Press Releases
Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2008 - Arts & Events
Parenting Conference to be Held at WSU Vancouver
Contact:
- Jane Lanigan, 360-546-9715, jlanigan@vancouver.wsu.edu
- Drew Bretz, 360-676-6736, betz@wsu.edu
The conference, which provides three days of professional development for parenting and family educators such as counselors, social workers and juvenile justice officers, began in 1995 as an extension initiative. Its original purpose was to provide a research-based link to practitioners in the field, said Jane Lanigan, conference manager and program co-chairperson.
"There wasn't any annual conference that directly addressed the issue of parenting education in the state," said Drew Betz, an extension educator who founded the conference and is conference co-chair this year. "We wanted to make sure parenting educators were getting some quality research-based education to bring with them to the job."
Other conferences existed at the time, but did not have the scientific focus that WSU Extension conference provides.
"WSU has really been a leader in basic research related to parenting and there needs to be a mechanism to reach the practitioners and provide the information in an applied form," Lanigan said.
The conference, which was created by WSU Extension, now collaborates with other university extension branches as well.
"It's a collaborative event between the four land grand institutions in the Northwest," Betz said. "Extension offices from those institutions contribute as well."
The conference has developed a consistent attendance of around 300 people over the years, with people traveling from the Pacific Northwest and Canada to attend. Next year, the conference could be held in Vancouver, B.C., due to the large interest of the British Collaborative Council of Families.
"We're trying to reach out across the border," Betz said.
More information about the conference, speakers and fees can be found at http://capps.wsu.edu/parenting/index.html .
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