Bivona to host third annual "Bivona Summit on Child Abuse"

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK- April 25, 2011

In conjunction with Child Abuse Prevention Month, Bivona Child Advocacy Center will host its third annual Bivona Summit on Child Abuse, Thursday and Friday, April 28-29, 2011, at the Rochester Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. The Bivona Summit, a multidisciplinary training conference for professionals who work with children, was created by Bivona Child Advocacy Center in recognition of the pressing need to build awareness and education about child abuse. Due to the extraordinary feedback and support received from the 700 total attendees in its first two years, the Bivona Summit on Child Abuse has been expanded to a two-day conference.

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More than 300 professionals from across New York State are registered to attend this year’s Summit. Registrants represent social and legal agencies, including law enforcement, attorneys and judges, mental health professionals, the pediatric medical community, social workers, school personnel, day care providers, faith-based community and child advocates. With over 20 options to choose from, attendees can select the workshops that interest them; each workshop is presented by experts in their field, including several national and regional speakers.

The Bivona Summit will kick-off with a welcome ceremony on Thursday, April 28th at 10:00 a.m. The welcome ceremony will include comments from Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, Mayor Tom Richards and Mary Whittier, Executive Director, Bivona Child Advocacy Center.

Sharon Cooper, M.D., FAAP, CEO of Developmental and Forensic Pediatrics, PA, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, will deliver this year’s keynote address. Dr. Cooper will share her “Too Sexy, Too Young, Too Soon” presentation highlighting factors associated with the sexualization of girls and the long-term consequences with respect to child sexual exploitation.

On Friday, April 29th, the Bivona Summit will screen the award-winning documentary film Lost Sparrow. Lost Sparrow tells the story of two Crow Indian brothers who inexplicably ran away from their home in 1978. Early the next morning, they were struck and killed by a freight train. Their sudden and mysterious deaths sent shockwaves through their tiny upstate New York community of Little Falls. In the documentary film Lost Sparrow, filmmaker Chris Billing investigates the tragic deaths of his adopted brothers, and confronts a painful truth that shattered his family. Bivona Summit attendees can choose to join Chris Billing for a post-screening discussion of Lost Sparrow, including a question-and-answer session about the tragic story behind the film.

Beyond 2011, Bivona Child Advocacy Center’s vision is to grow the Bivona Summit into the preeminent conference in the Northeast region. “Through the expertise of national and regional speakers, our goal is to educate members of our community - and beyond - on collaborative ways to prevent, treat and investigate child abuse”, said Mary Whittier, Executive Director, Bivona Child Advocacy Center.

In addition to learning about current trends in child abuse, the Bivona Summit is also an opportunity for professionals to learn about the resources Bivona Child Advocacy Center offers children and families devastated by the effects of abuse. In 2010 alone, more than 1,500 children from Greater Rochester were evaluated by Bivona Child Advocacy Center.

The 3rd Annual Bivona Summit on Child Abuse is co-sponsored by Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation and Glover-Crask Charitable Trust, in partnership with The National Child Protection Training Center and Northeast Regional Children’s Advocacy Center.

Complete workshop listing

For more information about the Bivona Summit on Child Abuse, visit www.BivonaSummit.org.

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About Bivona Child Advocacy Center

Bivona Child Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization, is a safe, welcoming place where children who have been sexually or physically abused can begin their journey to recovery. Bivona staff facilitate an under-one-roof collaboration of social and legal agencies to protect, treat and counsel child victims and their families, and to investigate and prosecute the abusers. Bivona provides a compassionate, efficient, cost-effective infrastructure for child abuse intervention.

Bivona Child Advocacy Center is the only agency in the Greater Rochester community to provide such comprehensive services. Since opening August 1, 2004, Bivona has evaluated more than 6,500 children. In 2010 alone, Bivona evaluated more than 1,500 children, providing over 3,800 services.

Although Bivona receives some government funding, the majority of its support comes from donors. Bivona Child Advocacy Center is an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance (www.nca-online.org). The Bivona Child Advocacy Center has quickly become a resource to the community for all issues related to child sexual abuse. For more information, please visit www.BivonaCAC.org.

Bivona has formal partnerships with the following agencies to provide services to abused children and their families. Their partners and a team approach make it possible.

• Monroe County Child Protective Services
• Law Enforcement - all 12 jurisdictions
• Monroe County District Attorney’s Office
• Monroe County Law Department
• REACH Program of Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester
• Rape Crisis Service
• Linden Oaks Sexual Abuse Treatment Services
• Catholic Family Center
• Rochester City School District

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