SBHCs & The Power of Our Voice!

Thursday March 27 & Friday March 28th

 

Thank You, SBHC Conference Sponsor!

 

Session Descriptions

Keynote Presentation
Beyond the Buzzword: The What, Why and How of Trauma Informed Care in the School-Based Health Center
Presented by Heather C. Forkey, MD
Trauma has become a buzzword, often reduced to tallying up a child’s adversities to gauge risk The real focus should be on building the buffering, not just summing the suffering; but how? Join us to explore the science of adversity and trauma, examining how early experiences shape a child’s health and development. We’ll highlight the role of supportive relationships and buffering factors in mitigating the effects of toxic stress. Dive into the latest research and learn practical strategies for providing trauma-informed care in school-based health centers. Gain insights into recognizing trauma signs, fostering supportive environments, and empowering students to heal and thrive—all while cultivating a compassionate, responsive approach for both students and ourselves.

Presenter Bios

Heather Forkey, MD
Heather C. Forkey, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics and at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and Director of the Foster Children Evaluation Service (FaCES) of the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center. She also serves as the Medical Director of Lifeline4Kids at University of Massachusetts Medical School. She received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She completed her pediatric residency and chief residency at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Forkey has been the recipient of local and federal grants to address issues of children in foster care and to translate promising practices to address physical and mental health needs of children who have been traumatized. She has published and presents nationally and internationally on the topics, and serves in leadership roles for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the American Academy of Pediatrics on issues related to foster care, mental health and child trauma. She recently coauthored the book Childhood Trauma and Resilience: A Practical Guide, available from AAP Press.

 

Brandon Greene, MD
Dr. Greene serves as Chief of Pediatrics for Bassett Healthcare Network. He joined Bassett in 2022, serving as the Director of Inpatient Pediatrics and practicing as an Inpatient Pediatric hospitalist. Dr. Greene also served as Pediatric Clerkship Director for the Columbia-Bassett Medical School Program, helping to instruct medical students during their clinical rotations in Cooperstown. Prior to joining Bassett Healthcare Network, Dr. Greene practiced at Island Hospital in Anacortes, Washington. He is a 2012 graduate of the Weill Cornell Medical College. Originally from Texas, Dr. Greene’s residency took him to the University of Chicago Medical Center’s Comer Children’s Hospital.

 

 

Karen Sangaline Pillsworth, MS
Karen has been sharing stories for over 40 years. Her work as a story practitioner began with her weaving her stories with people in recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism. Holding a MS in Early Childhood Education, Karen combines her 33 years of teaching experience with the art of storytelling. She has presented her workshops in the United States, Newfoundland, Canada, and Sydney, Australia. In 2002 she was named the Storyteller Laureate “in perpetuity” for the city of Kingston and continues to invite people to find their own stories in the frame of hers. In 2021, Karen was certified as a Storytelling Schools practitioner by Storytelling Schools Ltd., UK. Karen was selected as a National Arts Education Fellow for her storytelling program: “There’s No Place Like Home: Stories of the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains.”

 

Julie Blitzer, PhD
Julie Blitzer, PhD is a clinical psychologist who has worked with adolescents and their families for over a decade. She is currently the Outreach and Prevention Psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s School-Based Health Center, comprised of 7 article 28 primary care clinics that serve approximately 7,500 public school students from 23 schools in upper Manhattan and the Bronx. She is also an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). Dr. Blitzer has been a part of the NYP School-Based team since 2012 where she began as a mental health provider at the program’s largest site serving 7 schools at the John F. Kennedy Campus. After five years in a clinical role and a brief leave, she returned to the program to assume a newly established role dedicated to universal mental health interventions and outreach in 2019. In this role, Dr. Blitzer works with students, parents, and school staff to increase mental health literacy and access to support services through workshops, health messaging, and consultation.

 

Rissa Lane, MS
Ms. Lane is a Senior Evaluator at Apex. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a Certificate in Global Health as well as a Master of Science in Population Health Sciences. Her recent experiences include planning, facilitating, and evaluating programs across the fields of community-based nutrition education, community food systems, primary care solutions for pain management, community schools, and education. Currently, Rissa works with a diverse portfolio of partners including community schools, school-based health centers, a philanthropic foundation, and nonprofit organizations. Rissa’s work supports efforts to streamline data collection, align with reporting priorities, and translate findings into actionable insights.

