Children at Work
Friday, October 13, 2023
Join the Arkansas Law Review and the University of Arkansas School of Law for a discussion about child labor in the United States. The day-long symposium will explore topics including: the history of U.S. child labor law; federal and state enforcement strategies and challenges; recent changes to state law; state policy approaches to oppressive child labor; the interrelationship between immigration policy and child labor exploitation; public health approaches to enhancing youth safety in the workplace; trends in child labor law violations; and child labor trafficking.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Children at Work has been approved for 7 hours of general CLE credit.
Symposium Speakers
Betsy Wood – Dr. Betsy Wood is a professor of history at Bard College in Newark, NJ. She is the author of Upon the Altar of Work: Child Labor & the Rise of a New American Sectionalism," which was published in 2020 by the University of Illinois Press.
Laura Huizar – Laura Huizar is a Senior Counsel in the Front Office of the Office of the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor. Laura joined the U.S. Department of Labor in January 2022, and her work has focused, in part, on child labor exploitation and the Department’s enforcement efforts.
Terri Gerstein – Terri Gerstein is the Director of the State and Local Enforcement Project at the Harvard Law School Center for Labor and a Just Economy, and a Senior Fellow at the Economic Policy Institute.
Annie Fukushima – Annie Fukushima is the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, and Associate Professor in the Division of Ethnic Studies for the School for Cultural & Social Transformation at the University of Utah.
Erin Albright – Erin Albright is the Co-Director of Project Roadmap and founder of New Frameworks. She previously served as Director of the New Hampshire Collaborative Task Force and was a visiting fellow with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.
Jennifer Sherer – Jennifer Sherer is the Director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network State Worker Power Initiative at the Economic Policy Institute.
Shefali Milczarek-Desai – Shefali Milczarek-Desai is an Associate Professor of Law, Distinguished Public Service Scholar, and Co-Chair of the Bacon Immigration Law and Policy Program at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Her current scholarship, which includes original qualitative research, focuses on immigrant and migrant ("im/migrant") workers' rights with respect to paid sick leave, long-term care, tort claims for future lost wages, and migrant child labor.
Reid Maki – Reid Maki is the Director of Child Labor Issues and Coordinator of Child Labor Coalition for the National Consumers League.
Yasin Khan – Yasin Khan is an occupational health and safety educator and researcher with over 10 years of professional experience in community and labor organizations around the United States and in India. She currently leads the California Partnership for Young Worker Health and Safety at UC Berkeley's Labor Occupational Health Program.
Naomi Cahn – Naomi Cahn teaches at the University of Virginia School of Law, where she is the Justice Anthony M. Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Law, the Armistead M. Dobie Professor of Law, and the Co-Director of the Family Law Center. She is an expert in family law, reproductive rights, feminist jurisprudence, and children and the law.
Daveante Jones is a 2016 graduate of the University of Arkansas School of Law and is currently a senior associate at Wright Lindsey Jennings in Little Rock, AR. He helps employers navigate day-to-day issues related to hiring, discipline and termination, employee pay, leaves and accommodations, cultivating an inclusive workplace, and employee and management training.
Marisa Peterson was raised in Houston, Texas, and received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Utah State University. As a law student at Lewis & Clark Law School she studied trauma informed practice and completed several internships with nonprofits providing immigration legal services. After graduating in 2015, Marisa returned to Texas where she has worked providing representation to unaccompanied children in ORR custody, adults in ICE detention, and asylum seekers in removal proceedings. Marisa is licensed to practice law in Texas and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Schedule
7:45-8:15
Check-In
8:15-8:30
Welcome/Opening Remarks
Speakers: Dean Cynthia Nance; Professor Annie Smith; Symposium Editor John Hudson; Editor-in-Chief Jissel Esparza
8:30-10:00
Regulation of Children in the Workplace
Panel: Betsy Wood; Laura Huizar; Professor Michael Pierce (moderator)
Video | Slides (Huizar) | Slides (Wood)
10:00-10:10
Break
10:10-11:40
Child Labor Trafficking
Panel: Annie Fukushima; Erin Albright; Professor Annie Smith (moderator)
11:40-12:10
Break
12:10-1:00
Lunch Keynote: “State Policy Approaches to Oppressive Child Labor”
Keynote Speaker: Terri Gerstein
1:10-2:00
The Shifting Child Labor Landscape
A Conversation with Reid Maki and Jennifer Sherer; Dean Cynthia Nance (moderator)
2:00-2:10
Break
2:10-3:40
Emerging Issues in Children at Work
Panel: Marisa Peterson; Shefali Milczarek-Desai; Naomi Cahn; Professor Jill Lens (moderator)
Video | Slides (Milczarek-Desai) | Slides (Peterson)
3:40-3:50
Break
3:50-4:50
Ensuring Youth Well-Being and Safety in the Workplace
Panel: Yasin Kahn; Daveante Jones; Professor Sara Gosman (moderator)
Video | Slides (Kahn) | Slides (Jones)
4:50-5:00
Closing Remarks/Adjournment
Contact
For more information about the symposium, contact:
John Hudson
Symposium Editor, Arkansas Law Review
jah057@uark.edu