Battlemind to Home Summit

Program Overview

Overview & RegistrationAgendaCEUs & CLEsSponsorshipScholarships

The Battlemind to Home Summit for 2021 was in October. Please check back in spring 2022 for information about our next event.

The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP), Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, Indiana National Guard, Indiana State Bar Association, and Roudebush VA Medical Center, are pleased to present the 12th annual Battlemind to Home Summit. This year’s conference will be held virtually via the Whova conference platform (accessible via app or desktop).

Preconference: October 25 ($25)

Participants can choose from three preconference sessions:

Search for Meaning: Addressing Moral and Spiritual Injury Related to Trauma for behavioral health & faith-based professions
Suicide Prevention: Coming Out of Quarantine Ready for Action for community members & beginning health care providers
An Overview of VA and Military Benefits for Elder Law Attorneys and VA Accredited Representatives for those in the legal profession

Conference: October 26 ($45)

The Battlemind to Home Summit brings together a variety of experts each year to inform and educate Indiana professionals on the critical issues facing military-connected families in Indiana’s communities. Our goal for this conference is to help reduce reintegration barriers for veterans, service members and their families. We work to educate attendees on the challenges military-connected families face, and also the opportunities and strengths they bring to our communities.

Throughout the event, attendees can virtually network within and across communities, learn about shared issues, and develop action plans to apply at home. They will leave Battlemind empowered and motivated to create community change.

Four Tracks

MFRI uses a collaborative approach to plan and execute this event. With nationally-recognized experts in all fields, Battlemind presents evidence-informed sessions that address many sensitive and cutting-edge topics. Past summit sessions have covered issues such as suicide, moral injury and community mobilization. Battlemind 2021 will feature an expanded faith track, as well as community, legal and mental health.

Join the Conversation

Find out more information about Battlemind on social media by following MFRI on Twitter using #battlemindIN and liking MFRI on Facebook.

Whova Conference Platform

The 2021 Battlemind to Home Summit will be hosted virtually via the Whova conference platform (accessible via app or desktop computer). For more information, view the Whova App User Guide.

Agenda

Oct. 25, 2021, 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Preconference Sessions

Search for Meaning: Addressing Moral and Spiritual Injury Related to Trauma
A holistic approach to trauma requires consideration and treatment based on a bio-psycho-social-spiritual framework. Observations while treating victims of trauma have revealed that the spiritual component is often left untreated. The result of proven psychotherapies in the treatment of trauma, especially evidence-based therapies, has established clear results in reducing common symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, many patients communicate that “something still isn’t right.” The “Search for Meaning” protocol has shown through research that when the spiritual component is treated the individual reports improvement in symptoms, a sense of inner healing and personal peace.
- Clyde Angel
- John Sullivan, Adjunct Professor (retired), University of Indianapolis
- Vincent Starnino, Associate Professor, IUPUI School of Social Work
Suicide Prevention: Coming Out of Quarantine Ready for Action
This preconference session will provide attendees with actionable items for themselves and their organization in addressing suicide prevention for the military-connected population. We will discuss current movements in the state, both from the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction and from the Joining Community Forces Suicide Prevention Working Group. Participants will also receive S.A.V.E.: VA Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training training.
- Sylvia Maixner, Indiana State Coordinator, Building Healthy Military Communities
An Overview of VA and Military Benefits for Elder Law Attorneys and VA-Accredited Representatives
This continuing legal education (CLE) qualifies for the mandatory education credits in VA Law as required by the VA Office of General Counsel for acquiring and maintaining VA representative accreditation. The topics covered include VA benefits in general, including an overview of the VA health care system, eligibility requirements relating to service, disability, marriage, income, net worth, improper transfers, how to file an application for benefits, diagnostic codes, the agent orange presumptive disabilities, how to calculate the combined rating, special monthly compensation, CUE claims, attorney fees, the details on how to rate musculoskeletal disabilities, analogous rating, standards of review, overview of the appeals process after the administrative level (court review), and Gulf War syndrome. It is important to note that there is some advance work required for this three-hour CLE to count for accreditation; additional information about the VA accreditation process is listed below: To represent veterans before the Department of Veterans Affairs, you must be accredited by the VA. Accreditation is a two-step process: (1) Complete VA Form 21a, attaching any necessary documents to the form when you submit it; and (2) complete 3 hours of qualifying CLE. To complete the process, you must complete the application and receive accreditation prior to taking the accreditation CLE. This application process could take several months, so we recommend you start the process now. To learn about the accreditation process visit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.
But the older a girl gets, the further she goes from the democratic simplicity of street dating. At sixteen, she can still believe that bedpage princes on white horses ride along the sidewalks, looking for their betrothed, at nineteen, these illusions leave the final zilch, and at twenty-five.
- Polli Pollem, Military Assistance Project Director, Indiana Legal Services, Inc.
- Andrew Rutz, Lawyer, Law Office of Andrew R. Rutz, LLC
- Connie Bauswell

