UIS to host two-day conference on the effects of poverty on child well-being in Illinois

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Center for State Policy and Leadership will host “Building Our Children’s Futures: A Multi-Disciplinary Conference to Address and Confront Child Poverty”. The two-day conference will present and discuss the latest research on the damaging effects of poverty on child well-being and ways to stop the trend. About one in five children in Illinois —more than 600,000—live in poverty.

WHEN: Thursday, March 23 - Friday, March 24, 2017

WHERE: UIS Public Affairs Center

DETAILS: The conference aims to bridge research, application and practice by bringing K-12 teachers, healthcare, mental health, law enforcement, early childhood and social service professionals together with scholars, practitioners, policymakers, service providers and activists in the fields of neuroscience, pediatric medicine, mental health, education, law enforcement and social service to explore the current research on the damaging effects of poverty on child outcomes, intervention programs and strategies that work and the public policy implications on the damaging effects of poverty on children.

Keynote speakers include Diana Rauner, Ph.D., president of Ounce of Prevention; Benard Dreyer, M.D., FAAP President, American Academy of Pediatric; and Bryan Samuels, executive director of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.

The conference is presented in collaboration with the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies, the Illinois Head Start Association, the United Way of Central Illinois Ventures Grant, Springfield School District 186, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, the Illinois Education Association, The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, The Land of Lincoln Community Foundation Women for Women’s Fund and Hospital Sisters Health System of St. John’s Hospital.

The registration fee for the conference is $300. Participants can register online at http://blogs.uis.edu/ChildreninPoverty/. For more information, contact Lorena Johnson at 217/206-6079 or ljohn04s@uis.edu.