Best for Babies Seminar - 2013
In collaboration with our partner sponsors, the Sandra Day College of Law, the Infant-Toddler Mental Health Coalition of Arizona, and Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, the T. Denny Sanford School's Master of Advanced Study in Infant-Family Practice held its fourth Sally Campbell Memorial Best for Babies Seminar. This annual seminar provides a full day of training focused on the special needs of very young children in the child welfare system. Training topics focus specifically on strategies and best practices for child abuse prevention intervention.
This year 400 participants, including juvenile court judges, mental health professionals, pediatricians, Child Protective Service case managers and supervisors, attorneys, early intervention professionals and educators filled the Great Hall in ASU's College of Law. Dr. Sheree Toth, the Executive Director of the Mt. Hope Family Center and Associate Professor of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology at the University of Rochester presented the morning plenary, Relational Interventions for At-Risk Infants and Children. Sarah Buel, Clinical Professor of Law at ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and Founding Director and Senior Advisor at the Halle Center for Family Justice spoke on practices for addressing co-occurring child abuse and domestic violence. The day-long seminar included a description of Maricopa County Superior Court's Cradles to Crayons (C2C), a recently launched innovative program for addressing the needs of infants and toddlers who have been placed in foster care by Child Protective Services. The panel included C2C staff members and two of the juvenile court's Baby Judges. Prevent Child Abuse Arizona's Executive Director, Becky Ruffner concluded the sold-out seminar with an update of PCAAZ's Best for Babies Court Teams for Infants and Toddlers statewide activities.