Oct. 26, 2021

8:15 a.m.	Welcome Hon. Justice Steven H. David, Justice, Indiana Supreme Court
8:45	Morning Plenary Session Hon. Justice Steven H. David, Justice, Indiana Supreme Court Laura E. Ruzick, MBA, Executive Director, Richard L. Roudebush VAMC, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Brigadier General Timothy J. Winslow, Indiana National Guard, Director of the Joint Staff
9:30	Virtual Exhibitors Visits
9:45	Breakout One
	Session #1: Pain Science 101: The Top Five Things You Should Know About Pain Rebeccah Martin, Persistent Pain Physical Therapist, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center This presentation will cover five key characteristics of pain, based on up-to-date clinical evidence with explanations and recommendations for how to best treat persistent pain.
	Session #2: Community Q&A: Follow-up Discussion & Overview with Morning Plenary Panelists Laura E. Ruzick, MBA, Executive Director, Richard L. Roudebush VAMC, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Dennis Wimer, Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs Brigadier General Timothy J. Winslow, Indiana National Guard, Director of the Joint Staff Panelists from the morning plenary session provide an opportunity for attendees to explore in greater depth the answers to the questions posed during the plenary. Taking a deeper look at how the state level agencies have evolved and supported service members, veterans and their families during this time.
	Session #3: Combat Veteran Family Reintegration: Overviewing Treatment Through the Family Support Center (FSC) and Warrior to Soul Mate (W2SM) Program Lorrie Neuberg, Director of Training, Marriage Family Therapy & Program Director, Family Support Center and Warrior to Soul Mate, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center This session will include three case presentations of families who have been served through the Family Support Center and will include issues that were addressed in their treatment, including reintegration issues, how PTSD affects the family system, and how W2SM modules may be used to help facilitate communication and assist with family adjustment. The FSC was created to provide an easier way for veteran couples and families to get services. The mission is to help renew, restore and reconnect veterans with their families by providing couple/family therapy services with an ease of access to holistic care and family systems trained professionals. Recognizing specific needs, our licensed marriage and family therapists and chaplains have created Warrior to Soul Mate (W2SM) program workshops. The Warrior to Soul Mate program is supported by the Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (PAIRS) curriculum that has been very effective over the past few years. The W2SM program was created in 2011 and have already worked with hundreds of veterans couples to help improve their communication abilities and help sustain loving, lasting, intimate relationships. Our instructors, educators and clinicians conduct the communication workshops and retreats. The facilitators come from a variety of health care practice areas and have been certified as PAIRS-trained instructors.
	Session #4: Evictions in Indiana and the Impact of COVID-19 Brandon Beeler, Director, Housing Law Center, Indiana Legal Services, Inc. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana was in the midst of an eviction crisis. Many Indiana cities, including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and South Bend, had some of the highest eviction rates in the nation. The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on Hoosier renters, especially low-income tenants. This presentation will provide a substantive overview of Indiana’s landlord-tenant law, including a summary of the various eviction moratoria that were implemented throughout COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will also be provided information about resources available to tenants, including emergency rental assistance, as well as highlighting various programs and opportunities to provide support to tenants facing eviction.
	Session #5: Stack Up Session – Veteran Gaming and Suicide Prevention Dave Crouse, Stack Up Zach Kenny Guerilla Mental Health: How we snuck a crisis intervention program into our online gaming community. Overview of Stack Up, discussion the creation of Overwatch program and wrap with noteworthy results from the research project with JHU/CDC. There will be time afterward for Q&A.
10:55	Breakout Two
	Session #1: A Holistic, Bio-psycho-social-spiritual, Recovery Oriented Approach the Treatment of Serious Mental Illness Donna Ames Dr. Ames will outline the role of a recovery oriented, holistic bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach to the treatment of mental illness. She will detail how recovery planning is suicide prevention. She will review the development of her holistic approach that she implements with patients in the time constraints of a busy outpatient clinic. She will also review the importance of the importance of identifying moral injury and treating it with spiritually integrated treatments. Moral injury may be linked to suicidality. Partnering with chaplains and faith based leaders in the community may be important in the prevention of suicide and in the recovery from mental illness of veterans.
	Session #2: Overcoming Barriers to Care for Rural Veterans Thomas Klobuchar, Executive Director, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health (ORH) Rural veterans face numerous challenges in accessing health care that their urban counterparts do not, including provider shortages, transportation challenges, and a lack of broadband coverage. Dr. Thomas Klobucar, executive director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Office of Rural Health (ORH), will discuss some of the health care challenges facing rural veterans and review VA efforts to help rural veterans overcome these obstacles.
	Session #3: Building Spiritual Resilience Curtis Solomon, Co-Founder, Solomon SoulCare Resilience is an aspect of each person’s experience that influences how they respond to, process, and recover from the difficulties of life. These difficulties range in severity from minor trials to potentially traumatic events. Every aspect of a person’s being contributes to one’s resilience. This seminar will examine how one’s beliefs, spiritual practices, and faith community can contribute to one’s overall resilience.
	Session #4: Success Stories from Veterans Treatment Court – Hearing from the Veterans Themselves Phil Turner, Veterans Justice Outreach, Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University Steven Mennemeyer This session provides stories of Indiana veterans who have had successfully completed their official phases of the veterans treatment court process. Through a series of short interviews, hear from different veterans about their experiences and challenges. Veterans share how they overcame their difficulties and are on the road to recovery.
	Session #5: Veterans Treatment Courts – Legal Perspective Sean Persin, Tippecanoe Circuit Court Daniel Moore, Judge, Tippecanoe Superior Court No. 7 Two veterans treatment court judges will share with participants the legal aspect of veterans treatment courts in Indiana.
12:00 p.m.	Keynote Speaker: Faith, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Harold Koenig, Founder & Director, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, Duke University Dr. Koenig will examine the latest research examining the connections between faith and mental health, with a focus on suicide prevention.
12:45	Eats & Exhibitors Exploration
1:15	Breakout Three
	Session #1: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the Veteran Population Melanie Lobraco, Psy.D., Psychologist, Trauma Recovery, Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center Within the veteran population, 12% suffer from PTSD versus 6% in the general population. The VA faces an on-going challenge to help these veterans on their various military-related traumas by using the strongest evidence-based therapies. We will focus on how to work with this special population through narrative and exposure work to get our veterans back to fully living. Differences within the PTSD presentation of veterans versus civilians will be clarified through case examples.
	Session #2: Lessons Learned in Managing Money – Post-Pandemic Mark Fiddler, Indiana National Guard, Financial Counselors Amy Foley Bayliff We have faced many challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic and there have been many lessons learned in personal finance that will make us financially ready no matter what comes next. Knowing your cash flow, having adequate emergency savings, minimizing debt, managing credit, investment strategies, using technology, understanding tax implications and accepting help when needed are all valuable tools to have in your resource kit.
	Session #3: VA Center to Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP) and VA Chaplain Services Conrad Washington, Director, VA Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiative (CFOI), Department of Veterans Affairs Rev. Bruce “Michael” Osladil VA Center to Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP) will focus on developing a veterans ministry or welcome center. VA Chaplain Services will focus on state supports for faith leaders working with veterans.
	Session #4: Bankruptcy Nuts & Bolts Rod Bohannan, Staff Attorney, Indiana Legal Services, Inc. Should you or your client consider filing for bankruptcy? General understanding as to the Nuts and bolts to filing a bankruptcy case.
	Session #5: After 20 Years of War: Reflections from the Veteran Community Kelly Finn Störmer, Executive Director, Combined Arms Institute In this breakout session you will learn about the reflections from the veteran and special immigrant visa (SIV) community immediately after the fall of Kabul and after two decades of war. Listen, learn and ask questions around what those reactions have been, how you can continue to support the veteran/military family community and what the military community is doing to welcome our new refugee neighbors moving to communities across the nation.
2:15	Virtual Exhibitors Visits
2:30	Keynote Speaker: Remember Who You Are – How I found my purpose, but I almost lost my life Mary Tobin
3:30	Opportunities & Action Sylvia Maixner, Indiana State Coordinator, Building Healthy Military Communities Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Director, Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University Rena Sterrett, Senior Community Outreach Specialist, Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University This is a culminating session focusing on revisiting the questions posed in the plenary session and bringing together ideas, discussion and ways to move the Battlemind attendees forward towards common goals in the State of Indiana for the coming year.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Please view the instructions. To receive CEUs you must create an account with the VA Talent Management System (TMS) no later than Oct. 24. If you fail to do so, you will not be eligible to receive CEUs for your attendance at Battlemind to Home Summit. If you have questions regarding CEUs, please email Chad Gallien at Chad.Gallien@va.gov.

