Next week, U.S. and Israeli child welfare experts will convene for a two-day conference at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa to address techniques for preventing and treating child abuse and neglect. The event, scheduled for Sept 10-11 and hosted by the Haruv Institute and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Philanthropic Network, will examine potential areas of collaboration for child welfare agencies from both countries and feature seminars that provide training for child abuse clinicians. Experts will also discuss strategies for improving professional training approaches and integrating child abuse research into prevention and treatment programs.
Scheduled participants include Dr. David Olds, director of Prevention Research Center for Family and Child Health at the University of Colorado, Denver; Dr. Cindy Christian, director of Safe Place: the Center for Child Protection and Health at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Dr. Richard Barth, dean and professor of the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work. Professor Asher Ben-Arieh, director of the Haruv Institute and instructor at the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is scheduled to lead the conference’s first session.
According to the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths, an initiative of the National Children’s Alliance, Oklahoma is one of the top five states in the country for child abuse and neglect deaths. University of Oklahoma-Tulsa President Gerry Clancy said that his college is honored to work with the Schusterman Philanthropic Network and the Haruv Institute and host the upcoming event.
“We are hopeful it will lay the ground work to create collaborations that will truly help to reduce the statistics surrounding child abuse and maltreatment in Tulsa and throughout the United States and Israel,” Clancy is quoted in a recent press release for the event.
