
The forum is sponsored by the Adoption and Foster Care Committee, Child Maltreatment and Violence Committee, Emergency Child Psychiatry Committee, and Schools Committee
Slide Deck of the Forum (PDF)
Over the past 18 months, our country has faced an unprecedented health crisis with the rapid spread of COVID-19, resulting in stay-at-home orders, isolation, school disruption, and most recently, re-entry to “normal” life. Children and families have been subject to stressful, frightening, confusing, and for some, traumatic circumstances, and have also had to navigate the constantly changing requirements and new circumstances brought about by re-entry. We have witnessed the tremendous morbidity and mortality of this crisis and have been grappling with its impact on education, families, and youth mental health. With increasing crisis visits and suicide rates, navigating the overwhelmed and rapidly changing operations of community agencies, welfare, child protective services, and educational systems has been an additional challenge. As child psychiatrists working with complex systems, we need to adapt the way we interact and support our patients, their families, schools, child protective services, foster agencies, and residential and juvenile justice settings. As we pivot towards re-entry efforts we convene this forum, through the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, to reflect on our experiences, both successes and challenges, as well as lessons learned across different localities, different settings, and working with high-risk youths.
We want this forum to be as informative and engaging to participants as possible and encourage submission of questions to our moderators and speaker panel in advance of the forum by submitting questions to virtualforum@aacap.org by Thursday, July 29.
Learning Objectives
- Reflect upon the various ways the pandemic has impacted children and their families, including high-risk populations and various developmental considerations.
- Discuss ways that increased rates and impact of childhood trauma and maltreatment can be identified and addressed upon re-entry.
- Identify the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the child welfare system, educational system, and juvenile justice settings.
- Discuss ways that child psychiatrists can work within and across these systems to help promote trauma informed practices.
Outline of Forum
- Introduction of Forum and Speakers
- Address from AACAP President
- Trauma-Informed Care in Schools: Adapting to COVID-19 and Re-Entry
- Developmental Considerations for the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Youth in Foster Care
- Developmental Considerations and Youth in Foster Care
- Managing High-Risk Youth and Crisis Situations
Speakers
Gabrielle Carlson, MD
AACAP President
Professor, Director Psychiatry Renaissance School of Medicine
Stony Brook University
Vera Feuer, MD
Emergency Child Psychiatry Committee
Associate Vice President, School Mental Health
Director, Pediatric Emergency Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Urgent Care | Cohen Children's Medical Center
Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine| Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Patrick Kelly, MD
Emergency Child Psychiatry Committee
Co-Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Emergency Unit
Co-Director, Child and Adolescent Consultation / Liaison Services
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Wynne Morgan, MD
Adoption and Foster Care Committee
Assistant Professor
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Erika Ryst, MD
Schools Committee
Medical Director
Nevada Center for Excellence in Disabilities
College of Education and Human Development
University of Nevada, Reno
Jeanette Scheid, MD
Child Maltreatment and Violence Committee
Associate Professor, Psychiatry
Michigan State University