The Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF), the SWAN prime contractor, and the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center’s Independent Living Project (IL) are pleased to announce the agenda for the 2026 SWAN/IL Winter Statewide Meeting, which will be held in person January 28-29, 2026. SWAN affiliates are required to attend statewide meetings. There will be a traditional matching event this year, held on the evening of Wednesday, January 28, 2026. We also invite and encourage each county children and youth agency to attend, including caseworkers, supervisors and administrators.

The morning presentation for the 2026 SWAN/IL Winter Statewide Meeting is titled Music and Mindfulness: Interactive Music Based Self-Care Strategies for Everyone and will be presented by Jim Donovan, Assistant Professor and Director of Music and Wellness at Saint Francis University, Viral TEDx speaker and multi-platinum recording artist. Sharing the healing power of music through education and performance, Jim has presented over 3000+ rhythm and sound-based programs since 1999. Music and Mindfulness is an interactive and lively keynote presentation filled with practical strategies to elicit calm, focus and mindfulness. Prior musical experience is not required.

Following the general session, we are pleased to offer a comprehensive agenda of seven concurrent sessions in the afternoon and six concurrent sessions the next day. Please review the session descriptions accompanying the invitation. Approval of continuing education credit provided through co-sponsorship with the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, a Pennsylvania preapproved provider of social work continuing education, is pending. The SWAN prime contractor will also issue certificates of training that can be credited toward the 20 hours of annual training required for all county children and youth caseworkers.

We look forward to seeing you as we continue to network for permanency on behalf of Pennsylvania’s children.