Plans are underway for the 15 th annual Kansas Division for Early Childhood Conference. This event entitled Children, Families, and Communities: Partners and Promise, will be held on February 27 - March 1, 1997 at the Holidome in Lawrence, Kansas.

Numerous persons are working to bring in presenters who will share ideas and information that will be applicable to a variety of disciplines. The keynote address will be delivered by Ms. Janice Fialka, MSW, ACSW. Ms. Fialka is currently the director of the Taylor Teen Health Center in Huntington Woods, Michigan which she co-founded in 1988. In her address entitled The Dance of Partnership: Why Do My Feet Hurt? , she will address the unique dimensions which challenge the partnership between professionals and parents of children with special needs.

Ms. Fialka has delivered numerous addresses across the United States. She combines her personal experience as a mother of an eleven-year-old son who is developmentally disabled and her professional expertise as a social worker and trainer.

As more and more agencies become involved in the services to children and families, the need for collaboration, communication, and participation, becomes crucial in order for the services to be comprehensive and effective. All agencies need to strive to work in partnership to deliver services that will offer the promise of a productive future for the children and families that receive services.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to choose from numerous sessions covering a variety of topics that will be applicable to parents and professionals.

Darwin Eakins
E.C. Enterprises
P. O. Box 1793, 835 Louisiana
Lawrence, KS 66044
913-832-0737
Fax 913-832-2843

OR

Marcia Friesen
KDEC Conference Chair
902 Lover's Lane
Newton, KS 67114
Phone 620-284-6245
Fax 620-284-6589

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