The School of Social Work in the College of Public Service at Jackson State University held its 12th Annual Mississippi Child Welfare Institute Conference February 12-14 at the Marriott Hotel in Jackson.
The theme for the conference was “Child Welfare: Building Multi-Generational Teams to Serve Families and Communities.” The conference began with a webinar message by the opening plenary speaker, Dr. Crystal Collins-Camargo, Associate Professor of Social Work at Louisville, Kent School of Social Work. The presentation addressed evidence-informed practice in child welfare and described strategies to improve practice and promote positive outcomes.
The closing luncheon speaker was Sarah Culberson, Co-Founder and President of Kposowa Foundation and Director of Service Learning at Oakwood School in Los Angeles. Culberson is also a former foster child. Her success in being adopted resulted in a positive outcome in adulthood. She also shared her journey of finding her biological parents.
The conference also marked its fifth year of the “Special Youth Empowerment Session,” which was organized for youth in foster care. The speaker was Frederick Burns, a computer engineering student in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at Jackson State University. He discussed his childhood in the foster care system and overcoming a hard life that eventually led him to enroll in college.
A diverse group of faculty, social workers, other professionals, and students conducted workshops on a variety of topics that addressed best practices, strategies, and models for building multi-generational teams to serve families and communities.