The 11th annual conference of Youth and Shelter Services on Monday will once again deal with the tough issues facing today’s children.

“We’ve stuck with the title ‘Risky Business: Being a Kid Today,’ because it just seemed to say exactly what we wanted to say; that kids live in a risky world,” said Margaret Hess, director of Prevention and Education for Youth and Shelter Services (YSS) in Ames.

Initially, the conference, which will be held in the Scheman Building, began with a grant from federal sources, Hess said.

“The government wanted us to provide information statewide on the issue of missing children. We’ve since expanded the conference to include many issues,” she said.

Discussion and seminar topics will range from laughing to successful programs in the juvenile justice system. Hess said that there are three basic goals for the YSS conference.

“First, we want to provide the best information we can to the attendees. Second, we gave out scholarships to 100 kids for free admission to enable more youth to attend. Our third goal is to make the cost low so it is as accessible as possible to everyone,” Hess said.

Among the speakers for the conference are Dr. Henry Foster, Senior Adviser on Teen Pregnancy on Youth Issues through the Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Sylvia Rimm, child psychologist, clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

“Dr. Foster is going to be speaking on alleviating the problem of teen pregnancy. Dr. Rimm will be talking on the different ways we raise boys and girls. She’ll take a look at what parents can do when their children are young to avoid the imbalance. Her results show an aggressive trend in 90 percent of the boys,” Hess said.

Other attractions include Stuart Robershaw, founder and CEO of the National Association for the Humor Impaired, who will help people take themselves less seriously. Jeff O’Lear and Magic Touch Entertainment will combine a magic show with drug awareness, while the Burlington Teen Group Sociodrama, Teatrix, will address important issues like child abuse, rape, suicide and AIDS. The San Diego Youth Congress will also make an appearance.

Last year, the conference attracted 882 participants from Iowa and surrounding states. A third of the attendees were youth from grades seven to 12, Hess said. The participating adults included educators, parents, juvenile court officials, as well as various ISU students.

“We really encourage ISU students to come and take advantage of these leaders, to see what they have to say. We bring in a lot of top people,” Hess said.

In conjunction with the YSS conference, there will also be a community forum on Sunday evening, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., free of charge at the Ames City Auditorium. Hess said that Elizabeth Hickey, M.S.W., a family counselor and mediator, will discuss healing within a divorce, and Ron Willis, president of Green Porch Swings Productions, will deal with raising kids.

“Miss Hickey was instrumental in changing laws in Utah and Connecticut that require parents with minor children to go through counseling before getting a divorce. Ron Willis will give a really down-to-earth talk on how to handle the kids. Everybody loved him last year,” Hess said.

The bottom line is raising awareness of the risks that children deal with, Hess said.

“The conference helps because there are all kinds of problems that kids face that parents don’t know about,” she said.