Happy First Days of Fall!
Can you believe it’s been nearly a month and a half since our national conference? Inasmuch as that seems long ago, it also feels very close because so many of the issues we shared and explored together as a community—prioritizing equity and social justice, engaging lived expertise in our work, providing concrete and economic supports to families, and preventing child sexual abuse, among many others—emerge regularly in my continuing discussions both within and outside our network of partners and collaborators, not to mention in the media and in the halls of Congress.
To all of the nearly 2,000 attendees who presented and participated in 100+ conference sessions, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude—without you, our first virtual conference could not have been the tremendous success it was. Additionally, I want to remind you that you can revisit your favorite sessions, or watch sessions you were unable to attend, through 5:00 PM ET this Friday, October 1.
Similarly, in case you missed the live webinar last month, my conversation with PCAA board member and renowned brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry about his new book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, which he co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, is available on our website through the end of this week.
Lastly, on the policy front, we’ve updated our resources on Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) and the child tax credit, both of which you can find on our Public Policy landing page (scroll down to Issues We’re Focused on Now). I encourage you to stay up to date on these and other valuable resources in our online library, where you’ll find a wide variety of tools that help to propel our work forward.
Together, we can prevent child abuse, America…because childhood lasts a lifetime.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Melissa Merrick
President and CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America