2015 Children’s Roundtable Summit

Putting It All Together

The 2015 Pennsylvania Children’s Roundtable Summit was held April 20-22, 2015 at Seven Springs, PA. With 426 participants, representing 56 counties, which represents 96% of the foster care children in Pennsylvania. this was the largest Summit to date.

The theme this year, “Putting it all Together”, addressed the importance of well-being and asked participants to consider, “If we save the body but is so doing destroy the mind and soul of a child, what good have we really done? We must focus on the whole child, the whole parent, the whole family to bring a child to adulthood as a whole person. Only when we do this for every child will we consider our work a success.” Max Baer, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice

Highlights from the Summit included Tonier Cain as the keynote speaker chronicling her life story “Where There is Breath There is Hope”.

Additional presentations by national experts included Ann Adelist-Estrin addressing trauma, Pamela Peterson Baston exploring strategies for working with families affected by substance use disorders and Dr. James Schuster addressing the over-use of psychotropic medications for dependent children.

The Summit also featured panels linking education to well-being and the importance of normalizing the foster care experience.