National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center

Who We Are

The National Abandoned Infants Assistance (AIA) Resource Center's mission is to enhance the quality of social and health services delivered to abandoned children and those at risk of abandonment due to the presence of drugs and/or HIV in the family. The Center seeks to achieve these ends by providing training, information, and resources to service providers who assist these children and their families.

How We Can Help

The Resource Center provides training and information to professionals on a wide range of issues, particularly as they relate to the safety, well-being, and permanence of children.

Training
The Center sponsors an annual telephone seminar series on child welfare issues. These are structured, interactive phone conferences with guest presenters. Recent seminars include:

Working with Women Survivors of Trauma
Issues for Relative Care Providers
Mental Health Needs of HIV-Infected Children and Adolescents
Treatment and Program Development for Women with Multiple Disorders

Conferences
The Resource Center hosts annual national conferences. Recent topics include:

Spirituality: A Powerful Force in Women's Recovery (2003)
Raising Kin: The Psychosocial Well-being of Substance-affected Children in Relative Care (2004)

Online Database of Trainers
The Center provides an online database of trainers who specialize in topics such as:

Child abuse and neglect
Substance abuse and treatment
Women and addiction
HIV-affected families and children

Detailed information is available for each trainer (e.g., bios, vitae, contact information, and areas of expertise).

Online Database of Conferences
The Center provides an online database of national child welfare conferences.

Materials Development
The Resource Center disseminates a biannual theme-based newsletter, fact sheets, videos, and directories. Examples include:

Newsletter - The Source:

Case Management for Substance Abusing Parents and Their Children
Building Upon the Unique Strengths of Peer Workers

Fact Sheets:

Women and Children with HIV/AIDS
Recreational Programs for HIV-affected Children and Families
Boarder Babies, Abandoned Infants, and Discarded Infants

Reports:

Discarded Infants and Neonaticide: A Review of the Literature
Focusing on the Needs of Youth in Kinship Care

Research and Resource Development
The Center examines emerging issues and explores practice and policy implications by conducting research and consulting with technical expert groups. Results are released in the form of monographs. Topics include:

Establishing Permanent Futures for Children: Recommendations for Improving Future Care and Custody Planning
AIA Best Practices: Lessons Learned from a Decade of Service to Children and Families Affected by HIV and Substance Abuse
Expediting Permanency for Abandoned Infants
Partners' Influence on Women's Addiction and Recovery

Individualized Information Searches
The Center provides links to literature, statistics, and relevant referrals on a broad variety of topics related to its mission.

For More Information

Address:	University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare 1950 Addison Street, Suite 104 ## 7402 Berkeley, CA 94720-7402
Phone:	(510) 643-8390
Fax:	(510) 643-7019
E-Mail:	aia@berkeley.edu
Web site:	http://aia.berkeley.edu
Contact:	Jeanne Pietrzak, Director

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