Fourteenth Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference
Sponsered by Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
& California Protective Parents Association
Friday & Saturday, April 11 & 12, 2008, 9:30am - 5:00pm
DAY ONE:
Friday, April 11, 2008
Location: Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Hwy, Sacramento CA.
Cost: $90 Pre-registration fee/$115 on site (for Day One only)
- Topic: INNOVATIVE TREATMENT: A PARADIGM SHIFT
- Keynote Speakers:
- Charles Whitfield, M.D. -
psychiatrist & author on the subject of mental health, with an innovative & contemporary approach to wellness & recovery
- Steve Mayberg, MD. - CA Dept. of Mental Health Director
- Michael Cunningham - CA Dept. of Alchol & Drug Chief Deputy Director
- J. Randall Noblitt, Ph.D., Wanda Karriker, Ph.D., & Pam Perskin - author/psychologists
- Lunchtime viewing of the new videos:
"Stories of Survival: Domestic Violence & Child Custody"
"Family Court Crisis: Our Children at Risk"
DAY TWO:
Saturday, April 12, 2008
At the Veterans' Memorial Center in Davis, CA
Offered at no-cost and no-registration.
- Topic: INCEST: The Ultimate Betrayal
- Keynote Speakers:
- Jessica Hendra -
actress/author ("Dejar" in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) discusses her books & exposure of her own family's secrets.
- Wanda Karriker, Ph.D. - Research on Extreme Abuse
- Lunchtime viewing of new video films:
"Stories of Survival: Domestic Violence & Child Custody"
"Family Court Crisis: Our Children at Risk"
- Afternoon Panels:
- Courageous Kids/Protective Parents -
Panel Chair: Karen Anderson, Director of CA Protective Parents Association
- Are Incest Victims Safer Since the "Incest Exception" was Removed? -
Panel of Law Enforcement & Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Agencies:
- Seth Goldstein, Child Abuse Forensic Institute
- Jim Provenza, Special Assistant DA for LA District Attorneys Association
- Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center (SADVC)
- Women Escaping a Violent Environment (WEAVE)
- Actress Allison Arngrim (“Nellie” in Little House on the Prairie) representing the National Association to Protect Children (PROTECT)
- Betsy Salkind, comedian/activist discussing PROTECT Project accomplishments
- Additional activities:
- Carolyn Lehman will receive an award for her book Strong At Heart
- Music that "soothes as it heals" by International recording artist Karie Hillery
- networking activities
- letter-writing
- survivor quilts on display
SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 2008 7:30 pm BOOK SIGNING:
A book signing event will be held at the Avid Reader, 617 Second Street in Davis with Jessica Hendra and Carolyn Lehman. More information will be available at www.avidreaderbooks.com.
*DIRECTIONS to the Davis Veterans' Memorial Center: From I-80, take Richards Blvd exit in Davis, north under the railroad tunnel, left on First Street, right on B Street and continue to 14th. The Center is directly in front.
CEU and MCLE credits are offered through Alliant University's Institute of Violence, Abuse and Trauma (formerly Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute).
Get a PDF copy of the conference brochure and mail in registration form here.
If you want to be on the mailing list for next year's conference, please send your name, mailing address and email address to ISSB, P.O. Box 1903, Davis, CA 95617.
Past Events & Acomplishments
Thirteenth Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference
Sponsered by Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
California Protective Parents Association,
& Hearts Home Foundation
Saturday, April 7, 2007, 9:30am - 5:00pm
This conference was a no-cost, no-registration annual conference. Continuing education units were offered.
- Topic: THE ABUSE SURVIVOR MOVEMENT and the BACKLASH
- Keynote Speakers:
- James Randall Noblitt, Ph.D. and Pamela Perskin - authors of: Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America
They discussed the “False Memory Syndrome” and its junior version “Parental Alienation Syndrome,” along with the lukewarm media attention to child abuse and how this impacts reporting/litigating child abuse cases
- Lunchtime viewing of the video:
"The Lasting Impact of Childhood Trauma"
- Afternoon Panels:
- Child Abuse or Alienation? You Be the Judge -
Panel Chair: Karen Anderson, Executive Director of CA Protective Parents Association
- The Safe Child Coalition: Proposed Solutions -
Panel Chair: Meera Fox, Executive Director of Child Abuse Solutions, Inc.
