Every year, more than 3 million children are abused or neglected in New York State alone, with many more cases going unreported.

In line with their mission to foster awareness of child abuse, neglect, maltreatment, and bullying, the Future Child Advocates of Fordham has announced their first annual child advocacy conference, “A Call to Advocacy: The Past, Present, and Future of Child Well-Being.”

The multidisciplinary academic event featuring some of the country’s foremost experts in child abuse pediatrics and maltreatment prevention will be held at Fordham University’s Keating Hall 1st Floor Auditorium on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014 from 8:30 am – 1 pm.

“Drawing upon medicine, sociology, psychology, and law—we hope to foster a stimulating discourse concerning the past, present, and future of child well-being in New York State and around the world,” said Michael Menconi, FCRH ’15, the founder and president of Future Child Advocates of Fordham, and co-founder of the Future Child Advocates of America.

Speakers include Joshua L. Brown, Ph.D., faculty advisor for the Future Child Advocates of Fordham; Bernard P. Dreyer, M.D., FAAP, professor and director of behavioral and development pediatrics at NYU Langone Medical Center, director of pediatrics at Bellevue Hospital Center, and co-chair of the Academic Pediatric Association Force on Child Poverty; Linda Cahill, M.D., FAAP, Medical Director of the J.E. & Z.B. Butler Child Advocacy Center at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center and associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Christine Deyss, M.S., executive director of Prevent Child Abuse New York; and Menconi.

“We encourage you to join us in combating the formidable injustices continuing to endanger the vulnerable youth in our society—and aid us in giving voices to those who have none,” Menconi added.

Sponsors of the conference include the American Academy of Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Fordham University’s Department of Psychology, and FCAF’s most recent official partner – Prevent Child Abuse America.

Please RSVP at futurechild@fordham.edu and see the full conference program for more information.

Editor’s note: In addition to being the founder and president of Future Child Advocates of Fordham, and co-founder of the Future Child Advocates of America, Michael Menconi, FCRH ’15, is also a student editor of the Ethics & Society Student Voices section.