Break the Silence
Community Legal Aid's Break the Silence is a one-day conference focused on serving vulnerable populations who are experiencing intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking.
Break the Silence 2023:
Join us Thursday, March 16th from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. for our annual Break the Silence Conference at the Kent State University and Conference Center, 215 S. Depeyster St. in Kent, Ohio.
Learn about serving survivors who experience abuse later in life and explore the connection between domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse. Survivors of abuse later in life are older adults who experience abuse, neglect, abandonment, or financial exploitation by someone in an ongoing, trust-based relationship.
Topics include:
- Defining and understanding abuse in later life and how domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse intersect
- Special considerations for elderly survivors of domestic violence
- Recognizing and protecting seniors from exploitation and other forms of abuse
- Making referrals to Adult Protective Services, mandated reporting, and what happens after Adult Protective Services gets involved
- The differences and similarities Protective Services Orders and Civil Protection Orders
- Navigating differing philosophical approaches of providing assistance to survivors of abuse later in life
Speakers include:
- Susan Fitch, Esq., Staff Attorney, Community Legal Aid
- Susan Mays, Supervisor, Adult Protective Services/Child Care Certification/Transportation Unit, Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services
- Sylvia Pla-Raith, M.A., LSW, Lead Staff of the Ohio Attorney General Elder Abuse Commission and Director, Elder Justice Unit- Consumer Protection, Ohio Attorney General
- Alexandria Ruden, Senior Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
- Catherine Rufener, Deputy Director of Elder and Disabled Services, Summit County Department of Job and Family Services
- Susan Stroup, LISW-S, Chief Officer of Social Services, Coleman Professional Services
6 CLE and CEU credits have been requested
Cost is $30 and includes lunch
