From the President
Making a Difference for Children and Families
By Phyllis Sloyer, President, AMCHP
Welcome to this issue of Pulse. Many of you are returning from our Annual Conference and I hope that you found it to be successful and full of valuable information. The quality of our work was evident in the various workshops and poster sessions. I personally found it invigorating to listen to speakers who sparked my enthusiasm and excitement about the future of our maternal and child health world. It was especially rewarding to acknowledge those who have contributed so much to the advancement of maternal and child health issues, including our legislative champions and keynote speakers. Now that we have completed our conference — our thoughts turn to some of the future activities of AMCHP — and frankly, to some of our concerns, including workforce issues and the impact of health reform on women and children, particularly children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). This issue of Pulse focuses on these two key areas. [read more]
From the CEO
Mentoring: A Powerful Learning Strategy for Leadership Development
By Mike R. Fraser, PhD
“A brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”
--John Crosby, Author
I recently had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on “people development” sponsored by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Women’s and Children’s Health Policy Center. The panel featured four MCH professionals discussing our thoughts on how to best cultivate maternal and child health leaders and support people development activities in our own agencies. The dialogue was fascinating and the four of us brought different perspectives to the conversation from our vantage points in academia, government and the nonprofit health sector. [read more]
Features
AMCHP Workforce Development Committee Moving Forward in 2009
By Librada Estrada
Associate Director, Workforce & Leadership Development, Family Involvement, AMCHP
AMCHP’s Workforce Development Committee (WDC) develops strategies to help Title V staff in their daily jobs. It identifies issues that state Title V programs are facing in recruiting, training and retaining staff. The committee identifies resources from across the country to help Title V staff address these issues, including training and technical assistance, data and assessment and professional development. The committee also provides member input on AMCHP programs created to support the Title V workforce, such as the New Director Mentor Program. [read more]
Is AMCHP Ready to Embrace Youth Leadership?
By Mallory Cyr, BFA
Healthy & Ready to Work (HRTW) Youth Coordinator and
Patti Hackett, MEd
HRTW Co-Director and Founder HRTW National Resource Center
Some of you may say, “Well of course we are!” while others may say, “Sometime in the near future.” And a few will respond, “No, not yet.” But let us ask this question: If not now then when? Leaving AMCHP’s conference, we heard “Where are the youth?” with the response of, “Well, what would they get out of this conference?” It’s been almost 20 years since the first family leaders began attending AMCHP’s conference. Were we ready? Was AMCHP ready? Who really can judge the “readiness factor?” [read more]
AMCHP 2009: “It made me laugh, it made me cry, I’d recommend it to anyone.”
By Michael Fraser, PhD
CEO, AMCHP
I remember a movie advertisement I saw some time ago in which an emotional moviegoers states “…it made me laugh, it made me cry, I’d recommend it to anybody!” And that same line sure applies to AMCHP’s 2009 Conference! Over 600 participants came together in Washington, DC to learn, network, and strategize how to best address “Launching Maternal and Child Health: Opportunities for a New Era,” our conference theme. Our 2009 attendance represented an almost 15 percent increase since last year’s conference which is a trend I hope will continue in the coming years as we retool and revise the AMCHP Conference and continue to seek member input on how to plan the event to best meet members’ needs, engage partners and exhibitors, and develop a must-see program of cutting edge presentations. [read more]
Member to Member
AMCHP posed the following question to CSHCN directors from three different states:
As your CYSHCN department transitions from a direct service to community-based system, what have you done, are you currently doing, and plan to do to prepare your workforce for the change in their roles? [read more]