“Awaken to Change - The National Conference for America’s Children” is coming to Jacksonville!

Prevent Child Abuse America’s national conference is scheduled for October 12 - 15 at the Jacksonville, Florida Hyatt Riverside 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO, IL,OCTOBER 2, 2012 – Prevent Child Abuse America is bringing its national conference to Jacksonville, Florida Hyatt Riverside October 12 - 15 - here. The conference will be a unique experience for the participants with its focus on healthy childhood development, advancing public policy, what’s working in child abuse and neglect prevention, messaging, corporate responsibility, and innovative prevention services such as home visiting and the Healthy Families America program. 

Conference tracks will focus on Advancing Public Policy; Child Sexual Abuse Prevention; Healthy Child and Family Development; Managing, Marketing, and Corporate Responsibility; Moving the Movement: The National Movement for America's Children; and What's Working and What We Are Learning. Plenary speakers include a series of national prevention experts: 

• Cordelia Anderson - Demand the Change for Children; 
• Reverend Darell L. Armstrong - Shiloh Baptist Church of Trenton, NJ; 
• Dr. Linda C. Degutis - National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and 
• Betsy McAlister Groves - Child Witness to Violence Project. 

“This is not going to be like any other conference people have been to before,” says James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America. “We believe that when we focus on healthy child development and supporting families and citizens in the communities they live in as we plan to do at the conference, great things can happen for children and for the nation.” 

Prevent Child Abuse America is also pleased to be holding the conference in the state of Florida, which has widely embraced home visiting and other innovative prevention programming, and Jacksonville specifically, the inaugural city selected as a Pinwheels City, USA for its integrated and forward thinking around supporting families and the prevention of child and abuse and neglect before it ever occurs. 

“We are extremely pleased Prevent Child Abuse America is hosting this national conference in Jacksonville,” says Anita Odom, Director of Prevent Child Abuse Florida. “We hope this conference will strengthen existing infrastructure and advance efforts on behalf of children and families not only in Jacksonville, but throughout Florida and across the country as well.” 

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ABOUT PREVENT CHILD ABUSE AMERICA 
Prevent Child Abuse America, founded in 1972 in Chicago, works to ensure the healthy development of children nationwide. The organization promotes that vision through a network of chapters in 50 states and 530 Healthy Families America home visitation sites in 39 states, Washington, DC, and all 5 U.S. territories. A major organizational focus is to advocate for the existence of a national policy framework and strategy for children and families while promoting evidence-based practices that prevent abuse and neglect from ever occurring. To learn more about what we’re doing to prevent child abuse and neglect and how you can help, please visit our websites, here and here.