The School of Social Work at Brigham Young University is hosting the First Annual Social Work Conference on Vulnerable Families and Children, sponsored by the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Endowed Chair in Social Work and the Social Sciences. The conference will be held Thursday and Friday, Nov. 9-10, at various locations within the Joseph F. Smith Building.
The conference is titled “Working Together to Combat Child Abuse: Legal and Systemic Responses to the Needs of Children and Families.”
The invited scholar will be Madelyn Freundlich, a former child protection worker, general counsel and director of child welfare services for the Child Welfare League of America, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and policy director for Childrens Rights Inc. She has developed and led many efforts to define best practices and to develop strong programs to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families.
The conference will also feature child welfare advocates from throughout the state, including the Honorable Kay A. Lindsay, 4th District Juvenile Court judge; Mark May, division chief of the Child Protection Unit of the Utah Attorney General’s Office; Kristin Brewer, director of the Office of Guardian ad Litem; and Duane Betournay, deputy director of Utah Child and Family Services.
Freundlich’s general lecture will take place Thursday at 11 a.m., followed later by a child welfare roundtable at 3 p.m. Both events will be in B-190 JFSB. There will be a student discussion Thursday at 10 a.m. in B-192 JFSB and a faculty research roundtable Friday at 9 a.m. in 2198 JFSB. The public is welcome to attend these events, and no preregistration is necessary.
Continuing education and continuing legal education credits are available. For more information, contact Jean Hawkins at (801) 422-7438, or e-mail jean_hawkins@byu.edu. For conference details, visit fhss.byu.edu/childwelfare.html.
Writer: Brooke Eddington
