St. Patrick’s Salesian School, as an organization run by the Salesians of Don Bosco, aims to care for children and youths who face adversity and may be at the risk of social exclusion. This is undertaken through the provision of out-of-home care, educational input and therapeutic interventions amongst other means. St. Patrick’s aims at developing such services in response to the children and youths’ newly emergent needs and challenges.

The welfare of and attention to such children are equally of great concern to the Commissioner for Children in Malta, in ensuring that they have the opportunity for an equal start in life. Such an opportunity should be given added emphasis today on World Children’s Day, in underlining the fundamental right of the child to a warm and loving home environment.

In line with these aims, St Patrick’s Salesian School in Malta is organising a three-day conference in collaboration with the Office of the Commissioner for Children entitled Where is Home: exploring therapeutic interventions with children in out of home care and their families. The term ‘out-of-home care’ is intended to include foster care, residential care and therapeutic residential care, amongst others.

The event will be held from Thursday 12th till Saturday 14th March 2009 at the Hilton, St. Julian’s. It will be preceded by a day pre-conference workshop entitled Learn the Child led by renowned expert Ms. Kate Cairns. The workshop will focus on exploring strategies and interventions for educators and carers, regarding how best to support looked after children in their learning, and how to enhance their educational experiences within school settings.

The conference will include the participation of exponents from international organizations and experts in the field, alongside contributions from local professionals, agencies and other bodies. The overall aim of the conference will be to enable conference participants to engage with the dilemmas and challenges that out-of-home care poses for children and their families within the local context, and to establish an exchange of good practices and experiences within this field. It is also our aspiration that the conference gives voice to issues that the children and their families have to face, including those frequently brought to the foreground in therapeutic encounters.

The Conference is open to social workers, care workers, foster carers, educators, therapists, psychologists, academics, students and international participants. The deadline for applications from local participants is 20th February 2009, however applications received by the 20th December 2008 will benefit from a reduced rate. International participants can book through the conference website.

Further information is available at www.whereishomeconference.org.