The
Summit Initiative on Child Protection and Family Support
Description
of the Summit Initiative
In 1999,
MCC brought together over 60 of the state's and country's
leading child and family policymakers, convening the highly
successful two-day Policy Leaders Summit on New Directions
in Child Protection and Family Support. It
brought together fifty key child welfare policy leaders
from Massachusetts and a dozen experts from across the nation
to address the crisis in child protection and the need for
family support and prevention strategies.
The
"Summit on Child Protection and Family Support" and subsequent
post-Summit feedback supported a broader effort to bring
about systemic changes. Four key goals were approved:
- To establish a shared baseline of information and data
on current research and practice;
- To develop a proposed reform agenda among policy makers,
child and family advocates, and providers;
- To educate opinion leaders, the general public, and
media about that agenda;
- To mobilize citizen and legislative action to fund
and implement reform.
Five
Summit Working Groups were convened and met regularly over
the six-month period from January through June, 2000, to
address these goals: Multidisciplinary Assessment, Dual
Track, Workforce/Workload, Treatment/Intervention, and Family
Support and Child Abuse Prevention.
In April,
May and June, MCC convened three daylong Symposia to discuss
the newest brain research and its implications for children
traumatized by abuse or family violence. Input from a broad
range of mental health, child protection and school professionals
resulted in numerous recommendations around policy, practice
and prevention. Throughout this period, numerous other national
and state experts in areas related to child protection and
family support were consulted.
Overall,
two hundred child and family policymakers and advocates
were involved in the Summit Initiative. They assessed the
workings of the current system, explored promising models
from other states, and debated options for change.
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