Registration Opens for Childhood Summit on UA Campus

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama Project LAUNCH Early Childhood Summit will be held May 3 and 4 at the Bryant Conference Center on The University of Alabama’s campus.

The Summit will focus on strengthening adult capacities to ensure children’s optimal development and is open to all early childhood professionals, mental health practitioners, physicians, educators, home visitors or any other professionals across the state working directly with children birth to 8.

Project LAUNCH, which stands for Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health, promotes the wellness of young children from birth to 8 by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their development.

The Alabama Partnership for Children partners with the Alabama Department of Mental Health, the Alabama Department of Public Health and UA’s College of Human Environmental Sciences’ Child Development Resources for Project LAUNCH’s local implementation in Tuscaloosa.

The May 4 Project LAUNCH Summit includes keynote addresses from Dr. David Willis, director of the Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems Maternal and Child Heath Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Nancy Fishman, deputy director of the Ready Nation/Council for a Strong America; and Jessica Richards, a licensed psychotherapist specializing in early childhood mental health.

Registration is available online at http://training.ua.edu/launch. Registration costs $30 for the Professional Development Institute, $35 for the Project LAUNCH Summit and $60 for both days. CEU certificates are also available.

For more information about Alabama Project LAUNCH at the state level, contact Marguerite Johnson via phone, 1-866-711-4025 or email, mjohnson@smartstartalabama.org.

For information about Alabama Project LAUNCH in Tuscaloosa, contact Amy Crosby, 205/348-4036 or acrosby@ches.ua.edu.