Twenty-Fifth Annual IUN Forum on Child Abuse
& Neglect
Crazy About Kids: Strategies and Initiatives
Friday, April 24, 2015 ~ 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM (Central Time)
Bergland (Savannah Center) Auditorium ~ Indiana University Northwest
Live at http://www.indiana.edu/~video/stream/liveflash.html?filename=2015 Child_Abuse_Forum
8:15 – 9:00 Pre-Registrant Sign In/On-Site Registration – Continental breakfast available – Networking
9:00 Welcome and Introduction – Elizabeth Guzman-Arredondo, St. Monica Home
Marshelia Harris, IUN School of Social Work
Chancellor William Lowe (or representative), Indiana University Northwest
9:15 Keynote Address – Ms. Sandra Alexander - Essentials for Childhood: Assuring safe, stable, and
nurturing relationships and environments for children
10:45-12:00 Breakout Session I
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Sandra Alexander – Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Impacts and Implications
Dennis Rittenmeyer and panel – Are We Crazy About our Kids?
Sandy Runkle – Child Abuse 102: The Impact of Domestic Violence on Young Children
Abigail Kuzma – Human Trafficking 101: Myths, Facts, and our Community Response
Laura Wynn – Parenting: The Balancing Act
*Anne Mitchell – Suicide Prevention / Safe Talk
*Ellen Hennessey-Harstad – Child Neglect: Identification and Early Intervention
12:00 Lunch Break / Networking
1:00-2:15 Breakout Session II
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Judge Thomas Stefaniak and panel – Lake County Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative
Sandy Runkle – Bullying and Peer Aggression: Notes and Prevention Strategies
Amy Douglass and Tom Branson – Confronting Childhood PTSD: A Discussion
Natalie Lukich – Options and Opportunities for LGBTQ+ Youth
Sexual Assaults and Indiana Teens
* Dr. Ruby Roy – Identifying Child Abuse
*--Indicates a session designed for nurses but open to all
2:30
Closing Plenary [Bergland (Savannah Center) Auditorium]
Presentation of Prevent Child Abuse Lake County’s (PCALC) Annual
Dr. Richard W. Hug Cherish the Children Award
Closing Address – Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura -- The Indiana Department of Child Services:
Updates and New Initiatives
4:00
Adjourn
This is an IUN School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) Public Service Month event.
Program Notes ~ Twenty-Fifth Annual IUN Forum on Child Abuse and Neglect
Keynote Speaker
Sandra Alexander
Sandra P. Alexander, M. Ed., is a Subject Matter Expert in Child Maltreatment in the Division of Violence
Prevention (DVP), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. She has provided leadership for DVP's Knowledge to Action Child Maltreatment
Prevention Consortium and Essentials for Childhood initiative and as the subject matter expert on a crossdivision Shaken Baby Prevention Initiative. Currently she is co-leading the Essentials for Childhood Initiative.
She represents CDC on other national child maltreatment initiatives including the Federal Interagency Child
Maltreatment Workgroup and the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation. She is
a member of the Prevent Child Abuse America Program/Research Committee, the Prevent Child Abuse
Georgia Advisory Committee and Co-chair of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
Prevention Committee, and also served as a former chair and is currently the prevention advocate on the
Fulton County Child Fatality Review Committee. She has developed numerous prevention programs
including shaken baby prevention, provided training on prevention nationally and internationally, and served
as a prevention voice for local and national media. She has prior experience in child protective services,
adoption and foster care, and non-profit management experience as Executive Director of two Prevent Child
Abuse America state chapters: Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina and Prevent Child Abuse Georgia. Ms.
Alexander also served as a board president of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children,
from 2000-2001.
Closing Plenary Speaker
Mary Beth Bonaventura
Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura is well-known to the IUN Forum audience. As Senior Judge of the Juvenile
Division of Lake Superior Court she has made presentations at the Forum since the 1990s. Having attained a
national reputation in the juvenile justice field, Judge Bonaventura was appointed Director of the Indiana
Department of Child Services in the spring of 2013 by Governor Mike Pence. Judge Bonaventura, a life-long
Lake County resident, was born in East Chicago. She received her undergraduate degree from Marian
University in Indianapolis and her Juris Doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb,
Illinois.
