Patricia Wilcox to Attend Carter Symposium on Mental Health

This year’s 27th Rosalynn Carter Symposium will focus trauma and its long-term effect on children. It will be webcast live.

The National Association of Children's Behavioral Health (NACBH) will be ably represented by Beth Chadwick, President and Pat Wilcox, Klingberg Family Centers Traumatic Stress Institute who will be joining an illustrious gathering of national leaders, advocates, policy makers, practitioners and researchers as they meet to bring this most pressing issue into greater focus and resolution.

27TH ANNUAL ROSALYNN CARTER SYMPOSIUM ON MENTAL HEALTH POLICY TO COVER TRAUMA’S LONG-TERM IMPACT ON CHILDREN EXPOSED TO JUVENILE JUSTICE, WELFARE, AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Estimates suggest that millions of American children and adolescents experience trauma each year, through exposure to physical or sexual abuse, a life-threatening illness, natural disaster, or the loss of a loved one. Although effective treatments are available to prevent the long-term impacts of trauma on a child’s intellectual development and physical well-being, most traumatized children do not have access to these services.

On Oct. 26-27, the invitation-only, 27th annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy will bring together more than 200 health advocates, policy-makers, practitioners, educators and researchers from across the country to discuss ways to remove barriers to providing mental health services for children at greatest risk for trauma—especially those exposed to domestic violence, child welfare, and the juvenile justice system.

The event is open to the media and will be webcast live on www.cartercenter.org on Oct. 26 starting at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) and on Oct. 27 starting at 8:30 a.m.

Oct. 26 Agenda Highlights:

For a full schedule: http://cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/health/mental_health/2011-mental-health-symposium-agenda.pdf

• 1:00 – 1:05 p.m., Welcome: Thomas Bornemann, Ed.D., director, Carter Center Mental Health Program
• 1:05 – 1:15 p.m., Opening remarks: former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter

• 1:15 – 2:15 p.m., Keynote: “Childhood Trauma in America: Findings from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network”

o John Fairbank, Ph.D., co-director, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Duke University Medical Center; and

o Ernestine Briggs-King, Ph.D., director, Data and Evaluation Program, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Duke University Medical Center

Background on the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy:

The Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy is part of the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, which works to decrease stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses as well as promote positive policy change on mental health issues.

Visit www.cartercenter.org to learn more about the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, access resource material such as reports, the Center’s mental health journalism archive, and expert Q&As.

"Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope."

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers in developing nations to increase crop production. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Please visit www.cartercenter.org to learn more about The Carter Center