Over 500 gather to honor, educate and carry on the work Sheila Wellstone began on the behalf of women and children facing violence.
It was a capacity crowd at Coffman Memorial Union's Great Hall Thursday November 13, 2003 as the first ever conference of the Sheila Wellstone Institute was convened. The energized crowd began the day with an inspired welcome from The Honorable Janet Napolitano, governor of Arizona, The Honorable Kathleen Blatz, chief justice of Minnesota Supreme Court, The Honorable Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, Jeff Edelson, professor of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, Institute Director Connie Lewis, and David and Mark Wellstone. A short video complete with domestic violence survivor accounts and footage of Sheila and Paul Wellstone's long fought battle to help women and children facing violence in their homes was one of many emotional but mobilizing moments of the day.
The conference was a day dedicated to digging in and working toward solutions for battered women as they seek safety for themselves and their children. The conference examined challenges in family court and child welfare systems for mothers and children seeking safety. It highlighted research documenting abusive parenting practices of men who batter as well as models of effective collaboration between those involved in the systems. Conference sponsors believe that heightened awareness of the challenges and applications of quality research and practice will lead to better decisions in custody and visitation disputes by courts and child protection officials.
A dramatic point in the conference was when New York mother Sharwline Nicholson described how her children were removed from her care and put in foster homes after their father beat her. While he wasn't charged, Nicholson was accused by New York City's child protection services of "engaging in domestic violence". Along with other battered mothers she's now suing the city for its child welfare policies which have since been found unconstitutional.
Conference attendees included practitioners in the field of domestic violence, advocates, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, county human service professionals, social workers, psychologists, public officials and members from the general public. Together they concluded the day prioritizing issues for further action and charting the course for the future of the Institute. The priorities will be posted on www.wellstone.org.
Thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the day including the volunteers, presenters and the Sheila Wellstone Institute Founding Committee.
We look forward to seeing and working with you in the future.