Conference Proceedings for “The Church and Its Agencies in Child and Family Services” and Hand in Hand 2005 Conference Announcement

NACSW is delighted to report that it has posted on its website a conference proceedings of representative papers from its recent conference co-hosted with the Baylor Center for Family and Community Ministries entitled “The Church and Its Agencies in Child and Family Services,” held on March 26-27, 2004 in Dallas, Texas. To access this proceedings on-line (no passwords needed!), you can go to: http://www.nacsw.org/HandinHand.htm

It was an exciting conference, the first of its kind to bring together social work practitioners in religiously-affiliated agencies and congregations, leading academicians, and representatives of state/federal agencies in the field of children and family services to address the following question: “What is the distinctive contribution that faith communities and their agencies bring to providing for the welfare of children?” The conference was attended by more than 140 organizational leaders, professional staff, congregational leaders, and students representing 11 states, from Alaska to Florida, and from Connecticut to California. In addition, participants included representatives from almost a dozen denominations.

NACSW and the Baylor Center for Family and Community Ministries are continuing to collaborate to develop an array of strategies to provide information, training, and resources for leaders and service providers in faith-based child and family services organizations. We will be following this conference with another conference in 2005, which we hope you will consider participating in, as a participant, sponsor, or presenter. For additional information about next year’s conference (including a listing of plenary speakers and a link to a call for presentations), you can go to: http://www.nacsw.org/HandinHand2005.htm

Peace,

Rick Chamiec-Case,

Executive Director