 

Marcy Savage, Partner
Marcy is a partner at the Albany firm Reid, McNally & Savage, LLC. Her specialty areas include health care, public health, insurance, behavioral health, developmental disabilities, and higher education. Marcy has considerable experience in strategy development, bill drafting, lobbying & advocacy, coalition building and grassroots with the non-profit, for-profit and government sectors. Marcy also heads up the firm’s media advocacy efforts for clients. She serves as Director of Policy for the Alliance to Prevent Legionnaires’ Disease, sits on the Board of Trustees for the Upper Hudson Library System and was a 2019 City & State New York 40 Under 40 Awardee. A Rochester native, Marcy received a bachelor’s degree in political science at the State University of Albany, has completed Master’s work at Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. She held positions at the American Cancer Society and New York Public Interest Research Group prior to joining the firm in 2003.

Viju Jacob, MD FAAP
Dr. Viju Jacob currently serves as the VP of Medical Affairs/Medical Director at a large FQHC, Urban Health Plan, in Bronx, NY. His day-to-day responsibilities include providing oversight for 12 School Based Health Practices, 2 Family Practice sites and shares responsibilities in managing 6 School Based Dental Practices among other institutional responsibilities in the realms of regulatory affairs, policy and external affairs. Urban Health Plan (UHP) is a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers that has been offering access to affordable, high quality, health care to the South Bronx for almost 50 years and more recently to serving communities in Corona, Queens and East Harlem in Manhattan. ​Interestingly, as a new immigrant to the Bronx, Dr. Jacob was also a user of a School Based Health Center; he received some of his earliest dental care from the School Based Dental Clinic located in PS 8 in the North Bronx. He completed his bachelor’s from the Sophie Davis School for Biomedical Education at The City University of New York, where he had the pleasure of being a student of Dr. Jack Geiger, one of the founders of the Community Health Center movement. He received his MD from State University of New York-Health Science Center Brooklyn. He completed his Pediatric Residency and Chief Residency from the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at The Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York.

 

Sarah C. Goldberg, MPH
Sarah currently serves as the Director of the New York School-Based Health Foundation. Sarah comes to the Foundation with a strong knowledge of SBHCs, having previously worked for the NYC Health Department’s Office of School Health School-based Health Center Reproductive Health Project as well as at a Bronx public school, running and supporting health education and community programming.  She previously directed a housing support program via NYC Health + Hospitals and served as the Special Assistant to the Assistant Commissioner in the NYC Health Department’s Bureau of Environmental Disease and Injury Prevention where she oversaw data and reporting as well as both internal and external communications. She received her Bachelor’s from Columbia in Women and Gender Studies and her MPH from the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy.  She lives in the Bronx with her husband and daughter.

 

Aisha Naseem, MPH
Aisha is a Research Coordinator at the Columbia University School of Nursing. They received their Master of Public Health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where they studied epidemiology and child, youth, and family health. Their thesis analyzed the association between childhood adversity and special healthcare needs, and whether the neighborhood environment serves as a protective factor to buffer negative health outcomes. Currently, they are the coordinator for asthma studies, including an NIH-funded clinical trial testing a web-based asthma intervention implemented in New York City high schools. As a coordinator, Aisha manages a team of research staff and collaborates with schools to deliver the intervention successfully with adolescents.

 

Allysa Ware, PhD, MSW
Dr. Ware, Executive Director of Family Voices is a family leader and researcher with extensive experience in strategic planning, family engagement, grant writing, human relations, and systems change, and she believes strongly in family and community leadership in developing solutions and improving systems. Dr. Ware is the principal investigator on several initiatives at Family Voices, including a PCORI Eugene Washington Engagement Award for building capacity for autism research in the African American community; the ACL-funded Center for Transition to Adult Health Care for Youth with Disabilities; and Pediatrics Supporting Parents, an early childhood social-emotional development initiative. She has contributed to numerous academic journals, including Pediatrics, Children and Youth Services Review, Advances in Social Work, Health Policy, and Academic Pediatrics. Dr. Ware holds a BA in Psychology from University of Maryland Global Campus and a master’s and PhD in social work from The Catholic University of America. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio and enjoys board games, shopping, and reading. She’s an immensely proud mother of an autistic young adult daughter who is pursuing a master’s in social work.

Cost: This event is $89 for members and $129 for nonmembers.
As always, we encourage non-members to join NYSBHA!

About Saratoga & Embassy Suites

Questions about this event?
Contact us at nysbha@gmail.com