Spurwink’s 28th Annual Northern New England Conference on Child Maltreatment
November 7 @ 8:30 am - November 8 @ 4:00 pm
Register Here
Spurwink staff: Please register directly with the Event Planner.
DATE AND TIME: Thu, November 07, 2024 – Fri, November 08, 2024 | 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM EDT
LOCATION: Hilton Garden Inn Freeport Downtown | 5 Park Street | Freeport, ME 04032
Audience
The Northern New England Conference on Child Maltreatment is intended for a multi-disciplinary audience, including professionals from the fields of nursing, mental health, law, child welfare, law enforcement, child advocacy, emergency services, medicine, and education.
Conference Goals
The goal of the conference is to provide multi-disciplinary training to increase professional skills and knowledge to professionals who are involved in child abuse prevention, recognition, evaluation, reporting, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of all forms of child maltreatment. See brochure for additional information including daily agendas and speaker bios. View/download the brochure here.
TICKETS (selected during registration)
- Thursday (one day): $125.00 (1 Attendee)
- Friday (one day): $125.00 (1 Attendee)
- Thursday & Friday: $225.00 (1 Attendee)
Ticket includes light breakfast, full lunch, and refreshment breaks for the day(s) you are registered.
For more information, please email Sally Newhall, ANNECCM Event Planner, at sally@seaglassevents.com.
Thursday, November 7, 2024
8:45 Introduction: Joyce Wientzen, LCSW & Eric Meyer, LCSW, MBA
9:00 Understanding Running Behavior and Preventing Revictimization
Brittany Butler
In 2023, 1 out of 6 missing children reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) who had run away were likely victims of child sex trafficking. Many of these cases involved children missing from the care of child welfare. This presentation will provide a deep dive into the reasons why youth may run away from care, including “push” and “pull” factors, and the increased vulnerability to child sex trafficking that missing youth experience. An overview of child sex trafficking and the complex trauma that is associated with this type of victimization will be provided. The session will then cover practical lessons learned in developing proactive recovery plans focused on increasing rapport, youth engagement, and strategies to understand and reduce running behavior for missing children who are being sex trafficked. These considerations in planning and early engagement can create an environment during recovery that shows survivors that professionals are concerned about their well-being. Attendees will also learn about resources available through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that can assist with this effort.
10:15 Break
10:30 Adolescent Victims
Laura Rowe
Adolescents can be a challenging population to interview due to their social, emotional, sexual, and cognitive development. This module will focus on educating the investigator about adolescent development and the impact development has on the investigative interview. Complicity issues and how to overcome this barrier while conducting interviews will be addressed.
11:45 Lunch break
1:00 Identifying and Responding to Problematic Sexual Behaviors: Disruption Isn’t Always the Answer
Heather Tryon, MSW
Problematic sexual behaviors can be one of the trickier things to navigate in this work. We will discuss what qualifies as problematic sexual behaviors and the best way to respond if they occur, including treatment options. We will also spend time exploring prevention techniques to decrease the likelihood of them occurring and how to create a safety plan that will protect both the victim/survivor and the child who caused harm. Finally, we will discuss the support services available for victims/survivors.
2:15 Break
2:30 Identifying and Responding to Problematic Sexual Behaviors: Disruption Isn’t Always the Answer (cont’d)
Heather Tryon, MSW
3:45 Adjourn
Friday, November 8, 2024
8:45 Introduction: Amanda Brownell, MD
9:00 Striking a Balance: A Culturally Compassionate Look at Corporal Punishment and How We End Lauren Burge, MD
This presentation will highlight the specific effects of corporal punishment (CP) in the African American community, as well as barriers to decreasing CP, and resources specific for families of color.
10:15 Break
10:30 The History of the Child Welfare System in the United States: Past, Present, and Future
Lawrence Ricci, MD
A full third of all children born in this country by the time they reach their 18th birthday will have experienced a child welfare investigation. How did we get here? How is the system working currently in the US and particularly in Maine? What does the future hold?
This presentation will outline the origins of the current child welfare system from its earliest episodic law enforcement beginnings, through its developments in the private sector after the Mary Ellen Wilson case in the mid-1800s until its current government-run agencies. We will discuss its strengths and weaknesses and what the future of child welfare might look like considering the child welfare dictates of safety, permanency, and well-being.
11:45 Lunch break
1:00 A Trauma Informed Approach to Addressing Sexual Health with Youth
Sarah Liquorman, PSYD
2:15 Break
2:30 Life-saving Injuries: Early Recognition of Child Physical Abuse
Amanda Brownell, MD
This presentation will review the most fatal form of child physical abuse, abusive head trauma (AHT). A review of the recent numbers of AHT in Maine will be discussed and compared to prior data. Attendees will be provided with tools to identify early signs of abuse such as sentinel injuries in very young children most at risk of AHT as well as next steps to assess these injuries.
3:45 Adjourn
