03/01/11 Children Exposed to Violence Professional Education Program Research shows that millions of the nation's children and adolescents are exposed to violence, as both victims and witnesses. All too often, these children are at risk for physical, mental, and emotional harm, including anxiety and depression, attachment difficulties, regressive behavior and conduct problems. Such issues spurred Family Service of RI and Butler Hospital to collaborate on a March 25th professional education program entitled Children Exposed to Violence: Current Research and Implications for Clinical Practice. One of the program's speakers, Audrey Tyrka, MD, PhD, associate chief of Butler's Mood Disorders Program, who is studying the relationship of childhood trauma to adult psychiatric disorders, says, "While preventing maltreatment from happening to all children is the ideal, if we better understand who is most vulnerable, we can fortify social services, reduce stressors, and develop targeted physician and school interventions to help protect children from developing psychiatric illnesses in the first place." Family Service of Rhode Island is doing just that through collaboration with police, housing, educational and welfare services to provide trauma-informed care for families. "We are dedicated to providing innovative and research-based practices to families exposed to violence and trauma and to building partnerships which recognize that we must make a difference in this critical national issue," said Susan Erstling, PhD, senior VP of Trauma, Intake and Emergency Services for Family Service of RI. The creators of the non-profit/police department partnership--Family Service of RI CEO Margaret Holland McDuff and the Providence police chief, Colonel Dean Esserman--will serve on a guest panel, along with Deborah DeBare, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Speakers include Betsy McAlister Groves, director of the Child Witness to Violence Project and author of Children Who See Too Much: Lessons from the Child Witness to Violence Project; and Elena Cohen, director of the Safe Start Center in Washington, DC and an expert on families with special needs children and the mental health needs of Hispanic children. The program will be held at the Ray Conference Center at Butler from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, March 25.   Registration is $50, which includes a light breakfast and three continuing education units for physicians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, mental health counselors, teachers, school psychologists, and school social workers. For more information or to register, visit www.butler.org.   (end)