External Professional Development Opportunity
Kids First Conference
Forwarded by MAM to make members aware of events outside of MAM that may be of interest. Please contact Kids First for additional information.
ATTENTION ALL PROFESSIONALS WHO WORK WITH FAMILIES GOING THROUGH DIVORCE OR SEPARATION:
Please join us on October 20th for the KFI Conference 2025: Parallel Parenting!
Dear Colleagues,
As a professional working with children and families, you regularly encounter the complex dynamics inherent in high-conflict separations and divorces. You note behavioral changes in children, navigate challenging parent interactions, and work to support families when traditional co-parenting approaches prove insufficient.
The Kids First Institute for Advanced Professional Learning (KFI) invites you to a full-day, collaborative, and hands-on learning experience to generate new approaches for families navigating separation and conflict.
KFI has spent the last year exploring whether parallel parenting models could assist these families where traditional cooperative parenting models have proven inadequate, while still maintaining a pathway to greater co-parenting in the future. We invite you to continue this exploration with us to find out how parallel parenting can mitigate the exposure to conflict for children trapped in high-conflict family systems.
CLE and CEU credits are available.
What: KFI Conference 2025: Parallel Parenting
When: October 20, 2025, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Where: Italian Heritage Center, Portland, ME
Presenters to include:
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Esteemed Panelists: Hon. Susan Driscoll, Hon. Jeffrey Wilson, Hon. Andrea Najarian, and Hon. Lindsay Cadwallader
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Ezekiel Kimball, PhD, Dean of the College of Education and Human Development, UMO
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Nate Bailey, OurFamilyWizard Professional Liaison
REGISTER NOW!
Registration deadline: October 16.
Please note: In order to create an optimal learning environment, space is limited
Professional Learning Outcomes
✓ Practical application through case studies based on real family dynamics.
✓ Tangible interventions for immediate implementation in your practice/field.
✓ Multidisciplinary perspectives from experts and attendees alike.
✓ Structured approaches that reduce systemic stress across domains
✓ CLE and CEU credits for professional licensure requirements
All professionals who work with children and families navigating high-conflict separations and divorces are encouraged to attend. Here are some discipline-specific applications:
· Attorneys, Guardians ad Litem, and Mediators: Understand how parallel parenting creates structure while preserving boundaries–keeping children out of the middle while reducing opportunities for coparenting conflict. Take with you tangible parallel parenting language that you can utilize in motions and order to support your clients, and by extension, their children.
· Medical Professionals: Learn to identify family stressors during routine visits and confidently suggest communication strategies without overstepping expertise. Encourage clearer court and coparenting orders that will take stress off administrative staff caught between coparents.
· Mental Health Professionals: Discover strategies to add to your current approaches to helping families in therapy by suggesting parallel parenting principles focused on reducing conflict and mitigating ACES for children.
· Educators: Learn how to support children in the midst of high-conflict coparenting dynamics by bridging communication between parents and school staff and encouraging structure at home that supports your classroom work and leads to greater student success.
Conference Details:
$150 per person (includes continental breakfast, lunch, snacks, and materials)
CLE and CEU credits available for all attendees! Earn required continuing education credits while advancing your practice. This conference presents validated approaches that support both family functioning and professional efficacy.
REGISTER NOW!
Questions? Contact Jennifer Pallozzi at jpallozzi@kidsfirstcenter.org
Kids First Center for Co-Parenting Education and Family Resilience
Innovative Plans. Stronger Families. Practical Tools for Parallel Parenting Success.