Co-Sponsors
Prevent Child Abuse Lake County (PCALC) ~ Mental Health America of Lake County ~ Lake Area United Way
NWI AHEC ~ The Villages ~ Early Learning Partnership of NWI ~ Indiana Department of Child Services
IUN School of Public and Environmental Affairs ~ IUN School of Social Work ~ IUN School of Nursing
PUC School of Nursing ~ Ivy Tech School of Nursing ~ Sigma Theta Tau ~ Geminus Community Partners
St. Monica Home of Franciscan St. Margaret Health ~ The Indiana Kids First Trust Fund ~ The Lake County
CASA Program ~ IUN Center for Urban and Regional Excellence
Breakout Session I – 10:45 AM to 12 Noon
1. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Impacts and Implications
Sandra Alexander, Keynote speaker (see other titles and biography above)
This workshop will review the ACE studies and what the data from these studies tell us about the
public health impact of adverse childhood experiences on early learning and brain development,
health and high risk behaviors, performance in the workplace, as well as the impact on business,
employers and the community. Examples of how states are using their ACE data to inform
prevention policy and strategies will be highlighted.
2. Are We Crazy About our Kids?
Dennis Rittenmeyer, Executive Director -- One Region
Former Calumet College President Dennis Rittenmeyer will chair a distinguished panel of early
childhood specialists and public officials in viewing and discussing Are We Crazy About Our Kids, a
PBS/Raising of America documentary highlighting the lack of funding for early childhood education
and stating the powerful economic case for change.
3. Child Abuse 102: The Impact of Domestic Violence on Young Children
Sandy Runkle, Program Specialist – Prevent Child Abuse Indiana
This session focuses on the consequences of violence, specifically domestic violence, on children.
Topics include how to respond to disclosures from children, how to integrate and adapt prevention
activities, and how to incorporate national standards for prevention of abuse and neglect into human
service programming.
4. Human Trafficking 101: Myths, Facts, and our Community Response
Abigail Kuzma, Deputy Attorney General and Co-chair, Indiana Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force
(IPATH)
This session provides an introduction to the issue of human trafficking including its definition and
scope, vulnerability factors for victims, indicators of possible trafficking, how to identify and report,
and notes on a responsible community response.
5. Parenting: The Balancing Act
Laura Smith-Wynn, Executive Director – Indiana Parenting Institute
This session provides balancing tips and strategies for child welfare professionals – for themselves and
for the families they serve. Topics include notes on avoiding burnout and methods for keeping
parental stress from affecting children.
6. *Suicide Prevention / Safe Talk
Anne Mitchell, Coordinator of Nursing Student Services – Indiana University Northwest
This session, designed for nurses but also applicable to other human service professionals, will
address a variety of issues related to suicide prevention including how to identify persons at risk, how
to talk to them, and how to connect them to the appropriate intervention resources.
7. *Child Neglect: Identification and Early Intervention
Ellen Hennessey-Harstad, Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing -- Indiana University Northwest
This session, designed for nurses but available to other professionals, addresses the issue of child
neglect identification in the medical context. Topics include indicators of neglect, professional
responsibilities, techniques for early intervention and referral resources.
Breakout Session II – 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
8. The Lake County Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI)
Thomas P. Stefaniac, Jr., Senior Judge -- Lake Superior Court, Juvenile Division
Judge Stefaniac will lead a panel of local officials in a discussion of the progress made in the County’s
Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. JDAI focuses on ways to decrease the numbers of juvenile
detentions without sacrificing public safety. Panelists include JDAI Coordinator Joann Price, Chief of
Probation Diane Weiss-Bradley, Truancy Coordinator Ann Vasquez, and Prosecutor Kathy Guzek.
9. Bullying and Peer Aggression: Notes and Prevention Strategies
Sandy Runkle, Prevention Specialist – Prevent Child Abuse Indiana
This session reviews basic concepts and definitions of bullying and peer aggression as well as Indiana
laws and policies related to bullying. Topics include the various forms of bullying and cyberbullying;
the effects of bullying on children; and prevention strategies for schools, parents, and the community
at large.
