Cherokee Nation News Release (918) 456-0671, Ext. 2210 FAX (918)458-5580 Cherokee Nation Director of Communications@cherokee.org © Cherokee Nation - All Rights Reserved October 4, 2002

Cherokee Nation And Nsu Host Child Welfare And Family Preservation Conference

TAHLEQUAH - The Cherokee Nation and Northeastern State University recently joined forces to host this year's Child Welfare and Family Preservation Conference. The Conference, titled "Preserving Children, Caregivers, and Culture," was held at the Net Building on NSU's Tahlequah Campus on Friday, October 4.

"Our format was developed to provide helpful information to both child welfare professionals and families," said Lana Turlington, a manager in the Cherokee Nation Indian Child Welfare program. "We invited experts from the fields of child brain development, domestic violence, and foster care to hold workshops designed to support the family structure."

Native American artists also showcased their work during the conference.

"It's important that culture is assimilated into conferences like this," Turlington said. "We've found through our work with foster and adoptive care that keeping Indian children in their culture helps them thrive and makes a difficult time a little easier."

Janet Smith, M.A. presented an introduction to Art Therapy and Gloria Teague provided information on diabetes in the family. Mary Jo Cole of Help in Crisis, Dr. Hershel Beaver and Dr. Orren Dale also made presentations.