EUGENE, Ore. – Feb. 3, 2013 – Hundreds of community members, prevention specialists, educators and others will come together March 8-9 at Valley River Inn, 1000 Valley River Way, Eugene, for a new conference aimed at dramatically reducing child abuse in Lane County.

“Building Bridges: Connecting Communities to Prevent Child Abuse,” invites anyone who wants to end child abuse and neglect in Lane County to attend the inaugural event, featuring top talent in the field of prevention and the best strategies for reducing child abuse. The conference is organized by 90by30, an organization housed in the UO College of Education whose goal is to reduce child abuse and neglect in Lane County 90 percent by 2030.

“Lane County has wonderful agencies providing intervention and support to children and families and yet our rates of child abuse are not decreasing. We need to add a new approach to our current efforts that transforms communities by finding a role for each of us to end child abuse,” said Phyllis Barkhurst, director of 90by30.

Oregon had nearly 75,000 reported cases of child abuse and neglect in 2011. The local picture is no better; despite millions of dollars and more than 30 years of working directly with children and families on early-intervention strategies, rates of child abuse and neglect in Lane County remain unacceptably high.

“We are much more likely to reduce child abuse and neglect in our community by changing the factors that allow it to occur, by more thoughtfully applying prevention and public health strategies that have proven effective, and by creating a Lane County-specific plan,” said Jeff Todahl, director of the new Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect and associate professor in the college’s Couples and Family Therapy Program.

For information on the conference or to register, please visit 90by30.com.

About the University of Oregon

The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.

MEDIA CONTACTS:        Phyllis Barkhurst, phyllisb@uoregon.edu

                                                Cody Pinkston, cpinksto@uoregon.edu