The 2014 MN TRIAD Conference is Sept. 24-26 at Cragun's Resort, hosted by Aitkin, Cass and Itasca County TRIADs. TRIAD is a group of senior citizens, law enforcement and community groups working together to enhance senior safety. TRIAD is a state and national program.
This year, Trudy Gregorie is the keynote speaker; she will speak about responding to domestic violence in older adults. Gregorie has 25 years of experience in the crime victim services and criminal justice fields. She has also been featured on Oprah.
Ed Hutchison will be a special guest at the conference. Hutchison has been the National Sheriffs' Association's traffic safety director since 2004. He is also the program director for the National Association of TRIADs, Inc., an older adult safety community outreach program, which also addresses older driver issues.
The TRIAD program thrives with 640 TRIADs in 32 states and maintains approximately 17,000 volunteers nationwide. Hutchison will be involved in our TRIAD 101 and best practices sessions. For those who have not been to a TRIAD conference before, "best practices" is the foundation of the TRIAD conferences and provides an opportunity for seniors, law enforcement and senior providers to share and learn how various TRIAD groups are enhancing senior safety in their communities.
There will be several other presenters, including Mike Rothman, Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce. The conference will include sessions such as "Technology 101: How to Survive in Today's Age" and "Citizen Safety Awareness Training As We Age: Roundtable Discussion of In-Home Senior Services," featuring Angels of McGregor, Cass County Public Health, Itasca County Public Health and the Council on Aging. There will be a panel discussion on emergency preparedness and sheltering, featuring the emergency management directors from Aitkin, Cass and Itasca counties, Tony Guerra from Northland Red Cross and Roy Holmes from Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
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There are more than 23 counties in Minnesota with active TRIAD groups, and several more counties have expressed interest in starting a TRIAD program. Some of the benefits of TRIAD include bringing information on current crimes, frauds and scams to senior citizens; allowing law enforcement and senior citizens an opportunity to get to know each other; and senior citizens assisting law enforcement with extra "eyes and ears" in the community.
You do not have to be a current member of a TRIAD group to come to the conference. The conferences provide an opportunity to learn about what TRIAD is, to learn about issues that affect seniors and to meet senior citizens and law enforcement committed to the goal of making communities safer for senior citizens.
The area TRIAD groups worked to keep the cost of the three-day conference under $200, less if you are sharing a room or coming as a commuter.
For more information on TRIAD or the conference and to get a registration form, please contact Pauline Fahey at the Cass County Sheriff's Office at 218-547-7308 or pauline.fahey@co.cass.mn.us .
