Nancy Gregory is a Case Manager with Health Recovery Services, one of the participating agencies working with IPAC's Pathways program. Her work involves providing services to underprivileged children with mental health and social issues in the schools for PreK-12 in Hocking County as part of the organization's mission. Because of the ODJFS funding for the Pathways program, Health Recovery Services capacity has been increased and enables Nancy to also serve as a Pathways Care Coordinator for IPAC...

Another way in which Integrating Professionals for Appalachian Children's (IPAC) care coordination mission and their affiliated Project LAUNCH efforts seek to connect families and schools to other agencies and each other is by supporting a school social worker in The Plains Elementary School. Diane Stock has been a social worker since 1987 and has always worked with women and children poverty issues. She worked in Columbus for years with the YWC and a childcare homeless program, providing parent...

Southeastern Ohio Interdisciplinary Team Celebrates Achievement IPAC would like to congratulate the Southeastern Ohio Interdisciplinary Assessment Team (SEO-IAT) on reaching a huge milestone of serving their 100th child! The SEO-IAT is a team of professionals started by the Integrating Professionals of Appalachian Children (IPAC), collaborating together since 2008, who specialize in young child health and wellness. The goal of the team has been to provide diagnostic assessments for children age ...

IPAC is pleased to announce that the database system for the Community Hub Pathways  Program went live on March 12. Pathways Care Coordinators of all partnering agencies, O.U. Family Navigator, Gallia-Meigs Community Action, Health Recovery Services, Integrated Services and IPAC  can now enter their client's information directly online to a  database system that  can be accessed privately within each participating agency in the eight counties in Southeast Ohio (Athens, Gallia...

Another exciting development with the Southeast Ohio HUB Pathways program is that we have now referred 219 individuals, 100 high risk pregnant women are actively being served, and 6 healthy babies, all with a birth weight over 2500 grams, were born to mothers with many risk factors. This has happened due to local agencies working together with a coordinated system of care for our region that is maximizing communication and reducing inefficiencies. We look forward to many new Spring and Summer he...

  PROJECT LAUNCH DIRECT CARE PROVIDERS ARTBREAK Kate Ziff is a soft spoken individual whose leadership and work with children in our community as a school counselor and artist has led to a Project LAUNCH sponsored program called Summer ArtBreak. The program is geared toward children age 3-8 and is an outgrowth of a therapeutic ArtBreak studio in the Athens City Schools District, housed at The Plains Elementary. This is the fourth year for the school program which was developed in collaborat...

Examining Antecedents of Caregivers’ Access to Early Childhood Developmental Screening: Implications for Campaigns Promoting Use of Services in Appalachian Ohio Benjamin R. Bates, PhD1Dawn Graham, PhD1Katie Striley, MA1Spencer Patterson, PhD2Aarti Arora, MA1Jane Hamel-Lambert, PhD1 1Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA 2CrowdCare Foundation, Provo, UT, USA Benjamin R. Bates, School of Communication Studies, Ohio University, Lasher Hall, 47 West Union Street, Athens, OH 45701, USA; e-mail: batesb@ohi...

Ohio University Social Work Department is seeking new agencies with which to partner for field placements. The program is expanding rapidly and they are looking for agencies who are willing to place undergraduates or graduate students for the upcoming academic year. If you are interested, please contact Carole Alder at O.U.

Reminder to IPAC Board Members: Nominations are called for to serve as Executive Officers for the 2013-2014 calendar year. Please email Sue Johanson at sjohanson@athenscity.k12.oh.us with your nominations.

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  IPAC_BOD_Mtgdates12.docx IPAC_2012-2013_BOD.xlsx IPAC_LAUNCH_Meeting_Dates.docx    

Ginger Schmalenberg joined Integrating Professionals for Appalachian Children in October of 2012 and holds a Bachelors of Specialized Studies in Nonprofit Management and a Masters of Public Administration, both from Ohio University. Ginger has lived and worked in Athens and Meigs counties since 1987, working with a variety of nonprofit organizations with missions of improving the quality of life for Southeast Ohio communities through the arts, education, the environment and other social well-bei...

   Project LAUNCH sponsored a daylong training on December 17th, 2012 entitled, "Interventions for Children Who Suffered Trauma" by David Zidar, L.I.S.W.-S. The training included over 30 individuals from across the region; including personnel from school systems, mental health agencies, Family and Children First Councils, board of developmental disabilities, and child welfare agencies. A total of 5.3 continuing education credits were offered to participants for the daylong training.

