A nationally known speaker will be helping local parents and those who work with families improve their skills.

Dr. Robert J. Ackerman, a professor of sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, will speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Case Avenue Elementary School auditorium on "Helping Parents to Raise Their Confidence".

The seminar is free and open to the public and sponsored by the Mercer County Juvenile Advisory Council, Hermitage, and Catholic Charities Counseling and Adoption Services, Sharon.

Ackerman is co-founder of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, and has been a guest on "CNN Headline News", "The Today Show" and "Oprah" and has had work published in USA Today and Newsweek magazine. He has also authored 11 books.

The parenting specialist is the guest speaker for a workshop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel of Sharon, Shenango Township, said Jill Livingston, community specialist for the Mercer County Juvenile Advisory Council.

"The majority of people coming to the daytime session are people who work directly with families," said Ms. Livingston. "Dr. Ackerman will provide them with practical skills to better enable them to work with families, and help them better assess the needs of high risk families."

The advisory council, which is an advocacy agency for children, runs Court Appointed Special Advocates, a volunteer program which represents children’s interests in court.

"(It) is primarily for the abused and neglected children," she said.

The council also has a training committee made up of 18 social service agencies in the community, including Catholic Charities, Diversified Family Services, and Children’s Aid Society, which come up with ideas for five or six workshops each year for human service workers.

Some of recent workshops topics were cultural competency and personal safety.

Catholic Charities of Sharon are co-sponsoring the event because he was a keynote speaker twice at the Pennsylvania Catholic Charities Conference.

"Our staff uses a lot of his material in our dealings with family," said Catholic Charities Area Supervisor Sue Burke. "Its an honor to have someone of his caliber, of his expertise, be available to our families in Mercer County."

The Mercer County Juvenile Advisory Council, which has two staff members and 36 volunteers, also maintains the Mercer County guide, which lists all of the human and social service agencies in the county. A $27,000 state grant is being used to put the guide online.