UMD News

Director of Public Relations:
Susan Beasy Latto, slatto@d.umn.edu
315 Darland Administration Bldg.
1049 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812
(218) 726-8830 Cell: (218) 348-5688
Fax: (218) 726-7413

February 1, 2006

Contact:
Susan Beasy Latto, Director UMD Public Relations 218 726-8830 slatto@d.umn.edu
Johanna Garrison, Asst Professor, Dept of Social Work 218 726-8621 jgarriso@d.umn.edu
Karen Nichols, Assoc. Admin. Dept of Social of Social Work 218 726-8023 knichols@d.umn.edu
Additional information and a brochure can be found at http://www.d.umn.edu/sw/

The UMD Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies will sponsor a conference on "The Impact of Methamphetamine on Children and Families: Research and Community Response" from 12:30 p.m. - 4 p.m., Thursday, February 9, and 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Friday, February 10, in the UMD Kirby Student Center Ballroom, third floor.

The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is requested by February 3.
To register please contact Mary Simon at 218-726-7854 or msimon@d.umn.edu.

The workshop will highlight research conducted by a team studying parental methamphetamine abuse and child welfare in the rural Midwest. Dr. Wendy Haight, and Dr. James Black, two co-authors of the study, will present their research during the keynote address on Friday, February 10.

"Because the topic is relatively new, there have been few studies on methamphetamine use and its impact on children", said Mike Raschick, Head of the UMD Department of Social Work. "These two presenters are at the forefront of this important research." Dr. Haight, an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Black, an MD and neuroscientist from Southern Illinois University, have co-authored several studies on child welfare issues.

Dealing with the methamphetamine problem requires agencies such as social services, law enforcement and public health to work closely together particularly when dealing with children impacted by methamphetamine. Deborah Durkin, a statewide expert on methamphetamine use from the Minnesota Department of Health, will be joined by a panel of local experts to discuss why this multidisciplinary approach is so important.

Wright County has developed such a multidisciplinary approach through their Methamphetamine Education and Drug Awareness coalition (MEADA), and a representative from MEADA will talk about how the coalition of families, neighbors, school personnel, law enforcement, county agencies, faith communities and municipalities has succeeded in educating the public about the dangers of methamphetamine.

Also featured will be sessions on the prenatal impacts of methamphetamine and methamphetamine across disciplines.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the UMD Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies, the Center for American Indian and Minority Health at the U of M Medical School Duluth, and the U of M Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment and the Life Sciences.

The Center invites students, social workers, educators, public health workers and community members to attend.