- Additional activities:
- Courageous Kids Pizza Party Celebration! 5-7:00pm
Music by Dennis, Peter, & friends
- networking activities
- letter-writing
- survivor quilts on display
CEU and MCLE credits were offered through Alliant University's Institute of Violence, Abuse and Trauma (formerly Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute).
Pre-conference activity:
A DAY WITH CALIFORNIA LEGISLATORS
Friday April 6, 2007, 10:30am-3:00pm
Safe Child Coalition members met with Legislators and their aides at the California State Capitol, 10th and L Streets, Sacramento, CA 95814. Children placed with abusers by Family Court were invited to give victim impact statements.
You can come to Sacramento to meet with your CA Senator and Assembly Member (or their aides who specialize in domestic violence and child abuse issues) in their district offices. Bring a friend. Keep the meeting brief and focused. A one-page case summary is useful. Your Legislators need to know that Family Court endangers children. Find your Legislator at www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
CONDUCTING CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS
IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD
Training content was designed for and Continuing Education Credits are available to all psychologists, counselors, nurses, LCSWs and attorneys. These trainings satisfy requirements for custody evaluator training [CA Rules of Court #5.225 and 5.230].
8-hour Annual Advanced Update Child Custody Evaluator Training:
Saturday 8am to 5:30pm
June 16 in San Francisco; Sept 15 in San Diego 2007
4-hour Annual Update Domestic Violence Training:
Friday 1:30 to 5:00pm
June 15 in San Francisco; Sept 14 in San Diego 2007
20-hour Initial Child Custody Evaluator Training:
Thursday - Saturday 8am to 5:30pm
June 14-16 in San Francisco; Sept 13-15 in San Diego 2007
Presented by Child Abuse Solutions, Inc., in collaboration with Alliant International University’s Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT).
For more information on Conducting Child Custody Evaluations Training, please call (510) 521-0438 or visit www.childabusesolutions.com
Twelfth Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference, Part 1
Sponsered by Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
& California Protective Parents Association
Sunday, April 2, 2006, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Part One of this conference was a no-cost, no-registration annual conference funded by many personal donations, the Davis Rotary Club, California HealthCare Foundation, and the City of Davis. Continuing education units were offered.
- Topic: The Healing Power of Words
- Keynote Speakers:
- Carolyn Lehman, Award Winning Author - her newest book: Strong at the Heart, helps teens heal from sexual abuse
- Molly Fisk, Award Winning Poet
- Lunchtime viewing of the PBS Documentary:
"Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories"
- Afternoon Panels:
- Protective Parents & Courageous Kids Speak Out
- How to Make Change Happen
- Presentations by coalition members who lobbied successfully to remove the CA incest exception. Invitee: CA Senator Jim Battin, author of SB 33 The Miracle Bill
- Legislative update and positive actions for CA protective parents
Twelfth Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference, Part 2
Sponsered by Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau & California Protective Parents
Tuesday, April 4, 2006, 9:30am - 4:30pm
Cost was $100 Pre-registration for Part 2, which included costs for CEU credits
- Introductions by:
- Kathryn Jett, Director of CA Dept. of Alcohol & Drug Programs, &
- Steve Mayberg, PhD, Director of CA Dept. of Mental Health
- Topic: Counterintuitive Approaches to Treatment
Innovative treatment methods for addressing complex psychological/social/physiological problems
- Steve Frankel, JD, PhD.
- Sally Wood, PhD
CEU and MCLE credits are offered through Alliant University's Institute of Violence, Abuse and Trauma (formerly Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute).
