October 2009

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From the President

Early Childhood Services

By Phyllis Sloyer, President, AMCHP

How many times have you looked at those precious pictures of toddlers who are smiling, playing, being cuddled by their parents or being totally mischievous? Early childhood is a period of physical, developmental, and mental change and growth; creating and marking the future of each child. It is also one of the most vulnerable periods in a child’s life. The events and experiences in a young child’s life can either lead to future well-being or create a lifetime of poor physical, developmental, and emotional health. The most recent National Survey of Children’s Health indicated that approximately 37% of parents in the United States were concerned that their young child (ages 0-5) had a problem with their developmental, social, or emotional growth. [read more]

From the CEO

Early Childhood Development

By Mike R. Fraser, PhD

These are exciting times for maternal and child health programs nationwide. Policy makers are looking to invest in new programs in support of moms, children, and families and early childhood is one of those areas where there is great interest. In the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill there was recognition of the need to invest in quality home visitation programs – to the tune of $1.5 billion over five years – and the draft legislation places state Title V programs in a critical coordinating role for these activities. In addition, a number of new investments have been proposed for early childhood education and development in both the President’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget and new legislation before Congress. It is refreshing to see such interest in programs to support our nation’s children, but what does all this mean for those of us working in maternal and child health? [read more]

Features

Project LAUNCH: A Brief Update

By Jennifer A. Oppenheim, PsyD
Coordinator, Project LAUNCH

As we approach the end of the first year of Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health), we are excited to share some of the promising developments and early successes of our grantees. Project LAUNCH continues to expand and we are happy to announce 12 new grant recipients in California, The District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Wisconsin. [read more]

AAP Mental Health Activities

By Jane Meschan Foy, MD, FAAP
Chair, American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Mental Health

Over the last several years, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has been working on a number of activities to integrate mental health into the primary care setting. The revised Bright Futures Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, Third Edition,^† provides recommendations for health promotion and prevention during health supervision (i.e., well-child) visits. The Bright Futures Guidelines highlight and suggest opportunities for promoting mental health with every child, from birth to age 21. Later this month, the AAP Bright Futures will be releasing the Bright Futures Tool and Resource Kit to assist practitioners in implementing these guidelines. Focusing on child and family strengths and support, the guidelines and tools assist practitioners in addressing the psychosocial factors that influence health and well-being.

[read more]

Member to Member

Member states were asked the following question:

What has been your greatest challenge in implementing your Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems plan and how did you overcome it? [read more]

Real Life Stories

A Mother’s Desperate Search for Inclusive Child Care Services

By Diana MTK Autin
Executive Co-Director
Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN)

For the past 10 years, the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network of New Jersey has been home to the New Jersey Inclusive Child Care Project. Through this project, we are able to provide on-site training and technical assistance to child care providers to help enhance their capacity to include children with disabilities and special health care needs. We are also able to provide training and telephone technical assistance to families, training to staff of the Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and community-based family-serving agencies such as members of the Hispanic Directors’ Association, and on-line train-the-trainer sessions on Red Flags in Child Development, Rights of Children with Special Needs and their Families in Child Care, and Family Resources. [read more]

Success Stories

Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Initiative

By Judy Walruff, PhD MSW
Senior Policy Specialist
First Things First - Arizona Early Childhood Development & Health Board

In the past 10 years, it has been apparent that Arizona citizens and advocates alike were supportive of improving the early childhood development and health environment for the state’s children. The leadership of two previous governors and persistent determination of early childhood education and health advocates and service providers has focused the state’s efforts in providing an environment where all young children have opportunities to grow up healthy and ready to succeed. A constant influx of families who want to raise their young children in this southwestern state and the rapid growth in the number of children under five years of age has highlighted the importance of building the foundation for an early childhood comprehensive service system that is strong and able to withstand future economic and political changes and challenges.

[read more]

New York’s Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Initiative

By Robert G. Frawley
Deputy Director
and Director NYS Head Start Collaboration Project
Council on Children and Families

The Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Planning Initiative has provided New York state with a tremendous opportunity to develop and implement an agenda for establishing a comprehensive system of supports and services for young children and their families. This initiative provided for the first time an opportunity for representatives from health care, mental health, early learning, and family support programs to work together to develop a comprehensive plan of action.[read more]

View from Washington

By Brent Ewig, MHA
Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs, AMCHP

Greetings once again from our nation’s capital. As this issue goes to print (can you still say that when it’s electronic?) the Senate Finance Committee just finished amending their health reform legislation. They are the last of five Congressional committees charged with drafting initial bills. [read more]

Who's New

New HRSA Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Kyu Rhee

Dr. Kyu Rhee was recently announced as the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) new chief public health officer. Dr. Rhee is a primary care physician trained in internal medicine and pediatrics. [read more]

Get Involved

Register Now for AMCHP's Annual Conference!
Register today online to attend AMCHP’s Annual Conference to convene on March 6-10, 2010, in Washington, DC. If you have any questions, please contact Registration Manager Lynn Parrazzo, lynnporrazzo@conferencemanagers.com, or call AMCHP’s Conference Department at (703) 964-1240. [read more]

Call for Abstracts
The National Healthy Start Association is seeking abstract submissions for both poster and oral presentations that are research-focused, clinical-focused, or program-focused for their 2010 Annual Spring Conference. The deadline for abstracts is by October 23 at 5 p.m. (EDT). [read more]

Call for Proposals
Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future (PIN) is seeking proposals to create unique partnerships with local and regional grant making foundations to encourage sustained investment in nursing workforce solutions. PIN is a collaborative effort between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Northwest Health Foundation. [read more]

Call for Studies
Mathematica Policy Research is seeking studies for a comprehensive review of the evidence base for programs to prevent teen pregnancy. The review is being conducted for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) by Mathematica Policy Research and will be used to help inform policy and new initiatives and program directions at the federal level. Submissions are due by October 31. [read more]

ISPCAN Call for Abstracts
The International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) is seeking abstract submissions for its 18th annual International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect to convene on September 26-29, 2010, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2010. [read more]

Call for Papers
The journal Injury Prevention is planning a supplement featuring papers that examine relationships between the child death review process (a multidisciplinary investigation of unexpected child fatalities) and injury prevention programs and policies. Papers must be no more than 3,000 words in length and conform to all requirements for manuscripts submitted to the journal (http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/ifora/). All will undergo peer review. Submissions must be made before February 1, 2010 to have the best chance of review and inclusion in this supplement. [read more]

Call for Materials
The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center is looking for materials that highlight concepts of health literacy and oral health-related materials that integrate those concepts. Share your publications, such as brochures, fact sheets, curricula, policy statements, tool kits, manuals, and protocols, with OHRC for inclusion in their library. To submit materials in hard copy, send it to: Sarah Kolo, National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center, Georgetown University, Box 571272 Washington, DC 20057-1272. With either method, include citation information including the publication year, author(s), publisher name and place, and URL if appropriate. Also indicate whether hard copies are available, from whom and at what cost. [read more]

Data and Trends

See data from the Data Resource Center on Developmental Screening. [read more]

Resources

View and download resources on Early Childhood and Mental Health. [read more]

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Meet AMCHP's Board of Directors.

AMCHP staff

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