UMaine Child Welfare Conference April 17 Seeks Permanency for Foster Children
Contact: Nancy Kelly, (207) 581-2378; George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO –The University of Maine School of Social Work and the Community Child Welfare Conference Committee is inviting people who work with children in child welfare systems to attend the 14th Annual Child Welfare Conference, Thursday, April 17, at the Buchanan Alumni House on the Orono campus.
This year’s conference, “Seeking Creative Solutions for Permanency: A Focus on Complex Trauma and Related Challenges,” features keynote speaker Lynn Sanford, LICSW, an author and faculty member at Simmons College Graduate School of Social Work with extensive field experience working with survivors of sexual assault and children with sexual behavior problems.
The title of Sanford’s talk is “Are You My Mother? Multiple Placement Disruption in the Lives of Children.”
The conference is designed for social service professionals, educators, nurses, law enforcement personnel, foster parents, adoptive parents, residential care providers, medical professionals and caregivers. It is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A $65 conference fee includes lunch.
A panel discussion, “Broadening the Definition of Permanency: The Permanency Continuum,” includes Heather Lahti, LCSW, Maine deputy director, Casey Family Services; Carolyn Morrison, LCSW, National Indian Child Welfare Association consultant; Virginia S. Marriner, director of policy and practice, Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS); Barbara Kates, director, Maine Kids-Kin and Family and Children Together; Robin Whitney, assistant program administrator, Office of Child and Family Services, DHHS; and a child and prospective parent.
The Community Child Welfare Conference Committee is an interdisciplinary collaborative of community professionals including medical, law enforcement and social service professionals from Eastern Maine Medical Center, Casey Family Services, Penobscot Community Health, Bangor Police Department, Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, Community Care, DHHS and the Office of Child and Family Services, and the University of Maine School of Social Work. Additionally, the conference has been financially supported this year by Casey Family Services.
For more information or to register please call (207) 581-2398 or email rarnold@maine.edu.