February 28, 2006
Mar.24-25: New Orleans child psychologist keynotes conference on promoting children’s well-being
The new Oregon Child Advocacy Project’s first national conference will be held at the University of Oregon School of Law, 1515 Agate Street, Eugene on Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25, 2006.
“Protecting Children’s Need for Nurturance” features child 
psychologist Joy Osofsky, a professor at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and the president of Zero to Three, a national resource for parents and professionals who are concerned about the healthy development of young children.
Osofsky has been involved around the clock in one of the most dramatic recent examples of children’s need for nurturance. She has been working on the assessment and follow-up treatment of New Orleans children displaced by Hurricane Katrina, who are at significant risk of disaster-related mental illness. In a recent Times Picayune article, she said, “We know that children are resilient and will be most resilient in a nurturing, consistent environment with parents who are emotionally available to them.”
On Saturday, she will deliver the luncheon keynote, “Healing the Child in Juvenile Court: Using an Infant Mental Health Approach.”
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ABOUT THE OREGON CHILD ADVOCACY PROJECT
The conference was made possible by Duncan Campbell ’73. Last year, he gave a generous gift to the law school to teach law students child advocacy skills and to make systemic legal changes that promote children’s well being.
Family law professor Leslie Harris directs the new program. She said, “The commitment of a nurturing adult is so important to a child’s growth into competent, happy adulthood. Unfortunately laws and policies don’t always work to preserve such relationships. Duncan’s gift enables us to involve law students in reform efforts that support children and help the next generation of children’s lawyers become effective advocates.”
The project funds two student fellows each year. The 2005-6 Campbell Fellows are Molly Allen ’06 and Tehan Wittemyer ’06.
Allen spent the past two summers working with and advocating for abused and neglected children at Juvenile Rights Project, Inc. in Portland, Oregon. She is also a 2005 Henry Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Fellow.
Wittemyer volunteered in New York City public schools while she was attending Columbia College. She later joined Teach for America and taught for five years in struggling Washington DC public schools. Wittemyer was a Wayne Morse Fellow from 2003-5.
-Eliza Schmidkunz
