AC21 - F2 - Advancing Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Through Statewide Leadership, Collaboration, and Evaluation

Amanda M. Walsh is an attorney and social worker with expertise in social determinants of health, mental health, trauma, public benefits, child welfare, and education. She is the Director of the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership, where she leads statewide experts, legislators, and state agencies in collaboration-building and system and policy development around child and family well-being. She also oversees all operations for the Partnership.

Dr. Tiffany Burkhardt is a researcher at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, focusing on evaluation of support programs that promote family and child well-being and prevent child maltreatment. She has contributed to many mixed-methods field studies of interventions in home visiting, early childhood care and education, primary care, and child welfare. Her recent work includes the evaluation of a pilot initiative of an infant and early childhood mental health consultation model across early childhood systems in Illinois, including home visiting, early childhood care and education, and public health. Dr. Burkhardt has also collaborated with pediatricians to test assessment tools and interventions in primary care. Dr. Burkhardt earned a Ph.D. in child development from the Erikson Institute and Loyola University Chicago, as well as a master's degree from the University of Chicago, where she studied human development.

Christine Brambila blends direct service experience, equity-based public policy, in order to shape cross-system advocacy and alignment in Illinois. She is eager to build upon efforts to streamline Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation across child-serving agencies in Illinois at the Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development. She serves as the secretary of the corporate board of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning since 2013. Christine also serves on the board of the Illinois Association for Infant Mental Health since 2016. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Franklin and Marshall College, and her Master's degree from University of Chicago's Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.

Katelyn Kanwischer brings an early childhood focus to ICMHP through her work at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. She has spent her career focusing on the health of families through policy, advocacy, and community programming. She received both her Master of Science (M.S.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Illinois State University, where she specialized in Developmental Psychology and Sociology.

Dr. Julie Spielberger is a Research Fellow at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. She is an expert in child development, early childhood education, emergent literacy and school readiness, and supports and services to improve program quality and caregiver practices. Her research interests include promoting child well-being through early intervention and prevention, particularly among vulnerable populations. Her work over the past 20 years includes research and consultation on several system-building initiatives to improve service quality and coordination. Dr. Spielberger has led a number of mixed-methods field studies that include evaluations of home visiting, early childhood, and afterschool programs and service systems, with a recent focus on implementing infant and early childhood mental health consultation in early care and education, home visiting, and public health settings.