Eleventh Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference, Part 1
co-sponsered by the Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
Suaturday, April 2, 2005, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Veterans' Memorial Center, 203 E 14th Street, Davis
- Topic: The Link Between Childhood Obesity & Teenage Substance Abuse
- Keynote Speaker: Karen Hawthorne, Ph.D., Professor, California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Diego
- The ACE Study: Childhood Trauma and Adult Health with Vincent Felitti, M.D. by Cavalcade Productions
- Legislation update on protective parent issues and removal of the “incest exception” (www.protect.org)
- Specialized trauma-release technique presentation by Danielle Duperret, Ph.D
- Panel: Eat, Drink & Be Numb- co-chairs: Karen Hawthorne, Ph.D. and Andrea Ransdell, M.S., R.D. Nutrition Supervisor, CommuniCare Health Center
SPECIAL EVENT: Dinner, comedy, raffle, dance to a local 60’s rock band (suggested donation was $20)
Part 1 of this conference was a no-cost, no-registration annual conference funded by many personal donations, the Davis Rotary Club, California HealthCare Foundation, and the City of Davis. Continuing education units were offered.
Eleventh Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference, Part 2
co-sponsered by the Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
Sunday, April 3, 2005, 9:30am - 4:00pm
Davis Public Library 315 E 14th Street, Blanchard Room, Davis, CA
- Topic: Child Custody Scandal Cases: What’s Happening In Family Court?
- Award-winning documentary “Small Justice: Little Justice in America’s Family Courts”
- Update on national protective parent research by Geraldine Stahly, Ph.D.,
- CA Protective Parents and Courageous Kids workshop: Problems and Solutions: What Next?
Part 2 of the conference, held the second day, was a no-cost, no registered day (donations gratefully accepted).
Eleventh Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference, Day 3
co-sponsered by the Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
Monday, April 4, 2005, 9:30am - 4:30pm
Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Highway, Sacramento
- Topic: Trauma and Recovery: Transforming Treatment
- Kathryn Jett, Director of the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs
- Steve Mayberg, Ph.D., Director of the California Department of Mental Health
For Day 3 of the conference, pre-registration was $100, which included costs for CEU credits.
Concurrent Child Custody Investigator
& Evaluator Training
Discount was available for taking both courses (12 hours total) listed below:
Advance registration was $270; On-site registration was $300
Saturday, April 2, 2005, 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Davis Lutheran Church, 317 E 8th Street, Davis, CA
- Four Hour Annual Update Training in domestic violence, required for all court-appointed child custody investigators and evaluators by California Rules of Court 5.230 and 5.225(d).
Training presented by Linda Barnard, Ph.D., nationally recognized expert in domestic violence and its effects
Advance registration was $100; On-site registration was $120
Sunday, April 3, 2005, 8:00am - 5:00pm
Davis Lutheran Church, 317 E 8th Street, Davis, CA
- Eight Hour Annual Update Training
Conducting Custody Evaluations in the Best Interest of the Child:
Techniques, New Legal and Ethical Requirements, and Child Sexual Abuse Issues
Tenth Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference, Part 1
co-sponsered by the Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
Sunday, April 4, 2004, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Veterans' Memorial Center, 203 E 14th Street, Davis
- Topic: Men in Robes
- Keynote Speaker: Davis Clohessy, President, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
- Presentation on abuse by Catholic priests
- Melissa Knight, Director Legislative Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse
- Jeanne Adams, Director of Mr. Light & Associates; and
- Deborah Parker
- Presentation on ritual abuse
- Karen Anderson, Director CA Protective Parents Association and the Courageous Kids Network
- Presention on the effects on children who are placed with their identified perpetrators by family court
- Closing music by Andrea Ransdall and Niid
SPECIAL EVENT: There was dinner and music from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on April 4, immediately following the conference, in celebration of ISSBYC's Tenth Anniversary and honoring the Rotary Club of Davis. Catered by Café Italia and music by Scarlett Huber van Horn (suggested donation was $15 per person).
Part 1 of this conference was a no-cost, no-registration annual conference funded by many personal donations, the Davis Rotary Club, California HealthCare Foundation, and the City of Davis. Continuing education units are offered.
