SUMMIT ON HISPANIC FAMILIES

 Media Advisory
Contact: Christy Rosché  571.221.4121 


SUMMIT ON HISPANIC FAMILIES


WHO
Hispanic leaders, key policymakers, researchers, practitioners

WHAT
Summit to create a long-term strategy for promoting comprehensive program services, relevant research and strategic public policy decisions that promote and strengthen Hispanic families

WHEN
June 2, 2008 -- 8:30 am until 2:30 pm

WHERE
L’Enfant Plaza Hotel
480 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
2nd Floor

 
BACKGROUND
The Hispanic community makes significant contributions to this country, but it also faces critical problems in schools, neighborhoods and communities. Higher rates of births out of wedlock, school dropout, and attempted suicide are being recorded among Latino youth at the same time that Hispanics have become the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population with almost $1 billion in buying power.
To reverse negative Latino trends, leaders plan to recalibrate current social service programs to focus on Hispanic families rather than on individuals alone. Among Hispanics, the family is the greatest asset.  According to a new survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Latino teens say parents most influence their decisions about sex. And an exhaustive 2007 Associated Press-MTV survey of 1280 youth ages 13-24 showed that 30 percent of Hispanic young people identified family as the one thing in life that brings them the most happiness, compared with 15 percent of white youth included in the survey.  At the same time, only 51 percent of Hispanic youth said they were happy with life in general, compared with 72 percent of white youth, the study found. 
The goal of NAHF is to weave together programs that help families provide an environment where children and youth flourish.  Participants in the summit will hear from leading researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who are on the front-lines of social issues that most impact the Hispanic community, including nationally syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette and Dr. Luis Zayas founder and director of the Latino Family Research Center, now leading an unprecedented study of Latina teenagers.