These are difficult times for many families struggling to cope with job losses or working from home while managing the added responsibility of child care and home schooling. This webinar will focus on the mental health and well-being of children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic and the early data that provides insight into the challenges and opportunities for substance misuse prevention practitioners to support families and communities during this time. The webinar will also highlight many of the resources available from Child Trends, the nation’s leading research organization focused exclusively on improving the lives of children and youth, especially those who are most vulnerable. The webinar will also discuss how these resources can be applied in your agency and community setting.
Jessica Dym Bartlett, M.S.W., Ph.D., is Program Director of Early Childhood Research at Child Trends. She conducts evaluation and applied research on interventions to promote the emotional and relational well-being of children and families exposed to trauma and adversity, including child abuse and neglect, child and parent mental health problems, and natural disasters, with a focus on prevention and promotion of resilience. Dr. Bartlett is Principal Investigator (PI) of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the impact of the Newborn Behavioral Observations on maternal mental health and mother-infant relationships at Harvard Medical School, lead evaluator for the Child Trauma Training Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and developer of a toolkit to mitigate childhood trauma in the face of disasters and pandemics.
