CHDI NEWSLETTER
Thank You & Happy New Year
CHDI thanks our many partners and supporters dedicated to improving the lives of children and families. We wish you a very happy New Year and look forward to continued collaboration in 2018. 
CHDI's Latest Issue Brief:  Ensuring Children Grow Up at a Healthy Weight
CHDI's latest  Issue Brief  explores ways  that Connecticut-based obesity prevention research is helping state policymakers, providers, and others identify new opportunities and effective solutions to ensure children grow up at a healthy weight.   

Click here to read  Issue Brief 59: Ensuring Children Grow Up at a Health Weight: Supporting Emerging Research and Prevention Efforts in Connecticut.
ADHD Pediatric Training Initiative is Underway
CHDI has recruited and begun working with 11 pediatric primary care practices to adopt the American Academy of Pediatrics' primary care guidelines for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The one-year project which began in August 2017 is managed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The practices are receiving an on-site training from CHDI about the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents. Participating practices complete monthly data collection to assess their progress in improving care for children with attention disorders. The training and practice quality components of the project will remain active beyond the funding period for widespread distribution to practices in Connecticut through CHDI's EPIC program.
Additional Agencies Trained in the ARC Framework to Address Trauma in Young Children
Clinicians, clinical supervisors, and senior leaders from six outpatient clinics for children began training in the Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) framework, bringing the total number of clinics providing this service in Connecticut to 13. The ARC framework is used to intervene with young children (7 years old and younger), who have experienced ongoing or multiple traumas. ARC provides children and their caregivers with an opportunity to strengthen child-caregiver attachment, regulation of emotions, and child development; areas which can be impacted by trauma. Agencies included in the 2017-2018 ARC training include: Bridges Healthcare, Inc., Family and Children's Aid, United Community & Family Services, The Village for Family & Children, and Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut.
First Place Award in Poster Presentation 
Maiah Zarrabi, a second year medical student at Quinnipiac's
Frank H. Netter School of Medicine, won first place in the poster presentation category at the recent community health leadership conference at the University of Miami. Maiah's poster, co-developed with  Susan Macary and  Lisa Honigfeld from CHDI, reviewed the results of her work exploring the  co-variates of obesity in a sample of young children. The research was based on data from CHDI's early childhood assessment record data base. Maiah analyzed data from almost 1000 early childhood health assessment records maintained by child care sites in several communities across Connecticut. Her results showed strong correlations for 3 and 4 year old children between having public health insurance and/or asthma and being overweight or obese. The implications of these findings for anticipatory guidance and surveillance by child health providers are discussed.
Addressing Cultural Competence in the Workplace
Earlier this month CHDI's Cultural Competency and Climate Committee held a staff workshop "On Being Culturally Competent" facilitated by Dr. William Howe of Multicultural Dimensions. Participants in the workshop explored issues of culture, diversity, and disparities with a focus on micro-aggressions and implicit bias. CHDI established a Climate and Cultural Competence Committee several years ago. The committee led by Dr. Jeana Bracey organizes bi-annual staff trainings and activities to promote cultural competence in the workplace, as well as a series of staff-led brown bag lunch presentations focused on children's health and mental health disparities. 
CHDI is Seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow in Implementation Science and Child Trauma
The Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI) seeks to hire a full-time Postdoctoral Fellow in implementation science/child trauma starting in Summer 2018. This is a full time one year Fellowship with benefits.  Click here  for the job description and application procedures.
Staff News
Dr. Diana Perry joined CHDI in December as CBITS Project Coordinator. Prior to joining CHDI, Perry worked as a direct service clinician in New York, San Francisco, and New Haven. She obtained her MS in Rehabilitation Counseling from Hunter College and her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Areas of interest include systems theory, post traumatic stress, the psychology of groups, chemical dependency, disability studies, and attachment theory. She has collaborated on publications focused on the critical consciousness of race, animal assisted group therapy, and the CBITS implementation process. 
Child Health and Development Institute
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