UW News

November 6, 2008

Expert on foster care to lecture Nov. 13

There are challenges in the foster care system and UW Professor Mark Courtney, a leading expert on U.S. child welfare services who recently spoke before Congress on the matter, argues that the issues surrounding foster youths’ formative years are central to the solution. Courtney will lecture on Improving Outcomes for the Children of the State: Lessons from Research on Foster Youths’ Transitions to Adulthood from 5:30 to 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 at the UW Club.

Courtney has been conducting research on the transition to adulthood for foster youth for more than 15 years, and in his lecture he will share the results and implications of that research, including suggestions for how society can better help parent foster youth in transition.

Courtney has served as a consultant to the federal government, state departments of social services, and both public and private child welfare agencies around the country. He joined the School of Social Work as Ballmer Chair in Child Well-Being, the school’s first endowed chair.

This timely discussion is the first of a three-part lecture series presented by the UW School of Social Work and the UW Alumni Association. The lecture is free but advance registration is requested. For more information or to register, visit the UW Alumni Association online at www.UWalum.com.