Continuing Legal Education Units (CLEs)

7 hours of CLE are available for the following legal-related sessions:

Preconference Session #3: An Overview of VA and Military Benefits for Elder Law Attorneys and VA-Accredited Representatives (3 hours)
Breakout One Session #4: Evictions in Indiana and the Impact of COVID 19 (1 hour)
Breakout Two Session #5: Veterans Treatment Courts – A Legal Perspective (1 hour)
Breakout Three Session #4: Bankruptcy Nuts & Bolts (1 hour)
Pre-recorded sessions: Issues in Family Law (1 hour)

For more information, please contact Paul Schilling at paul.j.schilling@gmail.com.

Join Our Team

Help military and veteran families!

Individuals: If you are interested in supporting others at Battlemind, you can sponsor a scholarship (see below). For more information, please contact Kathy Broniarczyk.
- Scholarship: You can assist those who are unable to attend due to financial constraints by sponsoring a scholarship, which covers the cost of one attendee. Help provide critical training to those who work directly with military and veteran families, and equip service providers with current evidence-based information.
Organizations: Organizations can give in a variety of ways in support of military and veteran families.

In-kind and additional sponsorship opportunities are available upon request. Thank you for your interest in supporting Battlemind to Home Summit. We look forward to your participation.

Benefits	Bronze $100-250	Silver $251-500	Gold $501-1000	Platinum $1001+
Customizable space on the exhibitor page on conference app	X	X	X	X
Rotating banner ad on exhibitor page	X	X	X	X
Rotating banner ad on home and agenda page			X	X
Virtual attendance for one staff member	X	X
Virtual attendance for two staff members			X	X
Sponsorship level social media post two times prior to event and once day of	X	X
Individual social media post two times prior to event and once day of			X
Individual social media post three times prior to event and once day of				X
Inclusion on press release			X	X
Sponsorship of keynote speaker session (verbal recognition and video/slide)				X
Breakout session sponsor – sponsorship slide in presentation		X
Breakout session sponsor – sponsorship slide in presentation and 30 sec video			X	X

Colonel Roger Peterman Scholarship

For the fourth year, we are giving one scholarship in honor of Colonel Roger Peterman. He served on the planning committee of Battlemind from its inaugural year until his retirement in 2017. Colonel Peterman served in the Indiana National Guard for over 33 years. He continued to give back to his state by serving on the boards of several organizations and through his position as a transition assistance advisor. The Peterman scholarship will be given to a first-time Battlemind attendee who is actively involved in serving the military and veteran population in their communities. Service members, veterans, and their families will be given preference for this scholarship.

Martina Sternberg Community Mobilization Scholarship

For the third year, we will be honoring Martina Sternberg with Community Mobilization Scholarships. Martina was an Air Force veteran and an integral part of building the Battlemind to Home Summit into the collaborative success it is today. During Martina’s time at MFRI, she led the community mobilization and Stand Down efforts. These scholarships will be given to a person who is actively involved in their local community mobilization meetings and activities within that group.

Scholarship applications have closed for 2021. Check back to learn more about the recipients.