This page contains links, materials, and handouts from the 2017 Child and Family Connections Conferences, "Making Every Connection Matter". The Southern CFC Conference was held in Effingham, IL on 4/26/17, and the Northern CFC Conference was held in Palos Hills, IL on 5/11/17.
This annual conference is a day designed to encourage and promote best practices in early intervention by supporting CFC staff with opportunities to:
Learn what's happening within the State
Share new information and strategies
Explore resources
Make connections and network with colleagues
The conference begins with a morning plenary in which the updates on EI, the future directions for EI in Illinois and CFC leadership within the systematic state improvement plan (SSIP) are addressed to the whole group. Additionally, the conference provides Breakout Sessions, Exhibitor Showcases, and CFC Award Recognition. A new and unique opportunity within the breakout sessions this year is the Connecting Cafes, which allow participants to network within smaller groups to engage in short conversations addressing several specific topics.
Keynote:
This year both conferences featured a keynote by Dr. Michael Barla. His presentation, Learning to Lead-Leading to Learn, explores the influences of personal and professional experiences and their effects on our ability to impact children and families through our leadership roles across the spectrum of services in early care and early intervention. Along the leadership journey, individuals engage in the learning to lead the process. Asking yourself, "at what point does a leader navigate more toward leading to learn?" Through personal and professional experiences and stories, Dr. Barla will entertain, inspire, challenge, and stretch participants to recognize and accept their own leadership potential.
Breakout Sessions:
The following is a list of breakout sessions whose PPT handouts and materials we have available as a resource (pdfs):
Exhibitors and Acknowledgements
Exhibitor Websites:
