Making Connections Grant Coordinator at Sinai Health System
Art Shanks’ long term goal is to support marginalized populations dealing with familial mental illness.
Shanks completed his Masters of Arts in social work at the University of Chicago in Spring 2016 and began working with Youth Guidance’s Becoming A Man program. He has benefited from training received at Mount Sinai’s Outpatient Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Clinic, Y.O.U. Evanston as well as from the at University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.
From July 2013 to June of 2014 Shanks worked with Native American youth from various reservations in the state of South Dakota. It was his privilege to work toward providing them with a nurturing environment where they could grow.
In the past Shanks has worked to help implement restorative practices in innovative ways in several Chicago Public Schools. From September 2010 to August 2011 he provided trainings in restorative practices to over 250 students and CPS staff, while also directing and advising two schools’ restorative justice programs. He to created and implemented a leadership program/curriculum for high school students and helped students formulate a survey to gauge the impact of online social networking in conflicts at their school, and afterwards create a workshop/lesson plan to educate students on the pitfalls and opportunities of having an online presence.