May 6, 2005
Media Advisory
To: News Directors and News Editors
From: Veronika Avery, Assistant Director of Media Relations, 342-5444, vavery@ulm.edu

ULM Title IV-E Child Welfare Program Co-Sponsor 4th Annual Networking Conference

On April 1 the Louisiana Family Resource Centers Network and the University of Louisiana at Monroe Title IV-E Child Welfare Program sponsored the 4th Annual Networking Conference at the Holiday Inn Holidome in Monroe, La.

The conference included speakers such as Dr. Carol Spigner of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Spigner presented the keynote entitled Meeting the Challenge of Serving Children in the 21st Century and two breakout sessions entitled Working with Children in Placement and Cultural and Cultural Competence - A Critical Aspect of Child Welfare Practice.

Dr. Stephen Bavolek, founder/co-author of the Nurturing Program, Family Development Resources, Inc., presented the general session, Nurturing Parenting as a Strategy to Break the Cycles of Child Abuse and Neglect: Does it Really Make a Difference.

Other breakout sessions included Melody Breland and the Statewide Team of Families Helping Families who presented Working with Parents with Intellectual Disabilities and Tammie Slawson of the Domestic Violence Program who presented Walk in Her Shoes: Strategies to Break the Cycle of Domestic Violence. The last breakout sessions included Extra Miles of Lafayette's Lynda Carmouche, who presented Breaking the Cycle of Substance Abuse, and University of Louisiana at Monroe Social Work Professors Dr. Jenny Savage and Dr. Pamela Higgins-Saulsberry, who presented Tackling Disproportionality in Child Welfare.

The conference was approved by NASW and counted for 4.5 CEU credits for related professionals. Over 175 individuals from across the state attended.

For this and other ULM news online visit www.ulm.edu. While there, check out ULM's on-line calendar for all of ULM's upcoming events.

-ulm-