AC21 - Policy Plenary - We Can Get It Done Together: Ensuring Mental Health Is A Priority

Only available as part of a package

We are in an exciting moment for infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) policy, with increased advocacy for the solutions our organization has been working toward for decades. In this plenary session, you will hear voices from across the country, from the families and providers who are doing the hard work, making certain babies and their families have the supports they need to grow up healthy, to the policymakers at the forefront of the effort to craft legislation that can provide increased supports for families and babies.

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Michael Bennet

US Senator for Colorado

Michael Bennet has represented Colorado in the United States Senate since 2009. Recognized as a pragmatic and independent thinker, he is driven by an obligation to create more opportunity for the next generation. Michael has built a reputation of taking on Washington dysfunction and working with Republicans and Democrats to address our nation’s greatest challenges, including education, climate change, immigration, health care, and national security. Before serving in the Senate, Michael worked to restructure failing businesses and helped create the world’s largest movie theater chain. As superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, he led one of the most extensive reform efforts in the country, resulting in substantial, sustained academic improvement for Denver’s children. He lives in Denver with his wife and three daughters.

Jim Bialick

Director, Government Relations

ZERO TO THREE

Jim Bialick is the point person on Capitol Hill and within the administration for ZERO TO THREE. His portfolio covers a broad range of issues including child welfare, paid family and medical leave, early education, infant and early childhood mental health, quality childcare, and healthcare. Jim has more than ten years of public policy and government affairs experience. He has been involved in passage of three federal laws, 31 state laws, dozens of substantive regulatory changes, and has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, twice. He was a co-founder of the Newborn Foundation and the Newborn Coalition, action-oriented non-profits focused on education and advocacy to improve maternal and child health. In that role, Jim was a leader in the legislative campaign to mandate newborn screening for congenital heart disease. In just 18 months, these efforts increased the number of newborns screened in the United States by more than 4000%; the screening is now the standard of care for the more than four million babies born annually.Jim also secured international funding for two major population health screening programs and was a key architect in the world’s largest pulse oximetry screening pilot program, targeting congenital heart disease, neonatal sepsis, and neonatal pneumonia in China. The program has since led to pulse oximetry screening becoming the standard of care for the more than 15 million babies born in that country per year. He serves as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Newborn Foundation and is on the board of the Robertson-Bialick Center for Science and Translational Public Policy.

Lee Johnson III, PhD

Senior Policy Analyst for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

ZERO TO THREE

Dr. Lee Johnson III, Ph.D., CHES, IMH-E is Senior Policy Analyst for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health at ZERO TO THREE (ZTT). Before joining ZTT, Dr. Johnson served as a director at the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. There, he led early childhood mental health and federal and state-funded home visiting efforts. Dr. Johnson is a former early childhood educator, health educator by training, and a newly minted public health Ph.D. His dissertation focused on the impact of early adverse experiences on the mental & physical health outcomes of Black boys & men and the power of relationships, solidified his selection for the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars Dissertation Fellowship (2019-2020). He became a National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) Policy Fellow (2019-2021) in the same year. Upon completing the NBCDI Policy Fellowship, Johnson released his fellowship project, entitled Supporting Resilience in Black Families: Advancing Racial Equity in Early Childhood Mental Health Policy. The project acknowledges the developmental threat our society poses to the health and mental health of Black children. In addition, the project recognizes the need for racially equitable policies and approaches that empower Black families. Dr. Johnson holds his B.S. in early childhood education, M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in public health from The University of Alabama.