Northeastern Illinois University will host the 26th annual Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Latino Family Institute on Friday, Oct. 10.
The theme for the event, which will take place in the Student Union on Northeastern’s main campus at 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Chicago, is Latinos Matter: Promoting our Identity and Culture in Child Welfare. WGN-TV’s Ana Belaval will serve as the luncheon keynote speaker.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with DCFS through our Department of Social Work,” Northeastern President Sharon Hahs said. “We look forward to continued activities, networking and mutual support.”
At this year’s Institute, DCFS plans to launch Yo Soy DCFS, a campaign to recruit social workers for Latino child welfare.
“We thought this partnership with Northeastern Illinois University would be a natural fit because one of the challenges we have is attracting social workers who are bilingual,” said Lourdes Rodriguez of the Illinois DCFS Office of Affirmative Action.
Northeastern is one of only two public four-year universities in the Midwest federally designated as Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
