Social work class to present child welfare conference Nov. 5

The keynote will be available via csc.edu/live.

Conference attendance will be free and open to the public. A complimentary lunch will be served to the first 170 attendees. Current CSC students with meal plans will pick up lunch in the cafeteria.

The goal of the event, according to conference publicity committee member Mustapha Barry, is to ensure the well-being of children by educating and empowering community members and service providers.

The keynote speaker during lunch will be Corey Steel of Lincoln. Throughout his career, Steel has been heavily engaged in the transformation of the Nebraska juvenile justice system. He will discuss LB 561, which calls for changing the Nebraska juvenile justice system to a treatment-based model instead of a punitive system.

Steel was appointed state court administrator in May 2014 to oversee the administrative operations of the statewide court system. His responsibilities include making plans for statewide judicial branch needs and developing and promoting statewide administrative practices and procedures. He also oversees the operation of trial court programs and strategic initiatives and serves as a liaison with other branches of government.

He previously served as deputy probation administrator for Juvenile Services. During that time, he played an active role in providing information to the legislature regarding juvenile justice reform.

A panel of professionals will follow the keynote. The panelists include Judge Susan M. Bazis from Omaha, Judge James M. Worden from Scottsbluff, Dr. Shannon Black from Lincoln, and Dr. Caroline Winchester superintendent of the Chadron Public School System.

The panel members and other speakers in breakout sessions throughout the day will address topics pertaining to child welfare and social work such as Internet sex crimes against children, sex offenders and child safety, guardianship and conservatorship, poverty, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), immigration, probation, juvenile justice, mental health and child advocacy.

This event is a capstone project required for graduates seeking a CSC bachelor’s degree in social work. The students organizing the conference are enrolled in Social Work 435 “Communities and Organizations.”

For more information, contact Mustapha Barry at 720-648-8923 or mustapha.barry@eagles.csc.edu.