Getting What Kids Need:

Making a Difference in the Life of a Child

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

8:00 AM - 4:30 PM

12:15 - 2:15 Keynote Speaker: Wayne Theodore

 “ When I was six years old, my father almost killed me.”

With these opening words, Wayne Theodore unleashes the powerful, uplifting, and inspiring true-story of his triumph over adversity. And he lays bare the shocking and scandalous details of one of the worst child abuse cases ever recorded in Massachusetts.

Wayne and his eleven brothers and sisters were raised by a violent father and a passive, dysfunctional mother who subjected them to relentless beatings, torture, starvation, and abandonment. Through it all, he somehow managed to find an inner strength that enabled him to survive and keep a promise to one day tell his story to the world.

It’s a riveting story that sends the reader careening through episodes of violent childhood abuse, teenage drug addiction, attempted suicide, and as an adult, the compulsion to repeat the sins of his father.

The book’s dramatic turning point brings Wayne face-to-face with the reality of his out-of-control existence. Working like a detective, he begins to peel back the layers of his life, revealing the secret demons that haunt him.

His quest for the truth culminates when Wayne, his siblings, and his parents are brought together on national TV’s The Sally Show. There for all the world to see, they expose and confront the ugliness of the past.

(For more about Wayne go to: http://www.waynetheodore.com/author.htm) 

...Making a Difference in the Life of a Child

2:30–4:00   Afternoon Workshops

*A. Introduction to the Youth Development Approach: The Bottom Line of Youth Workers - Jim Ryan, Director, Northeast Center for Healthy Communities and Gisela Rots, Coordinator, Medford Health Matters. Youth workers will understand that youth development is the process which prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them to become socially, morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent. Positive youth development addresses the broader developmental needs of youth, in contrast to deficit-based models which focus solely on youth problems.

*B. Enough Abuse: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Strategies for your Family and Community - Susan Warner, LCSW, Preschool Social Worker, Gloucester Public Schools, Adele Shanbar, MBA, LSW, Family Resource Coordinator, Department of Social Services, Salem Area Office and Caryn Berman, LICSW,  Director, Bridge Program and Children’s VOCAL Program of Health and Education Services, Inc.  Members of the Enough Abuse Campaign and Gloucester Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Partnership.  Through an interactive process, workshop participants will explore individual, family, community, and societal conditions that allow child sexual abuse to flourish and will learn how it can be prevented through the use of four promising prevention strategies developed by the Enough Abuse Campaign.

C. Children Who Witness Domestic Violence - Michele Lambert, MS, LMHC, Holy Family Hospital.  This workshop is designed to examine the effects of domestic violence on children.  It will explore how to talk to children about what they have witnessed.  The complexities of working with victims, perpetrators and children will be discussed.

D. Voices of the Future - Yaritza Lopez, Cristina Pagan and Sonia Quinones, Healthy Families -  MSPCC. This is a unique group of former teen parents who are committed to bringing their stories of challenges and successes as a young parent to the community. Through a panel discussion format, group members will share their personal stories and experience to help raise awareness around the issues of teen pregnancy and teen parenting.

E. Engaging Youth in Their Environment - Lesly Melendez, Youth & Stewardship Program Manager, Groundwork Lawrence and Melissa Dimond, M.S., The Food Project. This presentation will highlight strategies for engaging youth as partners and leaders for environmental change.

*F. What Works in Girls' Programming - Lindsay Hyde, Executive Director of Strong Women, Strong Girls, Inc. This workshop will provide participants with an understanding of the research findings relating to girls programming, as well as the models, strategies, and settings that have proven most effective in working with girls.

*G. Gang Prevention Initiative: Project Y.E.S. (Youth Empowerment and Success) - Julian Brown, Project Y.E.S. Coordinator, Ed Hanley, Project Y.E.S. Mentor and Kathy Gravino, Human Services Division, North Shore Community College; and Xavier Rosado, Project Y.E.S., participant, Marshall Middle School. This workshop will discuss the importance of early intervention and describe the first year of a pilot program for middle school youth at risk in Lynn. The program utilizes a holistic and strength-based approach for providing youth development services that empower youth with the assets they need to succeed.

H. Behavior Management in the Early Childhood - Suzanne Maki, Education and Disabilities Manager, Pathways for Children. This workshop will present strategies for working in the classroom with young children with challenging behaviors.

I. Permanency Mediation - Julia A.B. Pearson, Esq. and Dacia Walker, Mediator, Children's Services of Roxbury, Massachusetts Families for Kids. Permanency mediation is an alternative to a contested court proceeding for children in the state foster care system. This program will describe the benefits of using a child-centered, family-focused approach to permanency planning for children in foster care.

J. “Project Change Up” (An Adventure based Diversion model) - Sarah Jorgensen, Youth Program Specialist and Angel Krimm, Youth Program Coordinator, Project Adventure, Inc. This workshop will introduce Project Adventure’s innovative and engaging program model. It is designed to be used with court involved youth eligible for diversion programming or alternatively as a prevention program.

4:00-4:30 Expo