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| Thank You & Farewell to Judith Meyers |
September 30th marks Judith Meyers last day as President and CEO of CHDI.
Please join us in thanking Judith Meyers for her 18 years of leadership at CHDI
. As the organization's first employee, she was tasked with taking a vision for CHDI and growing it into a strong and successful organization. Judith has done that, and much more, to improve the lives of children and families and the systems that serve them.
Judith leaves CHDI in excellent hands, as Jeffrey Vanderploeg will take over as President and CEO on October 1.
If you would like to share a farewell message with Judith in honor of her work please click here.
Note: Judith will continue to serve as President & CEO of The Children's Fund of Connecticut through September 2018 and her contact information will remain the same during that time.
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Issue Brief: From Suspension to Support in the Early Grades
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The School-Based Diversion Initiative-Elementary Model
CHDI's latest Issue Brief: From Suspension to Support in the Early Grades
outlines a comprehensive model to help elementary schools reduce suspensions and expulsions and comply with Connecticut's 2015 legislative ban on using exclusionary discipline for children in preschool through second grade.
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Expanding CT's Infant Mental Health Endorsement® Credentialing System to Include Early Childhood (3-6 years)
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| CHDI's parent organization, the Children's Fund of Connecticut, is providing funding to support the pilot testing of the new Early Childhood (3-6 yrs) Mental Health Endorsement® by the Connecticut Association for Infant Mental Health (CT-AIMH) over the next year. Connecticut is one of four states piloting this endorsement system for professionals working with children ages 3-6. The endorsement ensures professionals working with young children are trained in best practices for healthy social and emotional development and have a specialized knowledge base and skill set that allow them to work with young children and their families from a developmental and relationship-based perspective. The Children's Fund of CT and CHDI previously partnered with CT-AIMH to build a system of infant mental health credentialing in Connecticut resulting in 49 professionals to date receiving the CT-AIMH Infant Mental Health Endorsement and 53 in the pipeline. Learn more about how we are promoting best practices for healthy development. |
Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Conduct Disorder (MATCH-ADTC) Available at New Locations
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Community mental health agencies participating in CHDI's third Learning Collaborative for the Modular Approach to Therapy for Children with Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Conduct Problems (
MATCH-ADTC) are now accepting clients.
MATCH-ADTC is an outpatient clinical intervention that combines multiple evidence-based practices into one model to more efficiently treat children (ages 6-15) with anxiety, depression, trauma and/or conduct problems, and any combination of these problems. CHDI is partnered with Harvard University to train clinicians to deliver MATCH-ADTC through a five-year initiative funded by the Department of Children and Families. MATCH is currently available at 19 agencies:
- Bridges, A Community Support System
- Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Center for Youth and Families
- Child and Family Agency of Southeastern CT, Inc.
- Child and Family Guidance Center
- Child Guidance Clinic for Central CT
- Clifford W. Beers Guidance Clinic, Inc.
- Community Child Guidance Clinic
- Community Health Resources
- Community Mental Health Affiliates, Inc.
- Connecticut Junior Republic
- Cornell Scott Hill Health Center
- Family and Children's Aid
- Lower Naugatuck Parent Child Resource Center
- United Community and Family Services
- United Services, Inc.
- The Village for Families and Children, Inc.
- Wellmore Behavioral Health
- Wheeler Clinic
- Yale Child Study Center
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CHDI Provides Child Trauma Training at CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence Conference
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CHDI and the
Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) collaborated to train professionals working with families and children on how community and domestic violence affects children, ways to prevent it, and available trauma-informed interventions. On September 21, CHDI's Carol O'Conn
or trained
early childhood educators, home health visitors, DCF staff, and other community providers from Connecticut and Rhode Island
on "The Intersection of Community Violence, Family Violence, Trauma and Intervention." The training was held at the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence's conference Opportunities for Enhanced Practice: Supporting Resiliency in Children Exposed to Family Violence, which aims to
strengthen the implementation of best practices by systems serving children exposed to family violence.
Learn more about CHDI's work to address child trauma, and CCADV's workforce development efforts.
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Lisa Honigfeld Co-authored Study Published in the
Journal of Child and Family Studies
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Lisa Honigfeld, along with Anne Pidano and several of her colleagues from the University of Hartford, co-authored a study published in the
Journal of Child and Family Studies.
Different Mental Health-Related Symptoms, Different Decisions: A Survey of Pediatric Primary Care Providers presents findings from a survey of pediatricians given vignettes about children with mental health symptoms suggesting an attentional disorder or depression. Responses showed varying degrees of accuracy in making diagnoses. Pediatricians in the survey were more likely to refer children to specialists for depression than for ADHD. Amount of training in behavioral health and years in practice were not associated with accuracy in diagnosis, confidence or comfort in addressing the hypothetical patient's mental health concern, or decisions about what to do following the disclosure of parental concerns. Pediatricians expressed a high level of interest in consulting and connecting with mental health providers, including social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists. The researchers recommend exploring ways to improve collaboration between pediatric health and mental health providers to ensure best outcomes for children.
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Job Opportunity: Project Coordinator for CBITS
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| CHDI is currently seeking a Project Coordinator with strong data reporting skills, primarily for the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools [CBITS] initiative. The Project Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating training and quality assurance activities for implementation of one or more child behavioral health evidence-based practices. CHDI is the Coordinating Center for CBITS, and is working with DCF, which funds the initiative, to disseminate CBITS across Connecticut. Click here for the job description and application procedures. |
Jeff Vanderploeg joined WNPR's conversation on "Preventing and Coping with Death by Suicide" for National Suicide Prevention Week. Vanderploeg spoke about the role schools can play and highlighted CHDI's work with
Stamford Public Schools
to address student mental health following three suicides. The key factors contributing to Stamford's success include: 1) conducting a comprehensive needs assessment; 2) investing in school staff and community awareness about trauma and unmet mental health needs; 3) identifying champions within your school board, school, and community to support the work.
Click here
to listen to the show.
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Congratulations to CHDI's
Eva C. Haldane who successfully defended
her doctoral dissertation entitled "Three papers on the effect of father
involvement on child sexual decision making" from Columbia University
School of Social Work. Using the National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health, Eva explored the relationship between father
involvement and the odds of children having unprotected sex. She
currently serves as a data analyst for CHDI supporting quality
improvement for Connecticut's Mobile Crisis Services and the School
Based Diversion Initiative.
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