Tenth Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference, Part 2
co-sponsered by the Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
Monday, April 5, 2004, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Highway, Sacramento
- Topic: Trauma and Recovery from Ritual/Sexual Abuse
- Jeanne Adams, Director of Mr. Light & Associates and Deborah Parker
- Arlton Jackson MFT, specialist in counseling women victims of childhood sexual abuse
- Survivor panel: Jeanne, Deborah, Connie, Niid, Jo
For Part 2 of the conference, held the second day, pre-registration was $75, which includes the costs for up to 5 CEU credits (per day), honored in most states.
Ninth Annual Northern California
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference
co-sponsered by the Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau
Saturday, April 12, 2003, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Veterans' Memorial Center, 203 E 14th Street, Davis
- Topic: Which Court Best Protects Sexually Abused Children? The answer may surprise you
- Keynote Speaker: Attorney Keith Perkins, Civil tort litigator, Never Again Foundation
- Nationally-known attorneys Richard Ducote & Seth Goldstein
Discussion: The failure of family & criminal courts to protect sexually abused children, & their $135 million lawsuit on behalf of a now adult woman against court-appointees whom she believes deliberately refused to protect her from child physical abuse.
- Professor Geraldine Stahly, PhD
Discussion: Findings from her national survey of parents who are attempting to protect their children from sexual abuse.
- Special guest Kristen Lombardi, Boston Phoenix reporter
Discussion: Her work on the priest-abuse crisis in Boston began in March 2001 and continued until Cardinal Law resigned in December 2002. She is now beginning coverage of the family court scandal.
This no-cost, no-registration annual conference was funded by many personal donations, the Davis Rotary Club, California HealthCare Foundation, and the City of Davis. Continuing education units were offered.
PRE-CONFERENCE FILM VIEWING
Showing of Garland Waller's award-winning film SMALL JUSTICE, about the problems in family courts.
Friday, April 11, 2003 at 2:00pm
Davis Public Library: 14th & B Streets, Davis, CA
March 20, 2003 Seminar
California Protective Parents Association hosted a seminar with Lundy Bancroft, author of The Batterer As Parent, and Geraldine Stahly Ph.D., professor at California State University San Bernardino on Thursday March 20, 2003 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The seminar, titled "Courts Cause Crisis for Kids: Batterers Teach Their Children Lessons in Violence" was designed to educate legislators and advocates about the damage done to children who live with battering parents and the frequency in which the courts place children at risk. The event was attended by approximately 40 participants, including legislative aides and advocates for battered women and children. The United States had just begun the violent invasion of Iraq, and the topic was a timely reminder that violence in our families mirrors violence in our international family.
Mr. Bancroft spoke eloquently about his experiences treating batterers, and the eerie ability of batterers to turn truth upside down, framing themselves as victims despite clear evidence of their own aggression and greater physical strength. Being in the unsupervised custody of a batterer keeps a child in a constant state of fear, which impedes healing from the trauma of having received, observed, or known about violence in the family.
He spoke of research showing that batterers are six (6) times more likely to commit incest. Their sense of power, control, domination, entitlement and ownership leads to this damaging outcome for a large number of children of batterers.
Mr. Bancroft made the point that the current family court structure frequently places children at significant risk and this must be changed.
Geraldine Stahly Ph.D. described her research on domestic violence and the lack of progress protecting children in custody disputes, despite the good new laws that have been passed in recent years. Her current on-going research is based on a national survey project sponsored by California Protective Parents Association and Our Children Our Future Charitable Foundation. The preliminary survey data portrays a chilling pattern of legal, civil, and human rights violations.
The data will be posted in the near future on this website. To complete a survey, please go to www.mothers-of-lost-children and download a copy.
Meeting with California Judicial Council
On Wednesday, December 11, 2002, the directors of five California organizations (California Protective Parents Association, California NOW, California Alliance Against Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence Center of Santa Clarita Valley, and Child Abuse Solutions, Inc.) met with the California Judicial Council in San Francisco to discuss the abject failure of family court to protect children in custody disputes.
