Family Programs conference on May 7
Speaker to focus on cultural issues in foster careHONOLULU - The state Department of Health multicultural services and health equity director will be the guest speaker at the Family Programs Hawai'i annual conference for foster/resource families on May 7, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
Kimo Alameda, who will speak on "My Home, Our Home: Cultural Considerations in Foster Care," recently received the outstanding government agency leader award from Mental Health America for his work in increasing cultural awareness in state government. He is the Health Department's director of the Office of Multicultural Services and co-director of the Office of Health Equity.
On weekends, he teaches courses in ethics, child and adolescent development and multicultural counseling at Argosy University. The father of seven children also has served as a foster parent.
Of Portuguese and Hawaiian descent, Alameda grew up on the Big Island and worked as a school counselor and special-education teacher in the public school system. He left teaching to earn a doctorate in educational, psychological and cultural studies from the University of Nebraska.
He will appear at the conference that is free and open to all resource families, including foster, adoptive, kinship and guardianship. The conference offers an opportunity for this group to look at how personal biases and prejudices impact parenting, and to explore parenting options that promote and enhance cultural identities of children.
Family Programs Hawai'i is a statewide nonprofit providing social services to almost 4,000 children and families involved in the child-welfare system, and partners with the state Department of Human Services.
There will be free child care, breakfast and lunch. Airfare for parents on Lanai and Molokai will be reimbursed (but not for children).
April 23 is the deadline for registration, which may be done online at www.FamilyProgramsHawaii.org, by fax at (808) 441-1122 or by mail to: Partners in Development Foundation, Hui Ho'omalu, 680 Iwilei Road, Suite 500, Honolulu 96817.
For more information, call (866) 545-0882 toll free.