   Tri-County Mental Health and Family Healthcare are in the process of merging into one integrated health care organization by late summer 2013. Sherry Shamblin has accepted the new senior management position created by this merger, called Chief of Behavioral Health Operations, starting in mid-January 2013. Sherri is excited to use her skills gained from working with Project LAUNCH and as a board member of IPAC and part of her new duties will include supervising the new Director of Ea...

        The Southeast Ohio Community Hub, a community project led by IPAC together with several Managed Care Organizations including United Healthcare, Care Source, and Molina; Partners for Kids at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and the State of Ohio,  has been given a new brand identity and tag phrase, Pathways: Early Experiences Last A Lifetime. The program released a rack card and poster in October 2012 to be distributed by participating agencies in Athens, Gallia, H...

The IPAC sponsored workshop, Smart but Scattered: Executive Dysfunction at Home and at School, held in October 2012 was attended by 36 participants with 21 CE's issued. Thirty-four program evaluations were returned indicating that the objectives of: defining executive skills within the context of brain development; discussing assessment strategies, including interview, rating scales, and standardized test used to assess executive functioning; describing how executive skills impact school perform...

Integrating Professionals for Appalachian Children would like to extend a warm welcome to David Couch, Kelly Taulbee and Teresa Varian who have recently accepted positions to serve as directors on the IPAC Board. David Couch has worked in the field of developmental disabilities since 1993, starting with direct services and becoming Morgan County Superintendent in 1998. After moving to Perry County in 2007, David currently serves as Superintendent of Hocking and Perry County Boards of DD.

IPAC_Launch_Meeting_Dates.docx

Interventions_for_Children_Who_Suffered_Trauma__Flier.do Monday December 17, 2012 9:00am-4:00pm Ohio University Innovation Center Room 103 340 West State Street Athens, Ohio 45701 Topics include: Impact of trauma on child - Parenting the traumatized child-Interventions with PTSD  CEU's will be provided for: Counseling, Social Work, Psychology, & Nursing  ( Click Here Training) Space is Limited!! Please RSVP to Dawn Graham, Project LAUNCH  

 The Southeast Ohio Community HUB has been given a new brand identity and tag phrase, Pathways: Early Experiences Last a Lifetime;  which has recently been released in a rack card by IPAC (Integrating Professionals for Appalachian Children). /Websites/ipac/images/IPAC_Pathways_v8_IPAC.pdf.  The card will be distributed by participating agencies and PATHWAYS Care Coordinators that work with families in Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Meigs Perry, Ross and Vinton counties in the S...

Ohio Infant Mortality Summit High infant mortality and associated racial disparities are one of Ohio’s biggest public health challenges. We have a higher rate of dying babies than most other states, all surrounding states, and most developed countries. This one-day, free conference will highlight the problem, point to solutions, and change your mind about the health of your family, friends, and community.

At the annual retreat in Athens, IPAC elected a new Executive Committee for the upcoming year. Sue Johanson, who previously served as Vice Chair, has been selected to lead the organization as Board Chair. “IPAC has reached an exciting point in its development, and I look forward to being a part of the organization's efforts to promote the health and wellness of young children and improve their health care options,” Johanson said.

As announced earlier this year, Governor John Kasich's Office of Health Transformation will invest $350,000 to create a Community HUB focusing on high-risk expectant mothers in Southeast Ohio through a partnership with IPAC and Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Partners for Kids (PFK). IPAC members, including Executive Director Dawn Mollica and Dr. Jane Hamel-Lambert, are playing an instrumental role in the HUB’s creation.

As the IPAC team works to get our Community HUB off the ground, we wanted to take a step back for a moment. In this article, we describe the basics of the HUB model. Much of this information and more can be found in The Quick Start Guide to Developing Community Care Coordination Pathways, published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

From left to right, Dr. Tracy Lienbaugh, Chair of the Counselor Education Department; Sherry Shamblin and Dean Renee Middleton pose together at the award banquet.

Sherry Shamblin, Director of Early Childhood Programs for Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Service and IPAC board member, was recently recognized for her outstanding achievements in Counselor Education. 

Stakeholders brainstorm ideas for sustainability during annual Joint Council meeting

Jason Weber

A free workshop on motivational interviewing, an evidenced-based client-centered approach to counseling, will be offered to area health professionals, particularly those who work with children and families.

The event, a continuation of a regional workforce development project within the healthcare industry, will be hosted at Hocking Athens Perry Community Action in Glouster on June 26, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Motivational interviewing (MI) elicits an individual’s internal motivation to change their behavior.

