Safe Schools Summit set for Tuesday

Child abuse and neglect, as well as teen dating violence will be addressed at the Bi-Annual Safe Schools Summit on Tuesday.

The summit will occur from 6 – 8 p.m. on Oct. 20 with a light dinner beforehand at 5 p.m. The summit will be held in the auditorium of Downingtown STEM Academy at 335 Manor Avenue.

School administrators, school board directors, law enforcement and parents are invited to learn prevention and intervention strategies to ensure all children in Chester County are provided a safe and secure learning environment.

The summit features two keynote speakers, including Deb Ryan, head of the Chester County Child Abuse Unit and Amelia Rayburn, a children’s counselor and advocate with the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County. The keynote speakers will be followed by a moderated panel discussion with audience participation.

The panel includes Ryan; Rayburn; Terry Stewart, of the Chester County Intermediate Unit Homeless Children’s Initiative; and Joan Duvall-Flynn, of the NAACP education committee.

The Summit will focus on several key areas of child abuse, neglect and teen violence, including: how abuse and trauma affects learning; how schools and law enforcement can work together; what happens after child abuse is reported; and an examination of child abuse from the viewpoint of law enforcement.

The Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) coordinates the Safe Schools Summit in partnership with the County of Chester and local law enforcement. This will be the fifth Safe Schools Summit since the first was held in January 2013, following the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

The summit event has addressed topics such as active school shooters, crisis communications, prescription drug abuse, gang-related violence and cyberbullying.

Registration is required for this event. To register, visit www.cciu.org/sssregister2015. To contact the Daily Local News, email news@ dailylocal.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter; wwww.Facebook.com/ DailyLocalNews, wwww. Twitter.com/WCdailylocal. com.