Mid-America MHTTC Newsletter
APRIL 2020
Greetings,

March was a challenging month for us all as COVID-19 has upended our personal and professional lives. At the Mid-America MHTTC, our day-to-day operations have been transformed as we've canceled events, shifted internal operations to a remote-focused format, and limited travel. It hasn't been easy, but we know from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that these precautions are critical to mitigating the spread of the virus.

Despite all of this, we have been working hard to continue to develop online programming and other projects that will make our Center all the more efficient when life begins to return to normalcy. Read on for some of our work from the past month, and take note of a special section in which we provide a list of resources in light of recent events.

As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

Be well,

The Team at Mid-America MHTTC
SPECIAL SECTION: COVID-19 Resources
Our team here at the Mid-America MHTTC and our national network know that this is a difficult and unprecedented time for us all. We are working hard to pull together resources and content to support our behavioral health providers in their efforts to meet the mental health needs of our communities across our region and beyond. We also recognize that many of us have questions about what life will be like after this event and are trying to prepare for our "new normal." We are looking toward our trusted sources and colleagues for information on how to help cope with and prepare for what is to come. We will continue to update you on new resources as they become available. You can access them here through:
Our Center

Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)

National Association of School Psychologists

Be sure to check our Pandemic Response page frequently for additional resources.
UPCOMING EVENTS & TRAINING
We hope to connect with you at one of our events! If you see us, give us a shout-out by using the hashtag  #mhttctravels .
Professional Development for Behavioral Health Coaches and Coaches of Behavioral Health Coaches at Millard Public Schools
12-4 p.m. | April 16 | TBD
Nebraska Association of Special Education Supervisors Spring Conference
April 23-24 | ONLINE
Mid-America School Mental Health Learning Community:
Virtual Learning Session No. 3
1-2 p.m. | April 28 | ONLINE
HOLIDAYS & COMMEMORATIONS
April Fool's Day - April 1
Alcohol Awareness Month - April 1-30
National Autism Awareness Month - April 1-30
National Minority Health Month - April 1-30
HHS
Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month - April 1-30
National Public Health Week - April 6-12
World Health Day - April 7
WHO
Passover - April 9
Easter Sunday - April 12
Patient Experience Week - April 27-May 1
NEWS & UPDATES
New webinar series, Telehealth Learning and Consultation (TLC) Tuesdays, helps providers navigate telehealth
Many mental health providers across the country are taking their services online as COVID-19 forces the closure of clinics, schools and workplaces to visitors.

For many providers, the transition is daunting. To address this need, the Mid-America MHTTC joined forces with the Mountain Plains MHTTC and Mid-America ATTC to establish Telehealth Learning and Consultation (TLC) Tuesdays.

Each week, our Technology Transfer Center (TTC) Network specialists briefly discuss a specific topic, then answer questions from attendees submitted during registration. The first webinar, on telehealth basics, drew 1,116 unique viewers from across the country. The webinar recording and slides are available on the website and embedded below.

You must register separately for each TLC Tuesdays session. While filling out the registration form, you will be prompted to submit any questions you might have. Register by clicking one of the dates below.

DATES & TOPICS
 
March 31:  Telehealth Basics

Certificates of completion will be disbursed after each webinar. Please reach out if you have any questions pertaining to the series.
Expert in integrated care for Latinx families contributes expertise to webinar
From left to right: Drs. Brandy Clarke, project director for the Mid-America MHTTC, Ana Bridges, professor in psychology at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, and Trey Andrews, assistant professor in psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The Mid-America MHTTC, in collaboration with the National Hispanic and Latino MHTTC, had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Ana Bridges, a professor at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and an expert on providing integrated care for Latinx populations, for a webinar on integrated care on March 5.
 
Approximately 75 people tuned in to the webinar, which covered information on health disparities of under-served and diverse populations, a rationale for addressing these disparities through integrated primary care behavioral health, and data on the effectiveness of the model.
 
After Dr. Bridges' presentation, Diane Arms of the National Hispanic and Latino MHTTC provided additional perspective regarding the implementation of integrated care with Latinx patients based on her experience as a behavioral health director of a Federally Qualified Health Center in Houston, Texas.
 
This webinar articulates support for the use of integrated primary care behavioral health as an evidence-based practice to address the mental health needs of Latinx populations in a culturally responsive manner.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Mindy Chadwell, Ph.D., BCBA
Dr. Mindy Chadwell is a faculty trainer on the Mid-America MHTTC school mental health team. Among other projects, Dr. Chadwell has contributed her expertise to long-term behavior coach training at Millard Public Schools, a district in Omaha that serves more than 24,000 students.

After earning a degree in human development and family studies from Colorado State University in 2007, Dr. Chadwell took a full-time job as an early childhood educator. Her interest in school psychology was piqued when one of her students' parents described her doctoral degree in the field. While Dr. Chadwell was unfamiliar with this path at the time, she knew after that encounter that school psychology was what she was meant to do.

Dr. Chadwell began her adventure in school psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where throughout graduate school she continued to fuel her passion through experiential clinical training. Then, in 2014 she landed a position as a trainee and later as an assistant professor at the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, providing behavioral health services to children and families.

In her current position, Dr. Chadwell provides clinical services in school and integrated care settings, and she is a faculty-trainer at the Mid-America MHTTC. At the Mid-America MHTTC Dr. Chadwell says she enjoys providing training and technical assistance to school districts in innovative ways — work that is especially valuable these days given current events.

"With the current pandemic, we are being challenged as a community, nation and world," Dr. Chadwell says. "I have been so impressed with how quickly we have been able to modify the delivery of education and mental health services and am looking forward to seeing how we can continue to come together to support one another."
Each newsletter we shed light on an exceptional contributor to Mid-America MHTTC's mission.
You have reached the conclusion of this issue. Thank you for reading!
Mid-America MHTTC | 402.552.7697 | MHTTCnetwork.org/midamerica
The Mid-America Mental Health Technology Transfer Center is a SAMHSA-funded program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The Mid-America MHTTC provides training in evidence-based practices to the four-state area of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. 
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