10. Confronting Childhood PTSD: A Discussion
Tom Branson, Project Director – Lake County Violence Intervention Program (VIP)
This session features the showing of the powerful PBS/Raising of America documentary, Wounded
Places: Confronting Childhood PTSD in America’s Shell-Shocked Cities. Mr. Branson and a local mental health
professional trained in trauma-informed care will give their reaction to the video and lead the
discussion of its relevance to and implications for northwest Indiana.
11. Options and Opportunities for LGBTQ+ Youth
[Details have not yet been finalized for this session]
12. Sexual Assaults and Indiana Teens
[Details have not yet been finalized for this session]
13. *Identifying Child Abuse
Dr. Ruby Roy, Pediatrician – La Rabida Children’s Hospital (Chicago)
This session, designed for nurses but available to other professionals, addresses the issue of child
abuse identification in the medical context. Topics include indicators of abuse, professional
responsibilities, and referral resources.
Registration Notes ~ Twenty-Fifth Annual IUN Forum on Child Abuse and Neglect
This event is free but because of space constraints for certain breakout sessions and the need for a lunch
count, pre-registration by Monday, April 20th is strongly recommended. Registration begins on April
1. You may register by e-mailing [email protected]. Please provide your name, organization
name, address, phone, e-mail, the numbers of the breakout workshops that you wish to attend and
indicate whether or not you need a formal CEU certificate or only a Certificate of Participation. The
Child Abuse and Neglect Forum will provide continuing education units (CEU’S) for licensed social
workers. A CEU sign-up sheet for each breakout session will be available in each plenary and workshop for
social workers to complete with their licensure number and signature. If a sign-in sheet is not available,
please ask a student volunteer for assistance with locating a CEU sheet. The CEU certificates can be
picked up from the CEU table located near the Art Gallery in Savannah Hall at the end of the day. Walkins are welcome, but walk-ins and those who register after April 20 cannot be guaranteed the availability of
free lunches (the IUN cafeteria will be open, however) and some breakout sessions may fill early.
Capacity in the Bergland Auditorium is limited. Doors to the Auditorium will open at 8:30 AM. Those who
pre-registered will be seated first until 8:45 AM. Walk-ins will be seated after 8:45 on a first-come, first-served
basis along with pre-registrants who arrive after 8:45. Overflow areas will accommodate those unable to be
seated in the auditorium. Individuals who cannot be in attendance but would like to participate may do so by
joining a live web-streaming of the event. See the IUN website for a link. CEU units and certificates of
participation are not available for those participating online.
Guest wi-fi services will be provided by the University. No registration is needed. Simply turn on your
device’s wi-fi and select “ATTwifi”. No password is required but you may need to open your web browser
and agree to AT&T’s policies to complete the connection.
IUN parking is available in the main lot (off 33rd Street - north of the Student Activities Building). Campus
police will suspend enforcement of the usual rules requiring stickers for this event. Do avoid, however, the
“reserved” spaces.
This year the number of agenda display spaces in the hallway will be limited. Applications for spaces (one 8foot table) will be accepted first from forum co-sponsor agencies (until April 1). After April 1, spaces will be
available to other organizations with close links to the purposes of the forum. To apply for vendor space
contact Georgia Geis at [email protected]. The deadline for vendor applications is April 15.
If you have any questions about registration please call the Mental Health America of Lake County office at
219-736-4955.
Registration begins on April 1, 2014
Email your information to [email protected]
Here is a checklist of the items to include in your email:
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NAME
ORGANIZATION NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE
EMAIL
BREAKOUT SESSION I (11:00 AM) -- NUMBER CODE OR SESSION TITLE
BREAKOUT SESSION II (1:00 PM) -- NUMBER CODE OR SESSION TITLE
•
CEU CERTIFICATE NEEDED, CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION, OR NONE
(See above for notes on what participation credential, if any, you may need)