UWM Conference March 19 Focuses on Foster Care

MILWAUKEE - "Honoring the Real Heroes" is the title of the first annual conference honoring social work professionals held by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. The conference, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 19 at the Wyndham Milwaukee Center Hotel, 139 E. Kilbourn Ave., will focus on foster care and innovative solutions.

Persons interested in attending just the keynote address at a reduced fee are welcome. Those who would benefit from the conference include professionals from social work, criminal justice, government, service providers and nonprofit organizations. The conference is also targeted at foster parents, and students, faculty and staff from academic institutions.

Keynote speaker is David Pelzer, who will open the conference. Pelzer, who endured child abuse until placed in foster care at age 12, went on to great achievements, including the rare accomplishment of having four books simultaneously on the New York Times Best Sellers List. "David Pelzer is a man whose life was saved by a system that many ridicule as incompetent and ineffective," says James A. Blackburn, dean of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. "Throughout his presentation, Pelzer talks about how his life was saved by teachers, social workers, police officers, and the foster care system. He addresses those professionals who make a difference to our country's children every day, the `real heroes'."

In addition to Pelzer's talk, the conference includes a presentation by Generations of Hope in Rantoul, Ill. This 501-c-3 nonprofit corporation and licensed foster/adoption agency includes planned neighborhoods utilizing housing in Central Illinois. It extends the network of support around foster and adoptive families in new ways. The Hope Model engages older adults in the lives of children, with on-site professional services such as casework and therapy available.

Workshop topics include "Foster Care: Rescue or Despair" by Lucille Rosenberg, MD and David Whelan, Children's Service Society; "Policy Implications for Families and Children" by Judith-Rozie Battle, attorney and professor in the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare; "The Role of Community-Based/Wraparound Approaches in Assisting Children and Youth" by Vera Pina, consultant specializing in community-based approaches, family-based services, cultural competency and system reform; and "Shared Family Conferencing (SFC) Program" by Rebecca Jacobi, who improves care to families through effective collaboration and team building with service providers, community resources and family members.

A total of 0.7 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are awarded for the entire day. CEUs will be mailed four to six weeks after the program. Please contact Linda Czernicki at (414) 229-6329 with questions regarding continuing education, or for registration and fee information.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Equivalency Clock Hour Program is utilized to enable a participant holding a DPI License to earn equivalency clock hours for license renewal. Forms for the DPI Equivalency Clock Hour Program will be available at the event.

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