Happy Holidays from all of us at CHDI!
Wishing you and your family a safe and healthy New Year!
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PBS News Hour Highlights Trauma Treatments in Connecticut: Bounce Back Featured
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Connecticut was featured in part four of the PBS NewsHour series “Invisible Scars: America’s Childhood Trauma Crisis.” CHDI's Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives, Jason Lang, PhD provided background information for the series. The episode, "Treating trauma early to help children cope down the line," explores solutions. It highlights how Bounce Back is helping children in Connecticut heal from trauma and includes an interview with a family that benefitted from Connecticut's impressive availability of trauma-informed treatments. Bounce Back and CBITS are school-based treatments supported by the state, which makes training and implementation available at no cost to schools in Connecticut.
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CHDI, in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, disseminated CBITS and BounceBack to over 100 schools in Connecticut since 2015. CHDI's Jason Lang, PhD and Diana Perry, PsyD shared their experiences with statewide dissemination in a webinar for school administrators, counselors, and policy makers in Philadelphia, PA. The webinar was held by the Evidence Based Practice and Innovation Center in Philadelphia, which is planning a rollout of CBITS in Pennsylvania. A recording of the webinar is available here.
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Our Commitment to Equity and Racial Justice |
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CHDI is committed to building a healthier, more just, and equitable society so that children can grow up to lead healthy and productive lives. We are working to root out the deadly effects of anti-Blackness, racism, and injustice that compromise the health and development of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) children and their families. We are also on a journey as an organization to become an anti-racist and inclusive organization that uplifts all of our staff, board, and partners. CHDI's "Commitment to Equity & Justice" web page is now live and includes:
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Experts Discuss Child Wellness During COVID-19 in UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health Podcast Episode
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CHDI’s Jeana Bracey, PhD discussed child wellness during COVID on a podcast for the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH). The podcast was part of CSCH's Spotlight on Well-being during COVID series. The Child Wellness episode focused on what schools and communities can do to support social emotional learning, mental health and wellness during the pandemic. Panelists included:
- Jeana Bracey, Associate Vice President for School & Community Initiatives, CHDI
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Damion Grasso, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, UConn Health
- Michelle Doucette Cunningham, Executive Director, Connecticut After School Network
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Reflections on 2020 and Looking Ahead to A New Year |
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In a letter to our colleagues, CHDI's President and CEO, Jeffrey Vanderploeg reflects back on a challenging year for children, families, providers, and organizations.
We are grateful to our staff, Board and partners who collaborated with us to improve the health and well-being of children and families during this difficult time.
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CT by the Numbers Article Highlights School Mental Health Planning and Assessment through SHAPE System |
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Connecticut by the Numbers featured efforts to help school districts address mental health in the article, CT School Districts Among Leading Participants in Mental Health Planning, Assessments. Connecticut is one of a growing number of states supporting the SHAPE system to help schools assess, plan, and improve school mental health. "After assessing their strengths and gaps, SHAPE schools are strategically addressing prevention, early intervention and more intensive needs, while more efficiently targeting their resources to better meet all students' needs,” according to Jeana Bracey, PhD, Associate Vice President of School and Community Initiatives at CHDI. SHAPE is offered to Connecticut schools through a partnership between the CT Department of Children and Families, CHDI, and National Center for School Mental Health.
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Dental Tribune Article Highlights Framework for a More Sustainable Oral Health System |
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CHDI's David Krol, MD was quoted in a recent Dental Tribune article, Three Domain Framework is the Future of Dentistry. Dr. Krol joined with oral health leaders from across the nation to develop the Three Domain Framework for Oral Health, which was published by the DentaQuest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement in October 2020.
“A strong, sustainable health system is built on prevention, value and equity,” said Dr. David Krol, vice president for health initiatives at the Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut. “The Three Domain Framework, with its primary care approach, patient-centered focus and evidence-based foundation, provides the framework for increased alignment of the dental and medical communities in our shared quest for improved health outcomes for all.”
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Farewell to Carol O'Connor |
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Carol O'Connor, LCSW, Senior Project Coordinator and Quality Improvement Advisor retired from CHDI this month after eight years at CHDI and a long career dedicated to serving Connecticut’s children and families. At CHDI, Carol was instrumental in driving the train to expand Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) across Connecticut and earned the distinction of becoming a national TF-CBT trainer. She has worked tirelessly with hundreds of mental health agencies, state partners, administrators, supervisors, and clinicians to implement TF-CBT and other evidence-based treatments. Carol’s efforts have resulted in thousands of children and families receiving services that, in many cases, literally changed their lives. Even more than her extensive knowledge and tireless work, Carol will be greatly missed as a senior advisor, colleague, confidant, supervisor, and friend. All of us at CHDI wish Carol a very happy retirement.
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Dr. Ken Spiegelman - 2020 Community Physician of the Year! |
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Congratulations to Ken Spiegelman, MD who was selected as Community Physician of the Year for his dedication to patients and families at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Dr. Spiegelman is a private practice community pediatrician in Manchester, Connecticut with over 40 years of medical experience. In addition to helping countless children and families, he works to improve children’s health policy, systems and practice. Dr. Spiegelman is an active member of the board of directors for CHDI and Children’s Fund of Connecticut (CFC). In addition, he serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, a member of the board of directors for the Connecticut Family Support Network, and an advisory board member for ACCESS Mental Health CT. Through CHDI’s Educating Practices program, he trains other pediatric health providers to implement best practice changes related to integrating behavioral health and primary care and delivering trauma-informed care. Ken Spiegelman was presented the award by Connecticut Children’s Physician-in-Chief and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Juan Salazar, MD who also served as a former CHDI and CFC board member and chair.
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Honoring the Life and Work of Marjorie Rosenthal |
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Connecticut lost a hero for children and families this month when Marjorie Rosenthal, MD, MPH passed away from colon cancer. Marjorie was a community pediatrician in New Haven, co-director of the Clinical Scholars Program at Yale, and an advocate for children and families. CHDI was honored to work with her over the years as one of our Senior Fellows, a grantee, colleague and friend. Most recently, she developed and tested an innovative way to prevent obesity in young children using pediatric well-child group care. The project was supported through a CHDI obesity prevention grant, and highlighted in a C-HIT news story. Stay tuned for a CHDI Issue Brief dedicated to Marjorie that will share findings from her work to promote young children’s healthy weight through pediatric group well-child care. Read more about Marjorie’s extraordinary life and contributions to child health in the New Haven Register and the New Haven Independent.
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COVID-19 Resources for Our Partners and the Public |
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Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV), CT Safe Connect is a hotline created to make it easier for victims of domestic violence to access information, resources and assistance.
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