IPAC Board Member Sherry Shamblin, PCC-S, speaks with WOUB's Newswatch. 

A new workshop will help mental health professionals, education professionals and early childhood professionals learn how to interact with children who are dealing with emotional and behavioral challenges.

From left to right, Rep. Debbie Phillips, Lauren Riley, Tyler Sayre, Rep. Ted Celeste, Jonathon Roback, Margaret Hulbert, Justin Barnhart, and Gayle Channing-Tenenbaum pose at Trimble Elementary.

In an effort to shape the legislative agenda related to children in southeastern Ohio, IPAC President Dr. Jane Hamel-Lambert and Board Member Sherry Shamblin coordinated an advocacy event with the Ohio Children’s Caucus, a recently formed bipartisan committee aimed at helping the state’s 2.7 million children.

Debbi Buck, left, and Aimee Gilman speaking at the workshop.

Over 80 individuals who either work or live with children with disabilities took advantage of a free workshop hosted in Athens on March 27. The purpose of the event, a collaboration of nine organizations, was to identify best practices in special education and share strategies for improving communication between school officials and parents. 

Organizers say the event was a unique opportunity for both parents and professionals to increase their understanding of children with disabilities and their right to a meaningful education.

Sponsors for the event included IPAC, the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities (OCECD), State Support Team-Region 16 (SST-16), Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Project LAUNCH, Corporation of Ohio Appalachian Development, the Autism Society of Southeast Ohio, Appalachian Network for Developmental Disabilities (ANDD), and the Dairy Barn Arts Center.

From left to right, IPAC president Dr. Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ohio first lady Karen Kasich, and IPAC board members Dr. Dawn Graham, Sue Meeks and Doug Debrick at Trimble Elementary School.

Ohio first lady Karen Kasich visited recently with IPAC president Dr. Jane Hamel-Lambert, along with board members Dawn Graham, Sue Meeks and Doug Debrick at Trimble Elementary School. During the meeting, they discussed the partnership between IPAC and Nationwide Children’s Partners for Kids (PFK) to replicate the Community Pathways Model.

The prevalence of significant emotional and behavioral challenges in young children ranges from 4-10 percent. Early Childhood Mental Health is an emerging new discipline designed to address these challenges and to support the healthy social/emotional development of all young children in early care settings.  Instructors Dr. Tom Davis and Sherry Shamblin, PCC-S, will offer a summer survey course on the principles of early childhood mental health through Ohio University's Counseling Departmen...

Dawn Mollica

IPAC members are pleased to announce the hiring of Dawn Mollica as the organization's first Executive Director.

Mollica has had excellent experiences working as a Grant Administrator for Interthyr Corporation and as the Executive Director for United Way of Athens County. We hope the community will join us in welcoming her to IPAC.

During her time with Interthyr Corporation, Mollica managed a $2.6 million biomedical research grant and assisted with several federal grant proposals as well as all aspects of post-award administration. We believe her prior experience working with alongside CEO’s, physicians, accountants, research scientists and university administrators has prepared her well for her role with IPAC.

The Interdisciplinary Assessment Team (IAT) is excited to announce a new addition, Dr. Heidi Llewellyn. Llewellyn, Ph.D., LPC, is an Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist with Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services in Athens.

Building Better Lives: Changing the Cycle of Child Abuse and Family Violence

*Please note, this event is currently full. However, you may sign up for the wait list.*

Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow of the ChildTrauma Academy, will explain the effects of maltreatment on brain development, linking the impact of child abuse, neglect and other trauma to potential long-term outcomes. He will discuss the core of why violence occurs, how lack of empathy relates to violence, and societal changes that impact empathy. Dr. Perry will provide an overview of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, which applies brain development research to therapeutics. No cost to attend, but reservations are required by 4/16/12. Lunch will be served. 

IPAC President Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D., is interviewed on WOUB's Newswatch 

President Hamel-Lambert is optimistic that a new OHT-funded collaboration between IPAC and Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Partners for Kids (PFK) will improve health outcomes for high-risk pregnant women who live in our area.

We’re currently seeking an Executive Director who will increase internal resources within IPAC to develop and sustain health care initiatives promoting young child wellness in Appalachia Ohio and will manage IPAC's day-to-day operations.  The Executive Director's activities include preparing and implementing business strategies; supervising contractual employees; representing IPAC in state, local and national discussions; utilization of technology and interfacing with databases; signin...

Several local organizations have joined forces to host a training event tailored to those who live and work with children with special needs. The goal is to develop personally and professionally and create the best learning environments for our kids. Join us on March 27 at The Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio, for this important training seminar.

