Advancing the Wellbeing of Latino Families in DC Using a Community of Practice Approach

Community mental health administrators, school district student support managers, and clinical supervisors, among others, often struggled with ways to ensure the adoption of best practices and evidence-based behavioral health interventions among school- and community-based providers in a way that facilitates their application as part of normal practice in these settings. As part of Washington, DC’s Expansion of Comprehensive School Behavioral Health initiative, cross-sector partners invested in a systemic approach to reducing the unmet behavioral health needs plaguing DC youth and families, particularly those most vulnerable and confronting social, economic, or environmental challenges. A Community of Practice (CoP) was established as a part of this citywide initiative to ensure learning was co-created and happened across specialized roles, to strengthen professional relationships, and to foster alignment of initiatives across child and family agencies in order to maximize the use of effective school behavioral health practices in all 244 DC public and public charter schools. Presenters will discuss how a CoP was developed in DC, the impact of this approach on community engagement and clinical practices, and lessons learned about factors that can facilitate or hinder the adoption of this approach, especially when considering the unique circumstances faced by Latino urban families.

Participants will be able to:

  • List unique challenges and opportunities with delivering behavioral health services to Latino youth and families in Washington, DC.
  • Describe the essential elements and value of a Community of Practice approach.
  • Learn how a padlet can be used to create a shared learning space to advance a behavioral health practice.
  • Identify at least one engagement strategy that can be adapted to support the well-being of Latino youth and families.

 

Who should attend? This is an intermediate level workshop designed for mental health providers, school mental health providers, and school administrators.

 

About the presenters: 

 

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Olga Acosta Price, PhD- Olga Acosta Price, Ph.D. is director of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, and Associate Professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the University. She is a clinical psychologist with postdoctoral training in school mental health. In 1999, Dr. Acosta Price became founding director of the School Mental Health Program (SMHP) at the Department of Mental Health in Washington, DC and launched the comprehensive school-based mental health programs in more than 30 public charter and DC public schools over six years. In her current capacity as director of the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools she provides leadership and direction to the Center in an effort to impact the development and quality of school health services across the U.S. Dr. Acosta Price has advocated for the expansion of school-connected and community-based prevention and intervention approaches across the US, with a focus on strengthening systems to ensure education and health equity for vulnerable populations. She is currently the chair of the board of directors for the Coalition of School Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC), a steering committee member of the National Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and was recently co-chair of the DC Task Force on School Mental Health, among other advisory roles. Dr. Acosta Price received her Masters and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her undergraduate degree in psychology from Vassar College.

 

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Inma Iglesias, LICSW- Inma Iglesias, LICSW, LCSW-C, RPT-S. Inma Iglesias is a licensed clinical social worker with over 15 years of experience working with children, families, and adults in different multicultural settings. Inma received her Master’s in Clinical Social Work from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. in 2011. Inma is a board approved supervisor in Maryland, a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, a certified Parent Child Interaction Therapist, a certified Child-Parent Psychotherapist, and a Level I Theraplay practitioner. She currently works as a Senior Clinical Manager at Mary’s Center, a large Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) where she provides oversight to clinical services provided by the Behavioral Health Department within the School-Based Program. Her areas of clinical expertise include trauma, anxiety, OCD, depression, ADHD, home transitions (divorce, loss of a loved one, blended families, and family reunification), and disruptive behavior in children. She completed the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) Training in the Medical and Psychological Evaluation and Documentation of Torture and Human Rights Survivors Seeking Asylum. Inma has additional experience providing clinical supervision, training, and consultation. Some of the presentations provided include: Creating a Trauma Informed School Culture, Family Reunification, Impact of Chronic Stress in Children and Parents, Teacher Wellness and Stress Management, and Assessment and Treatment of Clients using Expressive Therapies.

 

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Mariola Rosser, EdD- Mariola Rosser, Ed.D. Mariola Rosser is the Project Director at the Center on Health and Health Care in Schools at the George Washington University. She brings 20 years of experience in social learning, system convening and building communities of practice in education and school behavioral health. Currently, she coordinates the DC School Behavioral Health Community of Practice (DC CoP) focused on improving provider and school readiness in implementing a multi-tiered model of school based mental health prevention, early intervention, and treatment services. She is responsible for designing the CoP learning agenda, convening monthly community meetings and building relationships with CBO clinicians, school staff and community partners. Dr. Rosser worked at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) supporting several projects, the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and the IDEA Partnership. She provided Technical Assistance to four states supporting state Part C programs focused on improving the social and emotional outcomes for young children and their families and state Part B programs focused on improving the graduation rates for students with disabilities. She advised the Social and Emotional Outcomes Collaborative (15 states) around the stakeholders’ engagement and adaptive leadership. She was also involved in building cross-system capacity in states and co-facilitating national communities of practice (CoPs) around school behavioral health and transition from school to college and career. Dr. Rosser holds a Master Degree in Therapeutic Pedagogy (Maria Grzegorzewska University, Poland) and Doctorate in Education (George Washington University, Washington, DC). She is currently pursuing certification in the Science of Mindfulness Awareness (SOMA) Meditation Teacher Training (The Mindfulness Center, Bethesda MD), a certification in the Applied Neuroscience and Brain Health (The Neuroscience Academy, Australia) and the Tao of Trauma certification focused on restoring balance and regulation in survivors of traumatic stress (Integrative Healing, Silver Spring, MD).

 

Please read the following before registering: 

  • The National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center use GoToWebinar as our online event system. 

  • Audio for the event is accessible via the internet. To receive audio, attendees must join the event by using computers equipped with speakers or dial in via telephone. 

  • After registration, a confirmation email will be generated with instructions for joining the event. To avoid problems with log-in, please use the confirmation email to join the event.  

Starts: Feb. 11, 2021 1:00 pm
Ends: Feb. 11, 2021 2:30 pm
Timezone:
US/Eastern
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