The first Uniting for Children and Youth conference was held in 1999 to give staff, partners and interested Albertans the opportunity to learn leading practices in the child and family services field.  At the time, the conference was one of the only learning opportunities of its kind.

Since 1999, the number and nature of learning opportunities has evolved and grown substantially.  Today, Children and Youth Services host or sponsor a number of conferences in specific fields - child care, foster parenting, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), social work, family violence, youth engagement, children with disabilities, and children’s mental health, to name just a few.  These conferences offer many of the same learning and networking opportunities as Uniting for Children and Youth.

The ministry evaluated all of the learning opportunities we offer or sponsor and decided that in order to avoid duplication, it was best not to go forward with Uniting for Children and Youth 2009.

Several ministry events will continue to be hosted each year.  For example: FASD Conference (February 2009), Alberta Foster Parent Association Training Retreat (March 2009) and Child Care Symposium (May 2009).

Also, our ministry is sponsoring numerous events through the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research, including:

41st Banff International Conference on Behavioural Science – “Psychopathic Traits in Youth: Research and Practice” (March 22-25)

“Innovative Approaches to Preschool Developmental Screening and Follow-up Services” (April 20-22, Lethbridge)

The ministry will continue to support other events such as the Alberta Association for Community Living Annual Family Conference (March 20-21) and Family-Centred Care Conference  (May 24-26). 

Visit www.child.alberta.ca for information on these and other upcoming events and learning opportunities.