Local health care professionals who received Parent-Child Interaction Therapy training last year have easily added the treatment into their caseloads.

“PCIT has helped me to feel stronger and empowered as a clinician,” said Samantha Shafer, Out-Patient Therapist with Tri-County Mental Health. 

“At this point in my practice, there is not one family that I am working with that I am not either using PCIT or CARE skills with as part of treatment,” she added.

A basic IPAC principle is to improve health outcomes for children in our area. We do this by enlisting the expertise of professionals from a variety of disciplines. We also achieve this by engaging strong parents in our community. This collaboration has allowed us to develop innovative programs targeting our region’s needs. 

The key to this partnership has been finding individuals who have something to offer.

State Support Team Region 16 and IPAC present the first of a series of trainings available to all SST Region 16 school districts and county boards of DD. This series will be about autism and will be presented over the next three years, thanks to funding from Kathe’s Autism Grant (KAP.)  Dr. Ruth Aspy, co-author of the Ziggurat Model books, will be our first presenter.

Please join child advocate and author, Holly Schlaack in a videoconferenc presentation/ discussion:  Between the Babbles: Understanding the Language of Abused and Neglected Infants and Toddlers. Sponsored by the Southeastern Ohio Early Childhood Mental Health Learning Group, the program will take place on January from 17 8:30-9:30.  There will be CEU’s for Counselors and Social Workers Please e-mail Sherry Shamblin at sshamblin@tcmhcs.org to participate. For over a decade, Ho...

With funding from Project LAUNCH, teachers in the Logan Hocking School District and their mental health partners have expanded their highly successful PATHS program. Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies or PATHS is a social-emotional violence prevention curriculum listed on the SAMSHA National Registry of Evidence Based Programs and Practices. In previous years, the LHSD program primarily focused on elementary students.

Check out some of the latest early childhood mental health news and program updates, as well as practical teaching tips for helping children develop self-control and friendships.  If you'd like to contribute your own ECMH news and strategies to future newsletters, you can e-mail them to sshamblin@tcmhcs.org.   http://www.ipacohio.org/Websites/ipac/images/vol%201%20ed%201%20ecmh%20newsletter.pdf

Ellen Soroka, left, and Sue Meeks read over material in the new Child Behavior and Development Resource Room located in Parks Hall.

Children don’t come with a user manual. And sometimes determining if a child is developing or behaving normally can be a tough call. Even with a diagnosis, life can be difficult to manage. With the addition of a new resource center, members of the Family Navigator Program hope to give parents and caregivers a free option to turn to for questions and concerns related to a child’s development and behavior.

The new Child Behavior and Development Resource Room, part of the Family Navigator Program, provides information, support and resources on Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, behavior concerns and general child development. It’s designed to be a place where parents and caregivers can bond, vent, share and learn.

Sherry Shamblin, Director of Early Childhood Programs for Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services, also former IPAC Chair and current board member, has been selected for Robert Wood Johnson’s Evaluation Fellows Program for Retooling Professionals.

The goal of the fellowship, which targets mid-career, non-profit professionals who are undeserved in the evaluation field, is to increase the capacity of an organization to conduct program evaluation and to become better consumers of information for decision-making. Ms. Shamblin will use this opportunity to refine the evaluation of Tri-County’s early childhood mental health (ECMH) model, assess the program’s effectiveness, expand evaluation efforts to other programs within Tri-County, and disseminate lessons learned to advance the field of ECMH consultation.

Dr. Zeanah

On September 20th, the Southeastern Ohio Early Childhood Mental Health Peer Learning Group kicked off their program year by hosting a practical and informative video-conference with Dr. Charles Zeanah, the editor of the Infant Mental Health Handbook and Executive Director of Tulane University’s Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health.

Dr. Zeanah opened his remarks by commenting that young children are “best understood, assessed, and treated in the context of their primary care relationships.” Focusing on assessment protocols, he used multiple video-clips to display an array of behavioral and emotional responses between young children and their caregivers. His casual demeanor and extensive knowledge made the complex issues associated with child-parent relationships readily accessible.

In August, 10 of our local social workers and two local psychologists received training in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, an evidence-based treatment for young children with emotional and behavioral disorders that places emphasis on improving the quality of the parent-child relationship and changing parent-child interaction patterns. Two specialists from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Robin Gurwitch, PhD, and Erica Pearl, PsyD, conducted this intense week-long training tha...