The coalition task force members made three primary requests:
1. To have the opportunity to present the scope of the problem to the Chief Justice, Judicial Council, and Commission on Judicial Performance at a public hearing
2. To have a policy statement from Judicial Council regarding how family court cases are to be handled by the courts, and
3. To have the Judicial Council assist in a variety of legislative solutions, including a Crimes Against Children Review Panel.
The Judicial Council was open to suggestions for working together and future meetings are anticipated. We look forward to collaboration on methods to improve the decisions made by family courts to ensure the safety of children.
On April 7, 2002 the Incest Survivors Speakers' Bureau and California Protective Parents Association cosponsored the Eighth Annual Northern California Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Conference TRAUMA AND RECOVERY in Davis, California, moderated by Laurie Jones JD MBA.
An award was presented to Yolo County Supervisor Lois Wolk for her role in developing a Mulit-Disciplinary Interview Center in Yolo County.
Keynote speaker Vincent Felitti MD from San Diego Kaiser Permanente gave a memorable talk which resulted in not one, but two standing ovations.
His subject was the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. He and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted this study with the help of 17,421 adult Kaiser Health Plan members. The research found a strong, graded relationship between 8 categories of adverse childhood experiences and the leading causes of health risks and mortality in adulthood. The data was accurate to p=.001.
The study did not examine the age of onset, severity or chronicity of the negative events, only whether the events had occurred in a child's life. The findings of the research were as follows:
The more categories of the following experiences a child endures:
- recurrent physical abuse
- recurrent emotional abuse
- sexual abuse
- living in a household where a person is a substance abuser
- living in a household where a person has a mental illness
- living in a household where there is a person who is in prison
- living in a household where the mother is battered
- losing a parent
...The more likely the adult is to have:
- smoking
- alcoholism
- drug abuse
- obesity
- 50+ sexual partners
- poor occupational performance
- depression
- suicide attempts
- lung disease
- heart disease
- hepatitis
- diabetes
For an example, a person with 4 categories of adverse childhood experiences is 1220% more likely to attempt suicide than a person with 0 categories. The study found that 2/3 of suicide attempts could be attributed to adverse childhood experiences.
A male who experiences 6 categories of adverse childhood experiences has a 4,600% increase in the likelihood of later using intravenous drugs.
The importance of this data cannot be overstated. It has widespread implications for public policy, health care, and treatment on all levels.
Further information can be found at www.kp.org/permanentejournal.org, "The Relation Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adult Health: Turning Gold into Lead" by Dr. Vincent Felitti and "Dear Doctor" by Anonymous in the Winter 2002 journal.
This difficult information was balance by a powerful, hopeful presentation on a photography book project by Carolyn Lehman. Her book will document the lives of incest survivors spanning many different ages and ethnicities who are engaged in the healing process. The photographs of these survivors were on display at the conference, as were the four Survivor Quilts. Quilt squares were designed by incest and ritual abuse survivors during the past 6 years, and have been beautifully quilted by local artists.
A well-attended dance and movement workshop by Patricia Ehnisz ADTR, MCAT was held by during lunch.
Legislative Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse director Melissa Knight-Fine gave an update on California laws designed to protect children, including mandatory suspected child abuse reporting laws for clergy, and training and standards for custody evaluators (CA Family Law Sections 3044, 3110.5 and 3118 can be found at www.leginfo.ca.gov).
The award-winning documentary "Small Justice" by Garland Waller was shown, followed by a presentation by California Protective Parents Association Executive Director Karen Anderson who described a chilling case history of a young boy who was placed with his identified rapist father by family and juvenile courts, despite consistent disclosures of sodomy by the child for 7 years, 3 positive MDIC interviews, and 7 substantiated child protective services reports.
The final panel consisted of 6 survivors who had experienced at least 6 of the categories of adverse childhood experiences. All were survivors of ritual abuse, which can be viewed as a specific form of clergy abuse. These survivors demonstrated that healing is possible even under the most adverse conditions, with effective trauma treatment. The conference ended with a beautiful duet by two local women.
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