Social Work Conference to Promote Better Future for Children
JONESBORO — Creative minds will convene to increase awareness of the challenges faced by children and adolescents and to promote a better future for them at a conference hosted by Arkansas State University’s Department of Social Work. The conference is Friday, March 17, in the Carl R. Reng Student Union, 101 N. Caraway Road.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the conference runs from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. The cost is $75 for social work professionals, $25 for social work faculty, $15 for students, field supervisors, IV-E, foster parents and Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Lunch is provided in the registration fee.
Victor Vieth, founder and senior director for the Gunderson National Child Protection Training Center, will be the keynote speaker at 8:45 a.m. His topic is “Unto the Third Generation: A Call to End Child Abuse in Three Generations.”
Vieth is nationally recognized in the field of interpersonal violence. He trains child protection professionals across the nation on child abuse investigation, prosecution, and prevention, and has been instrumental in implementing 22 state and international forensic interview training programs.
Break-out sessions will feature the following topics: trauma informed practice, substance abuse treatment with adolescents, adolescent eating disorders, LGBTQ and youth, children with incarcerated parents, child abuse and neglect, clinical treatment with clients under four, and corporal punishment. This workshop will provide tools to assist clinicians in providing effective services that will promote a better future for child and adolescent clients.
Morning session leaders include Dr. Jody Long, Ph.D. and Carol Williams, “Adolescents with Eating Disorders”; Kim Whitman, MidSouth Health Systems, “Trauma Informed Practice with Children;” Lori Poston, MidSouth Health Services, director of children’s services, “Substance Abuse Treatment with Adolescents”; and Kristy Nichols, director of Northeast Arkansas Child Advocacy Center and Taylor Davis, A-State BSW student, “Child Abuse Prevention.”
Afternoon session leaders are Whitman, “Clinical Treatment of Tiny Clients (under four years old)”; Dr. Greg Smith, UA-Little Rock MidSouth Training Academy and Prevention Institute projectors coordinator, “Meeting the Needs of LGBT Youth”; DeeAnn Newell, founder and executive director Arkansas Voices for Children, “Children and Youth Left Behind by Incarcerated Parents”; Dr. Karen Farst, pediatrician, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and director of child abuse and neglect team, “Medical Evaluation of Child Abuse and Recognition and Response”; and Peggy Goodwin, “Brain Based Therapy with Children—Healing from Trauma.”
Matthew Knight, director of education, MidSouth Health Systems, will close out the conference by addressing “Living Your Best Life—Legacy.”
For additional information, contact Dr. Evi Taylor by phone at (870) 972-3984 or through email at etaylor@AState.edu.
