THE NYSPCC IN THE MEDIA

In April 2007, The NYSPCC’s supervised visitation program, Positive Parenting Plus (PP+), was prominently featured in an article in The New York Times, “In Custody Fights, a Hurdle for the Poor.” The article detailed the complex issues facing families who need access to supervised visitation services and cited The NYSPCC’s PP+ program as “among the best in the city.” Please click here to view article.

Following the publication of The New York Times article, Dr. Pulido wrote an article for ParentGuide News, a monthly publication serving the New York metropolitan area that targets the information, needs and interests of parents who have children under the age of 12. Her article, “Parent Alert – Steps to take if you think a child is being abused,” appeared in the July issue. Please click here to view article.

THE NYSPCC CONTINUES TO LECTURE NATIONALLY ON CHILD WELFARE ISSUES

The NYSPCC’s Executive Director, Mary L. Pulido, Ph.D., was selected to present at the 16th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect “Protecting Children, Promoting Healthy Families and Preserving Communities” in Portland, Oregon in April 2007. This conference is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Abuse and Neglect. Her seminar is entitled “Support for the Caregivers: Preventing and Managing Secondary Traumatic Stress.” This training session was developed to help caseworkers, social workers and administrators understand and handle the secondary traumatic stress issues associated with providing care for victims of child abuse, domestic violence and other trauma victims.

Dr. Pulido is also presenting “Promoting Caregiver Resiliency – Preventing and Managing Secondary Traumatic Stress” at the 15th National Colloquium of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children in Boston, Massachusetts in July 2007. Also at the same conference, Dr. Pulido will be presenting a second workshop entitled “Providing Supervised Visitation to Mandated Parents: The Parent Coaching Model.”

Stephen Forrester, Esq. The NYSPCC’s Assistant Executive Director, and Jenny Psaki, MS, Staff Mediator, will be presenting “The New York City Family Court Child Permanency Mediation Program” at the Association of Family and Conciliation Court’s (AFCC) 44th annual conference to be held May 30-June 2, 2007, in Washington, D.C. They will present and discuss the development of the New York City program, the unique model of the public/private partnership between the New York City Family Court and The NYSPCC and the theory and practice of mediating child permanency/child protective family court proceedings.

A second Child Permanency Mediation abstract has been selected by Prevent Child Abuse New York for a workshop presentation at its 12th annual conference to be held April 16-18, 2007. The conference is entitled “Investing in Children, Investing in our Future” and will be held in Albany, New York. Stephen Forrester and Jorge Irizarry, J.D., Staff Mediator, will be presenting “The New York City Family Court Child Permanency Mediation Program.”

Catherine Lewis, LCSW, Director of Clinical Services, was selected to present at Prevent Child Abuse New York's 12th Annual New York State Child Abuse Prevention Conference “Investing in Children, Investing in our Future” in April 2007 in Albany, New York. Ms. Lewis’ workshop is entitled: “Making the Most of Family Visits in Foster Care: Coaching Parents, Strengthening Connection and Moving Towards Permanency.” Ms. Lewis was also selected to present at a one-day workshop in January 2007 at The Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City. Her presentation is entitled “A Systemic Approach to Working with Children in Foster Care.”

The NYSPCC is also proud to announce that Ms. Lewis was selected to present “Family Therapy: Theory and Practice,” “Family Therapy with Traumatised Client” and “Family Therapy in Today’s Modern World” at the Family Ties: Attachment and Family Therapy Conference, February 26-28, 2007, in Auckland, New Zealand.

The NYSPCC's Assistant Director of Clinical Services, Helen Woodbury, LCSW, and Crisis Counselor Jacqueline Otero, LCSW, were selected to present at Prevent Child Abuse New York's 12th Annual New York State Child Abuse Prevention Conference “Investing in Children, Investing in our Future” to be held April 2007 in Albany, New York. The NYSPCC’s workshop is entitled “Providing Therapeutic Supervised Visitation for High Conflict Families: The Positive Parenting Plus (PP+) Initiative.”

Finally, Catherine Lewis and Helen Woodbury were selected to present a workshop at the Supervised Visitation Network (SVN), Administrative Office of the Courts, Center for Families, Children & the Courts, Access to Visitation Grant Program conference, Celebrate-Educate-Innovate on May 9-12, 2007 in San Francisco, California. They will present “Providing Therapeutic Supervised Visitation for High Conflict Families: The Positive Parenting Plus (PP+) Initiative.”

FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

Mary L. Pulido, Ph.D., The NYSPCC’s Executive Director, holds the rank of Assistant Professor at The Hunter College School of Social Work and is also a Medical Reserve Corp “first responder” to disaster trauma through the New York City Office of Health and Mental Hygiene. In 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Dr. Pulido to the New York City Child Fatality Review Team (CFRT). The CFRT has responsibility for examining all deaths of children up to age 12 whose deaths are categorized as unanticipated, the result of trauma, or the circumstances of which are suspicious, obscure, or otherwise unexplained.

Catherine Lewis, LCSW, MS and The NYSPCC’s Director of Clinical Services, is on the teaching faculty at The Ackerman Institute for the Family where she is a member of the Center for the Child and Relational Trauma.

Jorge Irizarry, J.D., a Mediator in our Child Permanency Mediation program, is an Adjunct Professor and the Director of the Mediation Clinic at Brooklyn Law School.