And Justice for All … Broken Connections for Immigrant and Refugee Families in the Valley” is the theme of the 9th annual Harry Specht Memorial Child Welfare Symposium, presented from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 18 by California State University, Fresno.

The symposium will focus on reconnecting San Joaquin Valley immigrant and refugee families with advocacy-based services, examining current policies and illustrating family strengths.

Local and regional professionals in child welfare, education, mental health, community-based organizations, legal/judicial system and economic development will participate. Current research findings will be presented, highlighting the struggles of immigrant and refugee children and families and documenting the need for advocacy-based services.

Keynote addresses are:

  • 8:40 a.m. – Fresno State Social Work professor Dr. Kris Clarke, “The Unprotected Immigration: The Global Production of Illegality”
  • 9 a.m. – Dr. Ann Aurelia Lopez, a research associate at the University of California, Santa Cruz, “The Implications of NAFTA and Immigration from Mexico”
  • 10:15 a.m. – Peter Y. Vang of Fresno County Employment and Temporary Assistance, “The Continuous Challenges of Achieving an American Dream: The Southeast Asians’ American Perspectives”

The symposium will be held at the Piccadilly Inn University, 4961 N. Cedar Ave. Admission is $50 for professionals and $40 for students. Continuing Education Units will be offered for additional $15. Due to limited seating, reservations are required. A copy of the program and registration form is available online at:

http://www.csufresno.edu/chhs/depts_programs/social_work/documents/Broch ure-ImmigrationandRefugeeSymposium2008.pdf.
Sponsors are Fresno State’s Title IV-E Child Welfare Program, Department of Social Work Education, College of Health and Human Services, Chicano and Latin American Studies, College of Social Sciences and University Migrant Services; the Fresno County Department of Children and Family Services; and several community partners.

The symposium commemorates the work of Dr. Harry Specht, a professor, and community-based advocate in social work practice who died in 1995. He was dean of the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley and co-wrote “Unfaithful Angels: How Social Work Abandoned Its Mission” (Free Press, 1993). The book was critical of a shift in the profession from helping the poor to private counseling of the middle class.

For more information, call 559.278.3076 or e-mail mflores@csufresno.edu.
Related links:

Department of Social Work Education
<http://www.csufresno.edu/chhs/depts_programs/social_work/index.shtml>

College of Health and Human Services <http://www.csufresno.edu/chhs