UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s third annual Conference on Child Protection and Well-Being is scheduled for May 5-6, 2014, at the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus. The two-day conference will focus on “Parenting, Family Processes and Intervention” and feature presentations and panel discussions from top researchers in the field.Speakers include internationally renowned experts in family studies and child maltreatment research. Four sessions will target an array of topics within the study of family processes and child maltreatment transmission, intervention and prevention.Conference organizer Douglas Teti, professor of human development, psychology and pediatrics, said he’s pleased with the amount of interest the event has received, and excited to get some of the “greatest minds in the field in one room to talk.”“We have a pretty impressive agenda lined up,” he said. “It’s going to be a great forum for discussion and learning from a variety of disciplinary directions.”Conference presenters include researchers, clinicians and practitioners from around the country who together will provide a wealth of knowledge on parent and family factors in child maltreatment.
The topics of the sessions are: (1) Child Maltreatment and Family Processes, (2) Intergenerational Transmission of Child Maltreatment, (3) Intervening with Maltreated Children and Their Families, and (4) Family-Focused Approaches to Preventing Child Maltreatment: Current Efforts, Future Directions.Public registration, the full agenda and other details on the conference will be released later this year.Launched in fall 2012 from a recommendation by the Presidential Task Force on Child Maltreatment, the Network on Child Protection and Well-Being is the driving force of the University’s academic activities in research, education and practice aimed at combating child maltreatment. The Network’s mission includes increasing awareness and evidence-based knowledge on the prevention, detection and treatment of child abuse.The Network will welcome the first three of at least 12 new hires who will bolster Penn State’s expertise in the area. Jennie Noll, who will speak at the conference, and Chad Shenk, both in human development and family studies, and Lori Frasier in pediatrics are the first recruits of the "cluster" hire. They will join the Penn State faculty this fall semester. Idan Shalev, assistant professor of biobehavioral health, will join the Network in the spring.The conference series will continue the Network’s efforts to target a range of issues pertaining to child maltreatment. On Sept. 25, 2013, Penn State’s second annual conference will bring together district attorneys, children and youth service professionals, law enforcement officials and medical professionals as well as Penn State faculty members to discuss “Protecting Pennsylvania’s Children by Building Multidisciplinary Investigative Teams/Child Advocacy Centers.”Last October, the University held its inaugural conference, which featured experts in child sexual abuse and child trauma research, prevention and treatment.