Children’s Mental Health Week: Goal 4 of the Children’s Mental Health Plan – Child-Serving Workforce
Thursday, May 5, 2022
| Over the past 17 months, ICMHP has worked with stakeholders from across the state to develop a systematic, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary plan that would address the needs of children, families, and communities. The Plan identifies 5 foundational goals to move the work forward. Today’s featured goal is Goal 4: Child-Serving Workforce. |
| GOAL 4: Grow, retain, diversify, and support the child-serving workforce, with special emphasis on professional development around child and family mental health and wellness, and services and supports to address needs. Through the input we received from youth, families, communities, and our workgroups, the need for increased education and outreach was paramount for any recommendation to be successful. But this need is more than just increased public awareness, acceptance, and de-stigmatization; it requires an expanded understanding and alignment of mental health and wellness across sectors as identified in our values. It also requires an overhaul of our support systems to provide the resources directly to communities to address these issues. For Goal 4, we recommend the following immediate action steps: 1. Prioritize reimbursement strategies that provide greater parity between public and private payers to ensure greater access to existing mental health services. 2. Develop mental and behavioral health core competencies, including trauma, for all professionals serving children and families and fund programs that foster integration of mental health with health services and other social supports. 3. Fund robust loan forgiveness, scholarships, and other incentive programs to further grow and diversify child-serving workforces, particularly in mental health. 4. Establish and invest in workforce health and wellness promotion models to address the increased rates of stress and burnout seen across all child-serving workforces. |
Meet Dr. Karen Simms
Founding Director, Trauma and Resilience Initiative
Treatment Workgroup Member of the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Plan
Karen Crawford Simms is an experienced consultant, trainer, facilitator, and coach. She has a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and has spent over 30 years advocating for individuals, families and communities who have been marginalized because of race, gender, sexual orientation/identity, health, or their socioeconomic status. She is the founder of Trauma & Resilience Initiative, Inc. (TRI) a not-for-profit that trains, educates, advocates for, and promotes resilience and justice for individuals, families, organizations, and communities. TRI works to reduce the impact of adverse community experiences by healing and repairing those who have been impacted by trauma, and equipping organizations and providers to be trauma and justice informed.
Karen has expertise in trauma-informed care, culturally responsive practices, community engagement, outcome-based planning, collaborative processes and implementing evidence-based practices.
Meet Pfeffer Eisen
Director, DCFS Early Childhood Project at Erikson
Early Intervention Workgroup Member of the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Plan
Meet Molly Uhe-Edmonds,
Director of Student Care, Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
Treatment Workgroup Member of the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Plan, and her
“The Night Before” partners,
Dr. Besty Goulet and Josh Friedman
Molly Uhe-Edmonds currently serves as Director of Student Care at the Illinois State Board of Education, which gives her the opportunity to collaborate with schools on decreasing the use of suspensions and expulsions for disproportionally impacted students, limit the use and find alternatives to physical restraint and time out practices, and also work with districts on bullying prevention policies. Her position with ISBE gives her the privilege and honor of promoting LGBTQ+ inclusivity practices and supports. Previously she served as Deputy Director of Education at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Prior to DCFS, she was a principal at the elementary and high school level. Uhe-Edmonds earned a Bachelor of Arts from Southern Illinois University, Masters of Education from Sam Houston State University, and a Specialist in Educational Leadership from University of Illinois-Springfield.
Upcoming Event This Week!
Upcoming Events Later This Month!
Featuring our very own ICMHP Director, Amanda M. Walsh, and ICMHP Member, Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia, as well as Dr. Mary Dobbins, Early Intervention Workgroup Member and President of Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics, and other partners, including the ACEs Response Collaborative and Illinois DocAssist
| 2022 ICAAP Adolescent Health Virtual Conference May 11, 2022 8:00AM—12:00PM Location: Virtual, Zoom platform Cost 0.0 Categories Adolescents Join pediatricians, family physicians, and other health care providers for a half-day of excellent virtual educational content in addressing adolescent health needs. The conference will be held over Zoom: Wednesday, May 11th: 8am – 12pm CST By attending the 2022 ICAAP Adolescent Health Virtual Conference, participants will: Identify opportunities to improve adolescent mental health care for patients and families. Increase the quality and effectiveness of adolescent well-visits by using tools and resources. Address barriers and potential solutions to ensuring adolescents have access to care and needed services. Access resources for providers, adolescent patients, and caregivers. You should attend if you are a: general, primary care pediatrician; pediatric nurse practitioner; family physician; pediatric and medicine-pediatric resident or fellow; allied health professional, including registered nurses, physician assistants, and others. The Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics is accredited by the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Register here: https://secure.illinoisaap.org/np/clients/illinoisaap/eventRegistration.jsp?event=30& |
DO I HAVE THE RIGHT TO FEEL SAFE?
Discover Chicago Beyond’s Vision for Holistic Safety in Corrections
Chicago Beyond’s new publication, Do I Have the Right to Feel Safe? A Vision for Holistic Safety in Corrections, is a unified vision of how to instill safety for all impacted by corrections – starting with people incarcerated and staff. This vision was developed by Dr. Nneka Tapia Jones, Managing Director of Justice Initiatives at Chicago Beyond and former warden of Cook County jail, in partnership with over 100 people directly impacted by incarceration. The vision challenges all of us to shift our concept of safety from one predicated on control to one that empowers people with lived experience of the carceral system. This new publication provides guidance for everyone – including correctional administrators – on how to create the conditions for ALL community members, both inside and outside of correctional walls, to be and feel protected, resilient, and whole. That is holistic safety.
On Tuesday, May 24th at 4:00pm CST, Chicago Beyond will host a virtual discussion on the critical importance of embedding holistic safety within corrections with national leaders in criminal legal reform. Guest panelists will include Kevin Kempf of the Correctional Leaders Association, Andy Potter of One Voice United, Ronald Simpson-Bey of JustLeadershipUSA, and John Wetzel of Phronema Justice Strategies. You can register here to attend the launch event.
Chicago Beyond thanks you for supporting their commitment to uplifting safety within corrections.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/do-i-have-the-right-to-feel-safe-instilling-safety-in-corrections-tickets-317221206167?aff=Nneka
Trauma Informed Awareness Day Toolkit: Visit our toolkit for a comprehensive list of events and social media actions taking place throughout the month. Each week, we will highlight a different theme with accompanying resources and content leading up to Trauma-Informed Awareness Day. We invite you to share our posts with your networks or develop your own posts related to the theme of the week.
#MyTraumaInformedIL: Throughout the month of May, we are asking Illinois residents to let us know what a Trauma-Informed Illinois means to them with our #MyTraumaInformedIL campaign. Details on how to participate in this campaign are included in the toolkit. #WeHealUS: The Collaborative is contributing partner to the #WeHealUS campaign. Check out their website for a calendar of Mental Health and Trauma-Informed Awareness Month events taking place throughout May.
Register here: https://hmprg.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/hmprg/eventRegistration.jsp?event=952&
#FollowICMHP
All week ICMHP will be sharing our milestones along the way in arriving at a comprehensive Illinois Children’s Mental Health Plan
We hope you stay well and connected,
The Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership