OLYMPIA -- People interested in attending one of the country's largest conferences on child maltreatment still can register. The 14th Annual Children's Justice Conference is scheduled for May 1 and 2 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle.

Topics this year range from Internet safety and on-line predators to the effects of methamphetamine on children and families.

Keynote speaker Peter Alsop, Ph.D., is a nationally know singer and songwriter who has used his music to train human service professionals to help families deal with sensitive issues such as sexual abuse. Another keynote speaker, Dave Pelzer, is the author of six inspirational books. Four were international best sellers.

The conference is sponsored by the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Children's Administration (CA) and the Children's Justice Interdisciplinary Task Force along with other state and federal contributors.

Annual awards honoring two late child welfare leaders, Rosie Oreskovich and Lee Ann Miller, will be announced at the conference.

Oreskovich died in February 2003 while serving as the DSHS assistant secretary for the Children's Administration. She was well known and well remembered for her work on behalf of Washington's children.

Miller, who died in 1998, was a Washington assistant attorney general with a long history of service to the state on behalf of children and families.