June 2022

Team Updates

New Meeting Format for 2022-2023

Wondering why the May and July 2022 State Team meetings were cancelled? Here's the scoop:

The COVID-19 landscape has changed. By following local and CDC guidance, meeting in person can now be done safely. Virtual and in-person meetings each have different advantages and disadvantages. Virtual meetings eliminate the need for travel, making it easier for more people to attend. In-person meetings allow opportunities networking and collaboration not possible in the virtual format. For this reason, the Act Early Advisory Team has approved a blend of virtual and in-person meetings in the upcoming year. We will have fewer meetings of longer duration as described below:

We will have two virtual meetings (each 2 hours). At these meetings, we will do important pre-work that will inform activities at a third meeting, which will be in-person. Each meeting will focus on specific State Plan goals. Because Family Engagement (Goal 1) is so important to our work, the family perspective will be woven into the content of all of the meetings.

Virtual meeting #1: November 1, 2022, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Focus: Screening to Diagnosis (Goals 2 & 3)

Virtual meeting #2: February or March 2023
Focus: Diagnosis to Connection to Services (Goals 3 & 4)

In-person meeting: May or June 2023 (half to full day, location TBD)
Focus: Statewide Coordination (Goal 5)

Next Meeting

Tuesday, Nov 1st, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Focus: Screening to Diagnosis (Goals 2 & 3)

Past Meeting Materials
 

Bright Spots Webinars
Bright Spots Webinars are an opportunity to highlight innovative efforts to improve systems of care and support for children with autism and other disabilities and their families. Contact Nicole Brys to suggest a bright spot to highlight at a future webinar.

At April’s Bright Spot webinar,  Michelle Schumacher, MSSW described the Waisman Center’s SaferKids Program. In partnership with the Safety Center at the American Family Children’s Hospital, the SaferKids Program helps provide safety equipment and resources to children with disabilities and their families referred through several programs at the Waisman Center.
 

Ambassador Updates

Act Early Wisconsin continues its work on the COVID-19 response project. Year 2 activities are described below.

WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) programs in Vernon and Columbia Counties are piloting implementation of Learn the Signs. Act Early. materials. The WIC programs will use these materials to support routine developmental surveillance in infants and children who access their services.State Team Member Leah Ludlum leads these efforts. 

Five Community Connectors are conducting outreach and 1:1 guidance and support to families. They promote parent-engaged developmental monitoring and screening. Connectors also help families access diagnostic and intervention services.

Learn the Signs. Act Early. Materials Available

Several Learn the Signs. Act Early. materials are available for order on the Act Early Wisconsin website. Materials available include Milestones Moments booklets and brochures in English and Spanish and Spanish-language growth charts.
 

Partner News

ECHO Autism WI for Primary Care Providers

Registration Open for Fall 2022 Series

The Waisman Center is recruiting primary care providers to participate in ECHO Autism WI, a free education program with autism experts using the Project ECHO model.  Learn best practices and evidence-based care for children with autism and developmental behavioral concerns while getting your clinical questions answered by University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center autism experts.

Alternating Thursdays. 12 - 1:30pm
July 14 - December 15, 2022
 

Speaker Series: Perspectives on Multidisciplinary Care for Children with Autism

This speaker series hosted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center focuses on research and service/training models designed to make developmental care more accessible for children with autism and their families, presenting perspectives from a range of pediatric disciplines. Conducted via interactive webinar.

Upcoming Webinar

The Role of Provider Implicit Bias in the Delay of Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Treatment of ASD in Children Who are Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latinx
Adiaha Spinks-Franklin, MD, MPH, FAAP
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine;
Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician, Texas Children’s Hospital;
Founder, R.A.C.E. C.A.R.D. [Race & Children Education Collaborative of Anti-Racist Developmental Pediatric Professionals]

 July 29, 2022, 12 pm CST
 

WI Child Psychiatry Consultation Program: By the Numbers

The Wisconsin Child Psychiatry Consultation Program (WI CPCP) is a state- and federally funded program for primary care providers designed to improve mental health care for children and adolescents. This statewide program is brought to you by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin.
 

Wisconsin Department of Health Services Hosts Event to Share Findings of Innovative Local Pilot Programs Addressing the Social and Emotional Needs of Children


In April 2022, 15 local Birth to 3 Program grantees gathered virtually to talk about what they learned over the past 18 months as they piloted innovative efforts to help the social and emotional development of children enrolled in their programs. This work included a focus on supporting children who are enrolled because of incidents of child abuse or neglect as well as helping families better engage with and support their child’s development. The Department of Health Services (DHS) awarded $1.2 million in grants to support these programs in 2020.

“Wisconsin's Birth to 3 program relies on a strong state-local partnership to help support children in their key first years of life,” said DHS Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake, “Even as COVID-19 forced agencies to close their in-person services and work with families remotely, local agencies committed themselves to this critical effort to promote positive social and emotional development among our most vulnerable children. We look forward to exploring the lessons learned through the local pilots and using them to improve our Birth to 3 efforts statewide.”
 

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