Advocacy in action

Read about members' advocacy activity.

Joann Grayson, PhD

Professor, Dept. of Psychology, James Madison University

I edit the Virginia Child Protection Newsletter which is generally published three times a year. We cover a different topic on child welfare each issue. The publication is sponsored by the Virginia Department of Social Services and is distributed nationally to over 12,000 subscribers. VCPN is a free publication. It has been published since 1981 and we have over 90 back issues available. Those interested in being added to the mailing list can complete a form on the website.

Carol Falender, PhD

2010-2012: Lead Consultant, Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles County, Development of Child and Adolescent Screening and Assessment forms for Substance Abuse and Co-occurring Disorders

1999-present: Member Training in Co-occurring Diagnosis and Integrated Care Treatment Committee for Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles County to ensure adequate representation of child, adolescent, and family programming in annual conferences and treatment planning.

Lesley A. Slavin, PhD

Chief Psychologist, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division, Hawaii State Department of Health

I work in the central office of Hawaii’s statewide system of care for Children’s mental health. I’m involved in lots of efforts to improve services in our public child-serving system. Some specific activities include:

A grant-funded initiative to improve care for girls ages 11-18 who have experienced significant trauma;
A grant-funded initiative to find innovative ways to address the needs of youth with co-occurring Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health needs through collaborative efforts by several agencies of the state government – including child protection, Dept. of Education, and both the Mental Health and DD divisions of the Dept. of Health;
Re-writing the Performance Standards for agencies that contract with the state to provide mental health services in order to assure that:
Trauma screening assessment is done on every youth entering services.
Decisions about what level of care to provide are made by qualified psychologists or psychiatrists and responsive to family/youth input.
Services are individualized and the services available are flexible enough to meet the needs of youth and families.
Medicaid reimbursement is maximized for our youth.
Working with our Evidence Based Services committee to promote and expand the use of Evidence-Based practices in our system of care.