Lecture 1 in a series of 3 sessions on the occasion the Child Abuse Prevention Month in partnership with the School of Social Work at OU-Norman

April 1, 12:00 – 1:30pm CDT (on Zoom)

Free lecture for OU students.

Students will be able to meet top professionals and researchers in the field of child abuse and neglect, learn about contemporary issues in the field of child maltreatment and will be given the opportunity to ask the lecturers questions.

By Prof. Gerald P. Mallon, DSW, Associate Dean of Scholarship and Research at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York City.

Prof. Mallon has been a child welfare practitioner, advocate, educator, and researcher for more than 46 years.. Dr. Mallon was the first child welfare professional in the U.S. to research, write about, and develop programs for LGBTQ+ youth in child welfare settings.  Dr. Mallon’s scholarship and practice has been recognized through multiple awards including The Judge Richard Ware Award – Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund; The New York State Citizens Coalition for Children Advocacy Award, the Hosteter-Habib Award, Family Equality Council; the Child Advocate of the Year Award – North American Council on Adoptable and induction in 2014 as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. In 2017, Dr. Mallon was awarded the Adoption Excellence Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Mallon is an internationally recognized expert on LGBTQ+ children, youth, and family issues particularly as they relate to child welfare. And juvenile justice. Through his writing, advocacy, and training efforts, he has influenced major changes in policy and practice concerning LGBTQ+ youth within these systems.

Lecture description: Research indicates that LGBTQ+ youth experience higher rates of abuse and neglect compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Many LGBTQ+ youth are especially impacted by abuse and neglect situations as their identities are often subject to verbal harassment and violence at home, by their immediate family members, in schools, in the community and by the very systems that are designed to protect them. A high rate of LGBTQ+ youth will have traumatic experiences in their social world, such as discrimination, bullying, violence, and rejection. For many years the child welfare system has not acknowledge or understood this unique vulnerability of LGBTQ+ youth or included them within their child protection schemes and therefore have not tailored responses to address the trauma-related needs of this population. This lecture will address the risk factors for abuse and neglect among LGBTQ youth, the response of the welfare system to them, and the recommended trauma informed responses which should be adopted in the welfare services.