HYANNIS – The 18th Annual Champions for Children Conference will be held in mid-October and aims to educate agencies on how best to deal with child victims of abuse.
“We’ve really been trying to ensure that we’re maintaining the best information and education for those who support children who have been abused in some way,” said Jacob Stapledon, Community Education and Outreach Coordinator.
The conference provides workshops and speakers who will educate various experts in the field of child abuse about new practices and techniques for how to most effectively help children in need.
“We work specifically with governmental and nonprofit agencies in the fields of law enforcement, prosecution, child protective services, social work, child advocacy, mental health clinicians, probation, and medical professionals who work with child victims,” said Stapledon.
In a field that is ever-evolving, Stapledon said that it is important to keep professionals up to date with the latest information.
“Hope and healing and a safe community is always a priority of ours, and so even if there’s a little bit of information which is newer we want to make sure that–not only that we’re learning it—but we’re sharing that with our partners in our community.”
Sasha Pfeiffer, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team, will be a keynote speaker at the conference alongside many others.
Pfeiffer’s work with the Boston Globe inspired the film “Spotlight” about the investigation of the Chatholic Church’s cover-up of clergy sex abuse.
The registration fee is $225 individual. Organizations sending 4 or more individuals are eligible for a $200 rate per person.
The conference will be held October 17 and 18 and will be hosted at the Hyannis DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.
Visit championsforchildrensconference.com to learn more about the event schedule and see bios for the various guest speakers.
About Grady Culhane
