Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness Hosts National Conference in New York City

Beyond Housing: A National Conversation on Child Homelessness and Poverty, New York City, January 19­­­­­­-20

NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the percentage of Americans living in poverty at its highest levels since 1993, Beyond Housing: A National Conversation on Child Homelessness and Poverty presents a timely opportunity to tackle the issue of family poverty and homelessness from multiple angles.

The conference, hosted by the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, will be held at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City on January 19 and 20. At the two-day event, a diverse group of service providers, practitioners, policymakers, homeless and formerly homeless individuals, and researchers will share expertise on education, research, housing, health, and advocacy.

"We have the collective knowledge and experience to reduce family homelessness, and yet government makes the same mistakes over and over again," says Ralph da Costa Nunez, President and CEO of the Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness and a former New York City government official. "Beyond Housing will present the best ideas surrounding child homelessness and poverty in order to improve the lives of poor families in New York City and across the country."

Sessions include:

• Feeding Families: Hunger Prevention and Nutrition, a discussion on the relationship between hunger, nutrition, and obesity among low-income and homeless families with Joel Berg, executive director, New York City Coalition Against Hunger; Melissa Berrios, social work trainer, Homeless Health Initiative, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and Jonah Nelson, program associate, Milk from the Heart, Homes for the Homeless, New York.
• Preventing Homelessness: A Look at the First Court-based Homelessness Prevention Program, a look at New York City's groundbreaking Prevention Law Project that provides assistance to families at risk of eviction, with Ellen Howard-Cooper, deputy commissioner for prevention, policy, and planning at the New York City Department of Homeless Services; Jaya Madhavan, supervising judge, Bronx County Housing Court; and Ethan Sribnick, senior research associate, Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, New York.
• Making a Difference: What Effective Teachers Do to Support At-risk/Highly Mobile Students, a discussion of the ongoing study that analyzes best practices for teachers serving these populations in the United States and China, with Patricia A. Popp, state coordinator of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Program, Williamsburg, Va.; Leslie W. Grant, visiting professor, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., and Debra Manteghi, district homeless education liaison, Akron Public Schools, Akron, Ohio.
• The State of Permanent Housing, a talk about current legislation supporting low-income and supportive housing, barriers to building this type of housing, and efforts to expand low-income housing throughout the country with Vincent Horn, director of New York community planning and development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Sheila Crowley, president and CEO, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Washington; Ted Houghton, executive director of Supportive Housing Network of New York; and Jessica Katz, independent consultant.
• The Dollars and Sense of Federal Funding, a session that analyzes existing federal funding made available to homeless children and families and how states are best utilizing these funds, with Matthew Adams, principal policy analyst, Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness, New York; Barbara Duffield, policy director, National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, Washington; Doug Rice, senior policy analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington; and Demetrios James Caraley, president, The Academy of Political Science and editor of Political Science Quarterly, New York.
• The Changing Face of Today's Homeless Veterans, a talk about the changing face of homeless veterans, with a particular emphasis on homeless families with children and female veterans, with Julie Irwin, network homeless care line manager, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, New York; Thomas Hameline, president and chief executive officer, HELP USA, New York; Barbara Banaszynski, senior vice president for program operations, Volunteers of America, Alexandria, Va.; Grace Protos, regional administrator for Region 2: New York, Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, New York; and Aurora Zepeda, executive vice president, Homes for the Homeless, New York.
• Media as a Tool for Advocacy and Awareness, a look at using media of all levels to help the public understand the face of family homelessness, with Barry Mitzman, professor and director of strategic communications, Seattle University; Jarrett Murphy, editor-in-chief, City Limits, New York; Carol Ward, freelance journalist and contributing writer, UNCENSORED magazine, Neil Donovan, executive director, National Coalition for the Homeless, Washington; and Diane Nilan, president and founder, HEAR US, Naperville, Ill.

For up-to-the-minute conference information, go to ICPHusa.org/Conference2012.  

The Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness (ICPH) is an independent nonprofit research organization based in New York City. ICPH studies the impact of poverty on family and child well-being and generates research that will enhance public policies and programs affecting poor or homeless children and their families. Specifically, ICPH examines the condition of extreme poverty in the United States and its effect on educational attainment, housing, employment, child welfare, domestic violence, and family wellness.

SOURCE Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness