Each conference presentation runs between 75 and 90 minutes:

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Is There A Minimal Standard of Care - considers a question of enduring interest in the light of common child welfare practices and family support policies. 

 

Depression, Trauma and Child Welfare - outlines the connection between and among depression, PTSD and other trauma symptoms and powerlessness. Describes engagement practices and the importance of an empowerment framework in working with trauma victims. 

 

Poverty and Child Welfare - explores the relationship between and among child poverty, destitution of families, substance abuse, mental health conditions, domestic violence and various types of child maltreatment. The relationship between chronic neglect and poverty is emphasized. 

 

Critical Thinking in Child Welfare - provides an overview of critical thinking and its application to child welfare, summarizes Daniel Kahneman's account of automatic thinking and deliberate thinking, and discusses ways of combating confirmation bias, halo effect and other heuristic biases. Describes pattern recognition and explains how intuition can become a source of expertise with child welfare specific examples.

 

Foster Care Outcomes: Does Foster Care Help or Hurt Children? - summarizes a varied and complex body of research on a contentious subject with an emphasis on research conducted with samples from the National Study of Child and Adolescent Well Being (NSCAW).  

 

Moving Children from Home to Home - outlines practices that minimize harm to children resulting from placement in foster care and placement disruptions. 

 

Understanding Chronic Neglect - explores the differences between and among situational neglect, sporadic neglect, chronic neglect and chronic maltreatment, i.e., the combination of abuse and neglect. Summarizes research regarding the effects of neglect on child development. Offers recommendation for assessment and case planning practices needed to meet ye challenge of chronic neglect. 

 

Planning for Safe Reunification - summarizes research regarding reunification, re-entry into care, and practices that increase safe and stable reunification's. Discusses post reunification services, in home safety planning, concurrent planning and criteria for assessing the safety of reunification following lengthy foster care placements. 

 

Preventing Secondary Trauma and Burnout - discusses the relationship between mood disorders, burnout and secondary trauma in child welfare. Offers strategies for preventing secondary trauma and burnout and recovery from these conditions. Describes the parallels between the hopeless/ helpless attitudes of many chronically referring families and the demoralization of the child welfare workforce. Discusses the sources of resilience for child welfare practitioners. 

 

The Foster Care Recruitment and Retention Crisis - describes the effects of chronic and acute shortages of foster homes on placement practices. Explains why foster parent recruitment campaigns are usually ineffective. Advocates for development of a cadre of professional foster parents.