CL22 - II-B5, Intermediate-Level: Building The Capabilities And Competencies Of Early Childhood Professionals In Infant And Early Childhood Mental Health: A New York City Case Study

Evelyn Blanck, LCSW, is the Executive Director of the New York Center for Child Development, Executive Vice President of the New York Center for Infants and Toddlers, Inc. and Director of the NYC Early Childhood Mental Health Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC). She has developed and overseen a broad range of early childhood mental health programs through Federal, State, City and Philanthropically funded grants. She serves on numerous boards and committees throughout New York State focused on early childhood mental health including a gubernatorial appointment to the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council and is the Founder and Chair of the NYC Early Childhood Mental Health Strategic Work Group. She is the President of the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation and serves on the boards of the New York Zero to Three Network (past president) and the New York State Association for Infant Mental Health. Recognizing the importance of early childhood mental health as a major foundation for all learning and development, a significant focus of her work has been on promoting the integration of early childhood mental health in education, primary care and all child serving systems, building the capacities of those working with infants and young children through training and technical assistance and promoting policies to support this work.

As the Director of Healthcare Innovation at the McSilver Institute, Meaghan Baier manages ongoing projects and partnerships supporting healthcare transformation, some of which include initiatives related to payment reform, organizational readiness, and the design and implementation of technical assistance and resources tailored specifically to the needs of partners and stakeholders. One of the main projects Baier manages is the Managed Care Technical Assistance Center (MCTAC), helping to oversee the daily operations and supporting the development of healthcare transformation work in New York State. Baier also manages and directs projects based in North Carolina and other states focusing on the development and implementation of organizational self-assessments and care management initiatives. Baier was previously the Assistant Director of Strategic Operations at McSilver, and prior to her time at NYU, she was the Project Manager in the Department of Innovations at Institute for Community Living (ICL), one of MCTAC’s provider partners. In this role, she was responsible for the coordination and management of MCTAC and Community Technical Assistance Center of New York (CTAC) deliverables, including the management of various CTAC business offerings. Baier received her MSW degree from Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work in Community Organizing, Planning and Development. Prior to her graduate studies, she lived in Alaska working as an advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence and as a program coordinator for children who had experienced abuse and neglect. Baier is passionate about social justice and trauma informed practices and has a background in the development and implementation of community violence plans and working within child welfare reform.

Fatima Zahra Kadik is an early childhood mental health professional with a masters in developmental psychology, working at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as the Project Director for Early Childhood Mental Health Services. She has worked for the largest city health department in the country for more than eight years and currently oversees community-based mental health service providers who provide services to the perinatal to age five population and their families. Prior to this role, she worked for the birth to age three early intervention program within the health department. She is an advocate for embedding supports for social and emotional well-being across child and family serving systems.