How can The Summit help our community?
We are pleased to announce that the 2025 annual Alliance For Children Training Summit will be held at the University of Georgia Conference Center on Thursday, April 10, from 8am to 5pm. Join us as we bring in incredible trainers who will present the best practices for those in the child welfare field. Alliance for Children partners with Ruth's Cottage, The Patticake House, and Coastal Plain Court Appointed Special Advocates to host a training summit covering several disciplines in the child welfare field.
The Alliance for Children Training Summit started in 2017; Cindy Evers from Alliance for Children, Nancy Bryan from Ruth's Cottage, Melissa Wood from The Patticake House, and Kristin Morrison from Coastal Plain Court Appointed Special Advocates became deeply concerned because South Georgia lacked the opportunity for professionals in the child welfare field to have a higher caliber of training in the best practices as other professionals in the state received. Budgets are tight, and many cannot travel to metro areas for higher-quality training and networking opportunities. Then, we decided to bring higher quality training to the South Georgia area through a yearly training summit. The first summit was developed and held in 2017 and was a great success.
This year will be the seventh annual Alliance For Children Summit. Our past Summit speakers have included Matthew Sandusky, Executive Director of Peaceful Hearts Foundation and the adopted son of long-time defensive coordinator for Penn State University, Jerry Sandusky, who is currently serving time in federal prison for molesting 10 boys, including Matthew. Other speakers include Collins Touhy Smith from the blockbuster movie The Blind Side. Other speakers include professionals in best practices from law enforcement, prosecution, mental health, education, and others.
This year's summit will feature Judge Robert Lung, who speaks on issues like human trafficking, childhood trauma, and the hope of resiliency. Dr. Emmanuel Peña, a Child Abuse Pediatrician from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta will be a featured speaker for the second year in a row with Alliance for Children Georgia. William F. McMurray, Attorney at Law will also be a guest this year. Mr. McMurray filed suit against the Catholic Church on behalf of children whom a priest had sexually assaulted and won the suit. In that same genre, another speaker will be Dave Pittman, who is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a minister of his church. These presenters will bring a wealth of knowledge and training to attendees. Continuing Education Units are available for most disciplines.
