration across sectors is crucial. So what gets in the way and how can we move forward? Leaders known for their innovative approaches to collaboration will challenge us to think outside of the box and share their visions for how we can work more effectively together on behalf of youth with mental health challenges.

Gordon Boyd -- Director for Youth Justice Services, Ottawa Youth Service Bureau
Dr. Mary Broga, Vice-President of Family Mental Health, Windsor Regional Hospital
Bill Tucker -- Director of Education & Secretary, Thames Valley District School Board
Deputy Chief Brad Duncan -- Operations, London Police Service
Justice Deborah Livingstone -- Mental Health Court, London

Dr. Broga's PowerPoint presentation is provided here: Windsor Regional Hospital's Integrated Model of Care for Child Psychiatry

Public Premiere of LIFELINES

"Lifelines" is the story of a teenager struggling to make sense of himself and the world as he desperately tries to be all things to all people. The Forum Theatre technique actively engages students in recognizing and responding to peers. "Lifelines" was performed by a cast of teachers and students from the Thames Valley District School Board. Ms Toni Wilson, a Learning Coordinator at the TVDSB, is the creator / director of "Lifelines."

Full Conference Program

For more information on the speakers or the content of their talks, download and print the full conference program