The Power of Parenting Support: The Bridge Between Theory and Practice

  • 7 Nov 2025
  • 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
  • Moraine Valley Community College

Registration

  • For ILAIMH members, through September 26 2025
  • Through September 26 2025
  • Must send verification of student status for fall 2025 to admincoordinator@ilaimh.org

Register

ILAIMH Annual Conference 2025:  The Power of Parenting Support: The Bridge Between Theory and Practice

Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, IL

Please email submissions@ilaimh.org to arrange registration for 5 or more people as a group.

Plenary Speaker: Quenette Walton, Ph.D., LCSW

Associate Dean of Doctoral Education, University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work. 

Dr. Walton's biography 

Dr. Walton joined the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work in July 2017 as an assistant professor.

Dr. Walton received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jane Addams College of Social Work, where her research focused on depression experiences and wellness among middle class African American women. She holds a master of arts degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan.

In June 2017, Dr. Walton completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Health Services and Society in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. As a post-doctoral fellow, she conducted research on a PCORI-funded project to develop and test a stakeholder-designed intervention to improve MHC access for children and families of color in Los Angeles County. Through an academic-community partnership and its engaged stakeholders, she examined changes in parent experiences and empowerment and provider-clinician communication, coordination, and collaboration during the referral, post-referral, treatment, and transfer processes related to mental health clinic referrals at a multi-site federally qualified health center, Northeast Valley Health Clinic (NEVHC).

Dr. Walton is also a licensed clinical social worker and has over 10 years of practice experience in school social work, child welfare, and with community based organizations providing in-home individual and family therapy and parent coaching services to children and families involved with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). In her role as a therapist with DCFS, she was challenged to think critically about the ways in which race, class, gender, and discrimination impact mental health for African American women across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and with various mental health conditions such as depression. Working with the children and families involved with DCFS has informed her research by pushing her to think about identifying alternative treatment approaches, translating the best scientific evidence into the best clinical practice, and supporting African American women’s access to culturally appropriate mental health services. Her practice and research are grounded in the tenants of social justice in which she places a premium on understanding the intersection of race, class, gender, context and environment on mental health.

Building on her practice experience, dissertation and post-doctoral fellowship training, Dr. Walton’s research focuses on four areas: 1) Mental health and mental health disparities among African American women across the life course; 2) socioeconomic status (SES) as a social determinant of mental health; 3) The African American middle-class; and 4) mental well-being and wellness for African American women. The aim of her research is to develop an innovative culturally sensitive intervention designed to improve the mental health of African American women from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and across the life course.

Afternoon Presentations

Authentic Connections: Engaging Families Through a Lens of Cultural Responsiveness-Adelicia Brienzo, MA

In today's diverse educational landscape, fostering authentic family engagement is essential for student success. This session aims to empower educators to reflect on their current practices and identify areas for growth in engaging families from various cultural backgrounds. By utilizing Young-Chan Han's "Stages of Immigrant Parent Involvement," participants will explore effective strategies for involving diverse families in the school community. 

Caring for Children with Medical & Developmental Complexity – A Focus on Early Relational Health--- LaRabida Team: Marilyn Calik, MS, LCSW, Laura Kahan, M.Ed., Amelia Miller, MS, MSW, LSW, Kathleen Saoud, DO    

We will share the latest research on the population we serve at La Rabida—children with special healthcare needs and their families. La Rabida is in southeast Chicago and primarily serves families from nearby neighborhoods and south suburbs. Many families in our care face not only the special healthcare needs of their children but also the challenges of poverty, under-resourced communities, neighborhood violence, and traumatic experiences prior to parenthood. The families in our care includes many non-traditional family constellations, including children in foster care, in kinship caregiver settings (grandparents as primary caregivers), children with home nursing and/or living in a nursing home, and families experiencing living in a shelter or unhoused for periods of time.

Through case studies, we will highlight how young children, and their families may present at various levels of care, emphasizing our infant mental health-focused interventions and the resulting outcomes. Additionally, we will provide insights into the needs of healthcare workers and explore how our teams offer internal support through a collaborative, team-based approach to care, as well as reflective consultation and other strategies.

Gateways, Early Intervention and CEUs for Mental Health professionals will be given.

Rooms available for $139 a night at the DoubleTree Hilton - Alsip for attendees seeking overnight accommodations.

ILAIMH is a 501(C)(3) non-profit and is an affiliate of the World Association for Infant Mental Health

© ILAIMH 2017 

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