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The School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Northwest will hold its annual Public Affairs Week during the week of March 31. Special events planned for that week include a Tuesday, April 1 presentation by noted pediatric cardiologist Stanley Pappelbaum, M.D., M.B.A., a nationally recognized expert on healthcare and healthcare economics, and the Forum on Child Abuse and Neglect on Friday, April 4.

Beginning at 7 p.m. on April 1 in the Library Conference Center, Pappelbaum will deliver an address titled “Healthcare Delivery in the 21st Century.” He will discuss what is needed to create a community-based, patient-focused, quality-driven healthcare system that can meet the nation’s need within existing budget constraints. Pappelbaum is currently the managing partner of Pappelbaum, Turner & Associates, a national healthcare consultancy based in Del Mar, Calif., and he is a well-known speaker and retreat facilitator on healthcare issues.

Pappelbaum is a board-certified pediatric cardiologist and an MIT-trained health economist who has authored numerous articles and publications covering a wide range of healthcare and clinical issues. He currently holds teaching appointments as Clinical Professor of Pediatric Cardiology at the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine and as Adjunct Faculty in the Division of Health Services Administration, Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physician Executives.

The IU Northwest SPEA program is pleased to welcome Dr. Pappelbaum to campus for this free presentation as part of this year’s Public Affairs Week.

On Friday, April 4, SPEA and the IU Northwest Division of Social Work will join Prevent Child Abuse Lake County (PCALC), Dunebrook: Prevent Child Abuse LaPorte County, Mental Health America, The Villages, Parents as Teachers of Lake County, Community Partners for Child Safety, and the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) in presenting the 18th Annual Forum on Child Abuse and Neglect.

This free program, which shall include guest speakers, child-safety presentations and breakout continuing education sessions for social workers and foster parents, will begin at 8:30 a.m. with coffee and networking in the Savannah Center Auditorium, located at the southeast corner of the main campus parking lot at 33rd Avenue and Broadway in Gary, Ind. The formal program will begin at 9 a.m. Participants are asked to register no later than March 28 by calling (800) 897-0007, or by emailing pcalc@hotmail.com. Continuing education credits are available for this program.

This year’s scheduled guest speakers include James Payne, director of Indiana DCS, and James Hmurovich, president and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA) in Chicago. Both will discuss the latest trends and developments in the ongoing effort to diminish incidents of child abuse and promote child safety. Local child-advocacy organizations will also be on hand to provide information and network with other professionals and volunteers.

This year’s event also will feature several breakout sessions that social workers and foster parents may attend for continuing education credits. These sessions include: It’s My Body, a body-safety program intended to help prevent sexual abuse by educating children about good and bad touching and other important warning signs; What in the World Happened to this Child?: Foster Parent Disbelief, which addresses the kinds of situations and environments that foster children come out of, and how they are affected by them; Domestic Violence and Child Abuse, which features a discussion with law-enforcement officials and victim advocates about issues regarding children who witness domestic violence; Lake County Child Fatalities: Prevailing Problems, Perspectives and Prevention, which presents a panel discussion with the local Child Fatality Review Team about child deaths in Lake County; and A Positive Environment for Your Young Child, which features a presentation from Parents as Teachers on safe sleeping, shaken baby syndrome, understanding crying babies, and parent-child interaction activities.

The formal program will begin at 9 a.m. with an address by Payne, followed by a panel discussion featuring Lake County DCS Director Jane Bisbee, Dunebrook Executive Director Diana Dibkey, and PCALC board member Wendy Kaplan. Following the breakout sessions, Hmurovich will deliver the afternoon plenary remarks starting at 1 p.m.

For more information on Public Affairs Week, contact Associate Professor of SPEA Rick Hug at (219) 980-6838, or email him at hugr@iun.edu.