Child Welfare Expo

Each April, during National Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Lifeskills Center for Child Welfare Education and Research (LCCWEAR) host the Child Welfare Expo. This is an opportunity to advance child welfare in Kentucky! We create a platform where WKU students, community partners, and child serving professionals can connect, network, and learn about local and statewide child welfare resources and also find jobs and build partnerships. We have a small program – kicked off by our Keynote Speaker - where we will honor and recognize child welfare serving professionals, present our annual awards, and pay respect to those who do and support the excellent child welfare work in the Commonwealth.

If you or your agency is interested in a table to display your information at the 2026 LCCWEAR Child Welfare Expo, we would love to have you join us! Agency tables offer a great opportunity to share resources, connect with child welfare professionals, and engage with students and community partners.

Please let us know if you would like to reserve a table or need additional details. We look forward to your participation! For more information or questions contact; Julia Johnson @ julia.johnson@wku.edu

Child Welfare Award Nominations

We are currently accepting nominations for the following awards:

LCCWEAR Student Award for Child Welfare Advocacy
The Angela Turner Community Award for Outstanding Leadership in Child Welfare
The Dr. Austin Griffiths Service Before Self Award

We encourage you to submit individuals who exemplify excellence in supporting children and families.The winners of our three annual awards and we will also recognized and our students involved in the Child Welfare Prep program. This part of the evening will take place around 6:30 p.m. CST.

Click here to submitted a nomination