PHILADELPHIA – Dorothy Roberts will deliver the keynote speech on “The Racial Geography of Child Welfare” at the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research Winter 2012 Community Symposium at the University of Pennsylvania.  Roberts, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with appointments in law and sociology, will speak at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 28, in the Levy Conference Center at the Penn Law School, 3400 Chestnut St.

As an internationally recognized scholar and social-justice advocate, Roberts has examined civil and reproductive rights, poverty, child welfare and family law.  She has written and lectured on the interplay of gender, race and class in legal issues.

“Her work on racial disparity and its impact on policy and practice will be featured in a dynamic and controversial presentation," said Debra Schilling Wolfe, the executive director of the Field Center.  “We are honored to have such a nationally renowned thought leader on race and child welfare speak at this Symposium.”

The Field Center’s Winter Community Symposium is made possible through a grant from Penn’s University Research Foundation.

The Field Center is a collaboration among the Penn School of Social Policy & Practice, Penn Law, the Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Nursing and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  The Center combines the efforts of multiple disciplines and perspectives to transcend traditional barriers and creatively find solutions to address the critical issues that face the child welfare system.