According to the Raise Foundation, which serves as Orange County’s child abuse prevention council, there were more than 40,000 cases of suspected child abuse and neglect in Orange County last year.
To better equip professionals to help end the destructive cycle of abuse, local educational leaders are invited to attend the foundation’s 28th annual Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Conference, set for Wednesday, March 23 at the Student Center at University of California, Irvine.
The daylong conference, themed “Pathways to Prevention,” will kick off when keynote speaker Sharon Behrens takes the floor to speak about her inspiring story of adopting and loving a “wild child.” The subject was featured in a book, as well as an Emmy-nominated segment on “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.”
Attendees will then have the opportunity to select from numerous workshops presented by renowned experts, including OCDE’s Prevention Coordinator Stacy Deeble-Reynolds.
The workshops are intended to benefit those who work in clinical work, social work, the health and medical fields, law enforcement and child protection, primary prevention, and school-based prevention and intervention. In addition, a mini-conference will be available for those attending in their role as parents.
Co-chaired by OCDE’s Jannel Jones, who works with violence prevention education and Quality Start OC, the conference will also include exhibitors, and it’s set to conclude with progressive relaxation techniques to help attendees decompress from the day.
To register for the event, please click here.
You may also contact the Raise Foundation at 714-884-3421, Ext. 104, or visit the foundation’s website at www.theraisefoundation.org for more information.