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Join us at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill September 29-October 2, 2025 for the HEPNet Conference! The virtual conference runs from September 30-October 1, 2025.

Deb Getz

Keynote Speaker
Deb Getz, Re. D., CYC-P

                                                                                                                                                                                      

 Dr. Getz is committed to supporting the professionalization of youth work in the U.S. Throughout her 30+ years as a faculty member in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington she led the development of the major and minor in Youth Development and works to support the design, delivery, and evaluation of a wide variety of topics in youth development, trauma-informed perspectives, supporting high-quality child and youth care, and community engagement. She is the President of the Child and Youth Care Certification Board, where she focuses on building partnerships and identifying ways to build collaboration among and between professional disciplines that serve youth and families.   Deb is particularly passionate about educating youth workers and the public about exploitation and human trafficking identification and prevention. She was a Fellow for the 2023 Human Trafficking Leadership Academy through the US Office of Trafficking in Persons; is an active member of the Indiana Prevention Education Coalition; and actively engages with individuals 13 and older to build awareness of exploitation and assist them in creating action plans for when exploitation occurs.

 

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Hotel Information
Carolina Inn   The Graduate

Carolina Inn | 211 Pittsboro St, Chapel Hill

Booking Link - cutoff date is August 28, 2025 | Room rates: $264 + tax

A mainstay of the University of North Carolina campus for over 100 years, The Carolina Inn is a historic Chapel Hill hotel that immerses its visitors in southern hospitality and comfort. The Carolina Inn is located near popular UNC sites including the football stadium, medical center and charming Franklin Street.

      

The Graduate Chapel Hill | 311 W Franklin St, Chapel Hill

Booking Link - cutoff date is August 28, 2025 | Room rates: $249 + tax

An undeniably local stay, Graduate Chapel Hill immerses you in Tar Heel traditions and local history, with creative interiors and college nostalgia. Located downtown, just steps from UNC, it's the perfect base for exploring. Stay and enjoy our Carolina Blue guest rooms, welcoming Trophy Room restaurant, and signature Graduate touches.


Local area information and transportation details

Items to note about the schedule:
  • Monday, September 29 includes pre-con 101 and 202 as well as a welcome event
  • Breakout sessions and all-group sessions will be on September 30 - October 2
  • The conference will conclude before noon on Thursday, October 2
  • All breakout sessions will run up to 75 minutes in length
  • The virtual conference includes a select number of breakout and all-group sessions on September 30 and October 1 only

Due to the increasing number of attendees, we will be changing the format of the Wednesday night networking dinner. More information coming soon!

Registration Rates
In Person Member Non-member
Early Bird (through June) $425 $585
Regular $510 $700
Virtual Member Non-member
Early Bird (through June) $255 $350
Regular $305 $420
Preconference 101 & 202* Member Non-member
Early Bird (through June) $190 $225
Regular $265 $320

*The HEPNet Youth Protection 101 session will cover where to start with youth protection - covering the policy life cycle, background checks, training, and much more. This is a must-attend for those new in the field or position or for those wanting to learn more about mitigating the risk of minors on campus and related properties.  This deep dive will include how to keep kids safe and reduce liability on your campus and related properties, the importance of compliance registration systems and how they help to pull the pieces of your policy together, ins and outs of background checks and the difference between types of checks, best practices regarding staff training, and different ways to monitor your programs for compliance, as well as a panel discussion of experts in the field. The 202 session is next level, geared towards those that have a policy in place but are still fairly new to the field. 
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 Cozen    Cozen O’Connor’s Institutional Response Group is nationally recognized for their knowledge and experience related to child sexual and physical abuse, child protection, and child protective services laws. They frequently advise clients in evaluating and responding to current or historical allegations of abuse in a legally informed and open and transparent manner designed to promote child safety and welfare. Their experience includes several high-profile external investigations for clients including colleges and universities, religious institutions, health care providers, daycare centers, summer camps, and K-12 schools. They conduct training and prevention programs on the identification and prevention of child abuse; provide child protection audits, advise on protection planning related to background checks, professional boundaries, physical plant, and mandatory reporter policies; coordinate internal investigations with child protective services and local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies; and conducts child abuse investigations. 
 Idealogic    Ideal-Logic has 15 years of experience implementing participant registration and protection of minors compliance systems. At Ideal-Logic we partner with our customers to provide a fully customizable web-based software system to meet their specific program and compliance policy needs. We provide exceptional customer service and use our expertise in working with many other universities and colleges to share insights into ways of automating and improving your processes.
 Circuitree   Camp Management Software That Does it All | CIRCUITREE Looking for a comprehensive camp management software? Look no further than CIRCUITREE. Our platform helps camp directors and staff manage operations, boost revenue, and improve the parent experience.
 CampDoc    CampDoc is a leading camp management software and electronic health record system. They provide a secure and easy-to-use web-based solution for managing health forms, medications/allergies, and health logging for camps and youth programs.
 NCMEC    The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization. NCMEC works with families, victims, private industry, law enforcement, and the public to assist with preventing child abductions, recovering missing children, and providing services to deter and combat child sexual exploitation. NCMEC believes every child deserves a safe childhood.

 Interested in becoming a sponsor?  Contact us at [email protected] so that we can learn more about your sponsorship goals.

HOST A FUTURE HEPNET CONFERENCE

Due by June 15 for consideration for next year. Submissions received after June 15 will be considered for hosting in two years, not the following. 

PAST CONFERENCES

2024 Conference: Moving the Needle - Creating Space for Youth Protection | October 21-24, 2024 | Seattle, WA and virtual
2023 Conference: Youth Protection on My Mind | October 2-5, 2023 | Athens, GA and virtual
2022 Conference: Driving Youth Protection | September 13-16, 2022 | Indianapolis, Indiana and virtual
2021 Conference: Back to the Future | October 4-7, 2021 | Virtual
2020 Conference: Keeping Clear Vision in Times of Change | October 12-15, 2020 | Virtual
2019 Conference: Giant Leaps in Youth Protection in Higher Education | October 7-10, 2019 | West Lafayette, Indiana
2018 Conference: Innovate and Elevate: Building Awareness and Developing New Strategies | October 16-19, 2018 | Salt Lake City, Utah
2017 Conference: All In: Advancing Youth Protection in Higher Ed | October 17-20, 2017 | Clemson, South Carolina
2016 Conference: Conference on Youth Programs in Higher Education- Policy & Procedure: Two Step Toward Compliance | October 20-22, 2016 | San Antonio, Texas (hosted by Texas A&M)
2015 Conference: Minors on Campus Conference | October 21-23, 2015 | College Station, Texas (hosted by Texas A&M)
2014 Conference: Minors on Campus Conference | October 25, 2014 | College Station, Texas (hosted by Texas A&M)
2014 Meeting/Conference: Baltimore Meeting on Higher Ed Child Protection | May 12-14, 2014 | Baltimore, MD (hosted by Ann Franke)

We held the first in-person meeting in Baltimore on May 13-14, 2014. The University Risk Management and Insurance Association (URMIA) accepted a proposal for a youth protection panel at its mid-Atlantic regional meeting. We gathered as a group of about 20 people for two separate conversations during that conference.