AFFM Annual Spring Conference

AFFM’s 28th
Annual Spring Conference
‘The Power of Meaningful Connections’
April 11-12, 2025

When:April 11, 2025 – April 12, 2025
Where:DoubleTree by Hilton Hotels
363 Maine Mall Rd, Portland, ME 04106
207-775-6161
Website
Book with code ‘AFFM’ by March 11, 2025
Register:REGISTER TODAY!
Cost:
Resource Family: $30.00/person
Professional: $60.00/person

*Scholarships are available
*Licensed resource families are eligible for scholarships
Confirmation of scholarship will be sent the week before the event

Cancel up to one week before the event with no charge. If an agency is paying for your registration, please contact Monica Bushey monica@affm.net with agency billing information.

About the Event

AFFM conferences provide training designed specifically for families and professionals looking for unique and advanced learning opportunities. It is also an opportunity to network with families and other providers from across the state.

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Speakers

Keynotes

Amelia Franck Meyer, Ed.D, LISW
Dr. Amelia Franck Meyer, LISW is the Founder and CEO of the national nonprofit, Alia. Amelia and
Team Alia are leading a nationally co-designed movement to keep children safe with, not from,
their families.
Amelia and Team Alia believe that families are the solution (not the problem). Alia calls this new
way of work an “UnSystem”. Team Alia believes that a key part of transformation is supporting
families to safely raise their children. Working with innovative leaders, Amelia and Team Alia use
best practices, evidence, and human centered design principles to operationalize concepts that
produce rapid results and positive outcomes for youth and families.
At Alia, Amelia also works to convene changemakers and partners to advance the tools and
knowledge base in the field of child welfare. Amelia has co-authored and led the publication of a
Social Return on Investment Study: The Unseen Costs of Foster Care; a Research Brief: Evidence
Base for Avoiding Family Separation in Child Welfare Practice; Creating a Permanence Driven
Organization: A Guidebook for Change in Child Welfare; and multiple reports on learnings and
outcomes from the 14-county Alia UnSystem Innovation Cohort.
Amelia was named one of People Magazine’s “25 Women Changing the World” in 2018, and in
2020, Amelia was also named by AARP MN and Pollen Midwest as a 50over50 Honoree—System
Reformer in the Disruptor Category. Amelia has a widely viewed TEDx Talk on the Human Need for
Belonging. Along with many awards from her alma maters, Amelia has also been honored as a Bush
Fellow and an Ashoka Fellow.

Nick Tucker, Youth Camp Owner & Inspirational Speaker
Nick is a father and a husband.  He runs a youth adventure camp in the city of Los Angeles, and travels the country speaking to audiences on the importance of emotional health.  In 2012, he finished an over 3000 mile journey on foot from the coast of Maine to sunny southern California.  Nick uses his story of overcoming childhood trauma and self-destructive behavior to encourage others to choose a meaningful, productive path forward.

Workshops by:

Dr. Amelia Franck-Meyer
Catherine Cutler Institute(USM) & AFFM
Nick Tucker, Youth Camp Owner & Inspirational Speaker
Youth Leadership Advisory Team (YLAT)
Marisa Stam, Executive Director of Family and Community Care – Curtis Lake Church, TBRI®
and more…..

VENDORS

Coming Soon

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

  • Kinship Providers
  • Foster Parents
  • Adoptive Parents
  • Social Worker
  • Child Welfare Workers
  • Clinicians
  • CASA Volunteers
  • Judges
  • Attorneys
  • Educators
  • Other Child & Family Advocates