Field Center Breakfast Symposium Sets Record Attendance

The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research hosted a standing room only audience for its most recent Breakfast Symposium, Parents’ Rights vs. Children’s Rights. Over 200 professionals filled the Levy Conference Center at Penn’s Law School on January 31st to hear Richard Gelles and Martin Guggenheim in a thoughtful and at times controversial discussion of the issues, moderated by Penn Law Professor Alan Lerner.

The discussants are two of the nation’s most notable figures in child welfare: Martin Guggenheim is the author of What’s Wrong With Children’s Rights and Fiorello Laguardia Professor of Clinical Law at NYU Law School, while Richard Gelles is a noted author and child abuse expert, Dean of Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice, and holds the Joanne and Raymond Welsh Chair of Child Welfare and Family Violence at the University of Pennsylvania. The audience, comprised of judges, social workers, child welfare executives, attorneys, child advocates, physicians, nurses, graduate students, and policy-makers, enthusiastically responded to this critical look at one of the most significant issues in child welfare. Attendees described the session as “informative” and “very thought provoking,” commenting positively on the debate format and knowledge of the presenters.

The Field Center’s Spring Breakfast Symposium, featuring David J. Kolko, PhD, is scheduled for April 11, 2007. Dr. Kolko, Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Director of Science and Practice for Effective Children’s Services at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, will be speaking on Studying and Changing Treatment Practices in Child Welfare: Trials and Tribulations. Registration opens March 15, 2007.