ME UCEDD Co-Sponsors Five-County Conference to Encourage Investment in Maine Families and Children

May 16, 2008

The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, in collaboration with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, co-sponsored a one-day conference targeting business and community members of five Maine counties. The conference, Why The Future Matters Now: Maximizing Returns by Investing in the Families and Children of Maine, focused on issues of workplace development and retention, and the positive economic impact of quality early care and education. Work sessions, facilitated by Cooperative Extension faculty, provided participants with an opportunity to begin to strategize creative local solutions for issues facing children, families and employers in Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington Counties.

Presenters and panelists included Steven Rowe, Maine Attorney General; Dr. Richard Aronson, pediatrician and former Maine Maternal Child Health Medical Director; Sheriff Glenn Ross, Penobscot County; Jim Hennigar, Project Manager for the Harold Alfond College Challenge; and Laura Harper, Director of Public Policy for the Maine Women's Lobby.

Photo caption: (L-R) Lu Zeph, CCIDS;
 Susan Mackey Andrews, Solutions Consulting Group;
and Jim Hennigar, Harold Alfond College Challenge

 

For more information contact Sandra Horne, Acting Coordinator of Dissemination.