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Social work department to host April 12 panel discussion about drug-affected infants

ISSUED: 22 March 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Drug-affected infants, the youngest victims of the opioid epidemic, will be the topic of a panel discussion to mark Child Abuse Prevention Month. “Drug-affected Infants: A Community Panel Discussion” will take place on Thursday, April 12, from 6-7:30 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 220 W. Martin St., Martinsburg. The Shepherd University Department of Social Work, West Virginia University School of Social Work-Martinsburg, and Kids in Transition Collaborative are sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public.

Event sponsors hope to increase awareness about the unique needs of infants affected by prenatal drug exposure and will provide information on how community members can support drug-affected infants, their parents, and the families caring for these infants.

Among the panelists are Dr. Panitan “Pete” Yossuck, medical director of the Berkeley Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Kayla Light, foster/adoptive parent through the Children’s Home Society; and Elizabeth Loy, M.S.W., regional director of Birth to Three.

For more information, contact Craig Cline, assistant professor of social work at Shepherd, at ccline@shepherd.edu.

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