A one-day workshop, The Impact of Trauma and Neglect on the Developing Child, will be presented by Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, ChildTrauma Academy (http://www.childtrauma.org/index.php/home), on April 12, 2011, 8:15 – 4:30 in the Baker University Center Ballroom on the Ohio University Athens Campus.  Cost: $125 (includes continuing education credit) Overview: The development of a young child is profoundly influenced by experience. Experiences – good and bad - shape the org...

On Tuesday March 9, 2010, the Athens County chapter of the American Red Cross held its second annual "Hometown Heroes Breakfast" at Ohio University Nelson Commons.  The purpose of the event is to honor "extraordinary citizens" county-wide in seven categories: Education, Humanitarian, Youth, Public Safety, Community, Military, and Group heroes.  IPAC was named the 2010 Group Hero for its efforts toward improving the health -- physical and mental -- of young children and t...

Dawn Graham, Ph.D., was hired in July, 2010, as the Local Young Child Wellness Coordinator for Project LAUNCH. 

Dawn received her Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling Psychology from Purdue University after earning a Master of Arts in Applied Behavioral Science: Counseling from Valparaiso University (Indiana) and a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology with Honors from the University of Evansville (Indiana).  

She brings a wide range of experience including testing, counseling...

Videoconference equipment has been installed in the Hearing, Speech and Language Clinic at Grover Center. The technology will allow the Interdisciplinary Assessment Team (IAT) members at Nationwide Children's Hospital's Developmental Assessment Program (DAP) in Westerville to particpate in IAT meetings without traveling from the Columbus area. Team meetings as well as direct services will be provided via videoconference as necessary and appropriate.

IPAC held its Annual Board of Directors Meeting on June 2, 2010, at the Athens Country Club in order to elect new officers and plan for next year. Sherry Shamblin continues as Chairperson, Cindy Birt continues as Vice Chair, Brandi Nance fills the Secretary position as Sue Meeks steps down, and Dave Hunter continues as Treasurer. One Board of Directors seat remains open in the Allied Health constituency group.

Celebrating our Success 
& 
Getting to Work

November 16, 2009 
8:30- 10:30 am
Ohio University Inn 
Galbreath Room, Lower Level
RSVP required by November 11, 2009 to hamel-lj@ohio.edu

Our Rural Health Outreach grant proposal was funded! The Office of Rural Health Policy awarded us $375, 000 to integrate early childhood mental health consultation into public preschool classrooms and to implement a workforce development initiative. The three year project period is May 1, 2009 – April 30, 2010.

Sustainable Partnerships

Presented at The 9th All-Ohio Institute on Community Psychiatry Conference: Working Together: New Paradigms for Integrated Mental Health Services by

Jane Hamel-Lambert, MBA, PhD
Karen Montgomery-Reagan, DO,
Sherry Shamblin, PCC-S
Dawn Murray, DO

Jane Hamel-Lambert, PhD, President of IPAC and John Borchard, RN, BSN, Chair, IPAC Board of Directors accepted a donation in the amount of $4426.68 from the Organization for Health Improvement in Appalachian (OHIA) on August 21, 2008. Mr. Mike Turner, past president of OHIA presented the check, sharing recanting that the unanimous decision of his board to make the donation.

The work of IPAC board members Sue Meeks, RN, and Sherry Shamblin, PCC-S, is highlighted in the National Rural Health Association quarterly magazine Rural Roads.  The author, Dr. Lynn Harter of Ohio University's School of Communication Studies, describes how one couple, at a loss for how to treat their troubled daughter, found hope through the Family Navigator Program.  The article also explains the benefits of integrating mental health care assessments and services...

Abstract

Program:    
HRSA/ORHP/Rural Health Network Development Grant

Title:    
Integrating Professionals for Appalachian Children (IPAC)

The regional children’s rural health network Integrating Professionals for Appalachian Children (IPAC) recently gained non-profit charity status. This qualifies the network and its member organizations to apply for additional funding streams, and it makes individual donations to IPAC tax-deductible.  Those benefits will help sustain and expand the efforts of IPAC over time, according to Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D., IPAC president and director of interdisciplinary mental he...

Jane Hamel-Lambert, PhD, President of IPAC and John Borchard, RN, BSN, Chair, IPAC Board of Directors accepted the 2007 Award for Distinguished Rural Health Program from Heather Reed from ODH Office of Primary Care and Rural Health and Susan Isaac, Ohio Rural Health Coalition on September 18, 2007.

The Ohio Department of Health will honor IPAC, and other health care champions and providers, for its efforts to increase access to care in rural Ohio. The awards will be given Sept. 18, at the Rural Health Information Technology Conference at Ohio University in Athens.