Child Maltreatment Solutions Network's Spring Awareness Event

In the U.S. today, approximately 400,000 children and youth are in foster care at any given time and each year about 20,000 of these students emancipate (i.e., age out) of foster care. A positive PK-12 education experience has the potential to be a powerful counterweight to the abuse, neglect, separation, impermanence and other barriers these vulnerable students experience. Additionally, participation in and persistence to a postsecondary credential can enhance their well-being, help them make more successful transitions to adulthood, and increase their chances for personal fulfillment and economic self-sufficiency.

National research shows that children in foster care are at high-risk of dropping out of school and are unlikely to attend or graduate from college. A coordinated effort by education agencies and child welfare agencies is necessary to improve the educational outcomes for students in foster care.” (U.S. Department of Education)

In 1994, Sharon McDaniel, a Penn State alum, launched A Second Chance, Inc. in her native Pittsburgh, PA., ushering in a then little-known model for providing safe, secure, and nurturing environments for children who are being cared for by their relatives or close family friends. That innovative approach is known as “kinship care.”

Today, Dr. McDaniel, herself an alumna from foster care and a recipient of kinship care, serves more than 1,000 children and 800 families a day through A Second Chance, a thriving non-profit, which also has a regional office in Philadelphia. In starting A Second Chance, Dr. McDaniel brought with her more than 25 years of professional experience as an award-winning child welfare leader in Pennsylvania, and as an insightful, compassionate, and tenacious kinship care advocate who saw rescuing children and keeping families intact as her life’s mission and work. She has served as a supervisor and court liaison for Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County Children Youth and Family Services, as well as program director for the Three Rivers Adoption Council’s Black Adoption Services Program.

Dr. McDaniel will talk about her experience from childhood through adulthood, as well as, A Second Chance, Inc. and the impact of this program on foster youth. There will also be a panel discussion of young adults regarding their journey to/through their college career. You will hear from Independent Living Coordinators on what has worked for them in their counties in regards to preparing youth for college and success into adulthood. Lastly, there will be a discussion regarding recent and any pending legislative changes in foster care.

Registration URL

https://goo.gl/forms/fVjnqg4WTV9DCobH3

Tentative Agenda

09:30 – 10:00 a.m. Registration

10:00 – 10:30 a.m. Welcome and introduction of the Fostering Lions ProgramJennie G. Noll, PhD, Child Maltreatment Solutions Network

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. Representative ?

10:45 – 11:15 a.m. KeynoteSharon McDaniel MPA, Ed. D., Founder, President & ChiefExecutive Officer, A Second Chance, Inc.

11:15 – 12:00 p.m. Student panel discussion, led by Sharon McDaniel

12:00 – 12:30 p.m. Lunch

12:30 – 01:00 p.m. Independent Living CoordinatorsStephanie Salvatori, Lycoming CountyMary Ann Zimmerman, Centre County

01:00 – 01:30 p.m. Lucy Johnson-Walsh, J.D., M.S.W.Professor of Law, Dickinson Law School

01:30 – 01:55 p.m. Full panel discussion

01:55 – 02:00 p.m. Wrap up

Sponsored by Penn State’s Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, and Human Development & Family Studies Vladimir de Lissovoy Program Support Endowment for the Protection of Children