The Maryland Assembly is an advocacy organization that promotes school-based health care for all Maryland children and youth.
MASBHC’s 2014 Annual Spring Conference, The Changing Landscape of School-Based Health Care, was held on May 15th at the Rockland Conference Center located at the Stevenson University’s Owings Mills Campus. The conference was attended by over 130 school based health professionals and school administrators.
Our first keynote presentation was given by Dr. Heidi Ellis, Ph.D. Dr. Ellis is an Assistant Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston, and a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also the Director of the Center for Refugee Trauma and Resilience at Children’s Hospital Boston, a partner in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Dr. Ellis’s primary focus is on developing and disseminating mental health prevention and intervention programs for refugee children and their families. Dr. Ellis’ keynote presentation titled, “Supporting the Mental Health of Refugee Students: A Community and School-Based Approach,” focused on providing support to students that are dealing with trauma. While Dr.Ellis’ experience has focused on students dealing with trauma as it relates to refugee populations, her methods and practices translate well to students experiencing trauma due to a varying set of circumstances.
Our afternoon keynote presentation was given by Dr. Lelin Chao. Dr. Chao currently serves as the Medical Director of Amerigroup Maryland. Dr. Chao is responsible for Quality Management and PCMH Initiatives. In the past, Dr. Chao has served as the Chief Medical Officer of a federally qualified health center serving uninsured, underinsured, and vulnerable populations. Dr. Chao has a keen interest in population health, quality improvement, and adolescent and children’s health. Dr. Chao’s keynote titled, “Maryland School Based Health Centers: A Vision of Future State,” provided a framework of adolescent health today and provided conference attendees with the steps that need to be taken in order to ensure that SBHC’s are addressing these issues effectively while also ensuring their own sustainability.
In addition to the keynote speakers, the conference held morning and afternoon breakout sessions. Breakout sessions were focused on providing clinical updates to school health professionals, creating a dialogue on child and adolescent mental health treatment and prevention, and next steps for SBHC’s in the new world of health reform. Conference breakouts included a two-part session on Billing and Coding for School-Based Health Centers. Attendees had the opportunity to select one of four breakout topics for both the morning and afternoon sessions. Morning breakout sessions included a follow-up plenary on Dr. Elliis’ Impact of Trauma keynote presentation, Teen Seuxal Health Update, and a session on Supporting Students with Chronic Illness. The afternoon breakouts included Responding to Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injuries, Incorporating Electronic Medical Records in SBHC’s, and Mental Health Resiliency for Youth and Families.
When conference attendees weren’t participating in the various presentations, they were able to partake in our vendor exhibit. Participating vendor organizations included Action for Healthy Kids, Amerigroup, Brain Injury Association of Maryland, Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, Lindamood Bell, Maryland Behavioral Health Integration in Pediatric Primary Care, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Center for Immunization, University of Maryland’s Center for School Mental Health, Novartis, Riverside Health, Sanofi Pasteur, and School Health Corporation.
Thank you to all our speakers, vendors, conference participants, and a special thank you the MASBHC TA Committee for putting together a great conference for Maryland School Based Health.
2014 Official Conference Brochure (.pdf format)
2014 Workshop Presentations
If you are interested in receiving information regarding our annual conference and would like to be added to our email list, please email [email protected] to put in your request.