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In this month's issue:
- Strategies to ensure that all children benefit from quality improvement initiatives in behavioral health services
- Educating legislators on the need for Medicaid coverage for youth and family peer support services in Connecticut
- Latest evidence-based treatment research from our team
- New grant to expand access to school-based peer support program
- Opportunity to participate in a focus group to shape state policy
- Welcoming new staff and board members
...and more! Plus, be sure to check out this month's featured Kids Mental Health Training course: System of Care.
| | CHDI Presents at 2026 Moving Beyond Implications Conference on Expanding Medicaid Coverage for Family and Youth Peer Support | | CHDI was proud to sponsor the third annual Moving Beyond Implications: Research into Policy Conference held January 15th at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. This unique event brought together more than 200 researchers and state policymakers ahead of the Connecticut legislative session to help bridge the gap between research and policymaking. | | | Director of System Development and Policy Aleece Kelly, MPP (pictured above) presented on the need to expand Medicaid coverage for youth and family peer support services in Connecticut. See video from her presentation and download the policy fact sheet she shared with legislators on our website: | | CHDI Receives Grant from The Cigna Group Foundation to Expand Access to School-Based Peer Support Program | | | | CHDI recently received a generous grant from The Cigna Group Foundation to expand access to an innovative new school-based peer support model we began piloting in 2024, Students Supporting Students. The model empowers middle and high school students to recognize mental health challenges, reduce stigma, and promote help-seeking among their peers. | | Your Voice Matters: Join a Social Work Employer Focus Group | | |
Do you hire and/or supervise social workers in Connecticut? We invite you to participate in an upcoming virtual focus group designed to hear directly from employers across the state about what’s working, what’s challenging, and what support is needed to strengthen the social work workforce in Connecticut.
Your feedback will help inform future initiatives, resources, and policy considerations related to social work in Connecticut. Participants will receive $50 Amazon gift cards! Register to make your voice heard by February 13th:
| | New Issue Brief: Ensuring Every Child Benefits from Quality Improvement Initiatives | | |
All children deserve access to effective behavioral health care. A clear quality improvement (QI) framework can increase access and enhance service delivery, but without an explicit and intentional focus on identifying and mitigating differences in access, service quality, and outcomes across population groups, it can inadvertently make things worse.
In our latest issue brief, Vice President of Quality Improvement Kellie Randall, PhD, outlines strategies for ensuring that every child benefits from QI initiatives in children's behavioral health, using real-world examples from our QI work with Connecticut's youth mobile crisis service:
| | | Latest Evidence-Based Treatment Research from Our Team | | CHDI staff recently co-authored studies on two evidence-based treatments (EBTs) in children's behavioral health that provide new insights to clinicians using these models: | | | | |
"Young Children’s PTS Symptom Improvement During ARC Treatment: Caregiver Functioning and Conjoint Sessions as Moderators," Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology (published December 2025).
Co-authored by CHDI's Jason Lang, PhD and Kellie Randall, PhD with colleagues from Penn State, University of South Carolina, and The Center for Trauma Training, this study looked at the effects of caregivers' posttraumatic stress symptoms on young children receiving Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) treatment and how those effects were moderated by the number of caregiver-child ARC sessions received.
| | January Featured Course: Building a System of Care | | |
This month's featured Kids Mental Health Training course explores the principles of building a coordinated system of care for (and with) children, youth, and families and shares insight into how collaboration across services can lead to stronger outcomes, greater trust, and more effective support within communities.
Instructor: Jenny Bridges-Hightower, a parent and family peer support professional with twenty years' experience empowering families as advocates and partners in improving educational and health outcomes for children.
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Kids Mental Health Training is an online learning portal that provides convenient, evidence-based training on a variety of children’s behavioral health topics for clinicians, educators, pediatric providers, and other youth-serving professionals.
All KMHT courses are offered at NO cost and many offer continuing education credits!
| | Reminder: Resources Available to Help Connecticut Schools Support Student Mental Health and Well-Being | | As schools across Connecticut begin the second half of the academic year, we're resharing the School Mental Health Resource and Support Guide, which highlights mental health resources and supports available to schools and districts statewide through Connecting Schools to Care IV Students and related initiatives: | | | Provider Resource: Helping Students Transition Back to Class After CBITS and Bounce Back Sessions | | | | |
Supporting students as they transition back to class after CBITS or Bounce Back (BB) individual or group sessions is an important part of reinforcing safety, regulation, and readiness for learning.
The strategies in these printable, one-page tip sheets (plus a poster!) provide practical, developmentally appropriate techniques for school-based clinicians to help students regain focus, manage emotions, and reintegrate into the learning environment:
| | Welcoming New Staff and Board Members | | CHDI kicked off 2026 by welcoming several new staff members to our team, along with two new additions to our Board of Directors:. We're proud to introduce: | | |
Angelica Sargent
Administrative Assistant
With 14+ years of experience in administration, management, and communications coordination, Angelica provides skilled support for our Finance, Administrative, and Communications teams.
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Kalagena Sullivan, LMSW
Project Coordinator
Kalagena brings extensive experience in social work, evidence-based practices, advocacy and implementation to our initiatives on youth substance use and co-occurring disorders.
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Alana Valdez, MA
Senior Communications Coordinator
A former art teacher and graphic designer who most recently coordinated communications and special projects at the CT Women's Consortium, Alana will coordinate our digital communications efforts.
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Chad Williams, LCSW
Director, FFT-FC Performance Improvement Center
Chad is leading CHDI's new Functional Family Therapy - Foster Care (FFT-FC) Performance Improvement Center. He brings over 25 years of leadership experience across child welfare, youth development, and family-serving systems, most recently with The Village for Families & Children.
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Ruby Goyal-Carkeek, MPH
Center for Health Care Strategies
Ruby Goyal-Carkeek is Director of Behavioral Health and Child Welfare at the Center for Health Care Strategies, where she leads initiatives focused on children and youth who receive publicly financed physical and behavioral health services. Ruby has deep knowledge of systems of care and we look forward to having her perspective on the board.
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Beth Heinz, MHA, MSW
Yale New Haven Health
Beth Heinz is Senior Vice President of Women's and Children's Services at Yale New Haven Health, where she is responsible for providing executive management oversight for children's services, strategic growth strategies, provider practice management, and innovation. We're fortunate to have her experience and insight!
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