General Information

 

Conference Overview

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California Department of Social Services (CDSS), in conjunction with the Center for Injury Prevention Policy and Practice at San Diego State University, are proud to present our first collaborative conference, Discover the Connections! Bridging Strategies to Prevent Child Injury and Maltreatment.” This year’s conference will provide attendees with important information and skills to enhance and link injury and maltreatment prevention efforts within their agencies and communities.

 

Purpose

In California, nearly a million children are at risk for abuse and neglect; and injuries are the number one killer of children ages 1 to 18. Child injuries, neglect, and maltreatment have been linked with a host of immediate and long-term negative and costly outcomes, ultimately affecting children’s ability to develop normally, impacting the family, community, and society as a whole.

 

Many child injury and maltreatment prevention efforts focus on shared populations, causes, and strategies. We know that community norms, social values, and personal world views all influence the way individuals and groups within the larger community support families with children. The key is to shift these norms and values toward helping create and sustain healthier environments for families to raise their children.

 

The conference goal is to promote investments in the future by identifying, developing, and modifying existing prevention programs that contribute to the positive physical, emotional, cognitive, and developmental well-being of children and adolescents.

 

The Program

This conference offers a highly knowledgeable and experienced faculty who will guide attendees in the exploration of research and practice on important topics, including:

 

• Effective collaboration between unintentional injury and child maltreatment practitioners;
• Implications of early adverse experiences on lifelong health issues;
• The affects of brain development on risk behavior in children and adolescents;
• Tools and strategies from public health and social service disciplines that help inform multi-level prevention efforts; and
• Cross-disciplinary education to increase awareness of each discipline’s objectives, challenges, strengths, and resources.

 

Join your colleagues from state, county, and local health and safety agencies; schools; advocacy groups; social service departments; community-based organizations; private practice; and others, to network and share strategies to successfully engage and explore ways to prevent child injury and maltreatment.