Prevention Summer Institute

The Northwest Indiana United Way Success By Six Coalition is pleased to present The 2010 Early Childhood Health, Mental Health and Prevention Summer Institute. The purpose of the Summer Institute is to enable regional leaders to embrace emerging opportunities and prepare for changes in direction related to health and prevention funding coming out of the Affordable Care Act, especially as it involves our work with young children and their families. Presenters will help Northwest Indiana leaders determine how to continue to provide vital services in this climate of diminished resources, and how to position themselves to access new health and prevention resources as they become available. The Summer Institute presents a forum to discuss strategies to engage policy makers and represent interests of Northwest Indiana through participation in legislative and administrative policy development.

The Summer Institute will be held at Purdue University North Central, 1401 U.S. Hwy 421 in Westville, Indiana, on Wednesday August 11, 2010, 8:30-1:30. There will be four segments to the Institute.

• The Keynote, Cristal Thomas, is the Director of Division 5 of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Thomas will discuss features of the Affordable Health Act and how it is expected to impact health, mental health and prevention service delivery as it relates to children under age six and their families. In particular, Ms. Thomas will offer guidelines about how we can work in such a way as to position ourselves for resources that will become available.
• Then, we will have a Panel Discussion that will include State level administrators in areas that impact young children and their families.
• Dr. John Wilhelm and Milagros Fernandez from Chicago’s Infant Welfare Society, a program with 100 years of experience in strategically organizing health, mental health and prevention services for young children will present their model and discuss effective steps we in NWI can take to ready ourselves to access resources as they become available.
• Finally, we will have a Working Lunch during which facilitated small group discussions can explore ways to apply the new information and recommended steps.

In the months following the Summer Institute, Success By 6 will organize four working groups who will develop strategic working plans in four areas for the children under age six in Northwest Indiana.

• Health and Safety
• Mental Health and Social-Emotional Development
• Parent Education and Family Support
• Early Care and Education