PHILADELPHIA — The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania announced today that Bill Cosby will serve as the opening keynote speaker for its fourth biennial conference, “One Child, Many Hands: A Multidisciplinary Conference on Child Welfare,” June 8 at 9 a.m. at Penn’s Wharton School.

“There is an often quoted statement that ‘children are our nation’s future,’ and I believe that this is an idea that cannot be challenged,” Cosby said.  “Yet, every year the research data from a number of sources tell us that many children in this country and in other parts of the world are victims of cruelty and various forms of exploitation.  The physical, psychological, social and economic forms of exploitation are not only destructive to a child’s growth and development, but, in a curious and yet somewhat predictive way, these factors seem to produce adults who frequently become abusers themselves.

“I therefore applaud the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research of the University of Pennsylvania for convening a conference that will explore, in a multidisciplinary manner, some of the research, policy and practices designed to make this nation a better place for our children.  I am also delighted to be the opening keynote speaker at this important conference.”

Scheduled for June 8-10, the conference is geared for professionals in the many fields related to child welfare, as well as policy makers and administrators.

 “We are honored to have Dr. Cosby, a committed advocate, educator and proud Philadelphian, open our conference this year,” Debra Schilling Wolfe, the executive director of the Field Center, said. “We can think of no one better to inspire those who devote their lives to caring for and caring about vulnerable children.”

The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research brings together Penn’s schools of Social Policy & Practice, Law and Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to improve the child-welfare system and the lives of child-abuse and neglect victims.