Inform USA Webinar Series - Mental Health Awareness Month

John Plonski has over 26 years experience in the fields of Crisis/Suicide Intervention and Information and Referral on local, state, and national levels using a person-centered approach to assist consumers with varied needs, diverse backgrounds and inexperience with the social service system. His 20 years of employment at Covenant House Nineline, and prior experience as a volunteer at a local crisis intervention hotline gives him an insight into the unique needs of both professional and volunteer staff. John has created comprehensive training curricula, seminars and workshops for developing and established organizations that address agency and staff development as well as emerging needs, technologies and issues. He has presented at the national, state and local levels as well as internationally, as witnessed by a recent training for the Child Helpline in Tirana, Albania. John’s value as a trainer is that he trains not only the methods and processes of a task but also explains the reasons for those methods. This leads to a fuller understanding by the trainees helping them to feel confident in their abilities to apply what was taught. John is currently working as a consultant/trainer. He is a member of the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (AIRS) board, the AIRS/United Way 2-1-1 Disaster Response Team, past President of the New York State Alliance of Information and Referral Systems (NYSAIRS).