Addressing Invisible Injuries: Child Neglect, Exploitation, and Emotional Abuse

Dates:

April 01-02, 2009

Location:

Details:

More American children suffer from neglect than from physical and sexual abuse combined. Despite those numbers, child welfare professionals of all disciplines have paid significantly less attention to neglect. For many neglected children, the reality of their experiences and the effects of those experiences can be difficult to identify.

In very general terms, “neglect” is the inadequate provision for a child's basic needs, such as food, clothing, medical care, education and supervision. “Chronic neglect” indicates a serious and enduring pattern of a parent or caregiver failing to provide for a child's most basic physical, developmental, or socio-emotional needs.

Michigan law defines child neglect as “… harm or threatened harm to a child's health or welfare by a parent, legal guardian, or any other person responsible for the child's health or welfare that occurs through either of the following:

• Negligent treatment, including the failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care.
• Placing a child at an unreasonable risk to the child's health or welfare by failure of the parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for the child's health or welfare to intervene to eliminate that risk when that person is able to do so and has, or should have, knowledge of the risk”

When neglect goes undetected or without appropriate intervention, it usually has severe negative developmental consequences for the child.

This two day multi-disciplinary conference will focus on neglect and other “invisible injuries” such as emotional abuse and exploitation. Topics include:

• How to identify, intervene, and prevent invisible injuries.
• The bio-psycho-social effects of chronic neglect.
• Legal concerns regarding the collection and presentation of evidence.
• Culturally sensitive evaluations and interventions.
• Creative resources for addressing poverty issues.

Click here to view the conference brochure.