Deb Polun, Vice President of External Affairs

Last Friday, I attended the annual conference of the CT Association of School-Based Health Centers (CASBHC).

CASBHC is an advocacy and networking organization committed to increasing access to quality health care for all children and adolescents in Connecticut schools. I sit on the CASBHC Board of Directors, to help represent the many federally-qualified health centers in Connecticut that host school-based health centers.

This year’s conference, “Creating the Path to a Positive Future,” had almost 200 participants, from a variety of local agencies across the state, including several health centers.

The keynote address was given by Dr. Jess P. Shatkin, who spoke on why adolescents, teens, and young adults take risks – hint: it’s not for the reasons you think! Learning why teens take risks can help public health professionals better address risk-taking behavior.

A variety of breakout sessions featured topics such as vaping; connections between community clinicians and school-based health centers; story-telling for public health advocacy; primary care approach to managing anxiety and mood disorder; and more.

CASBHC also gave out awards to two school-based health center professionals: Earlene Peckham, an APRN affiliated with Yale-New Haven Hospital; and Karen White, an APRN affiliated with CT Institute for Communities, who works at the school-based health centers at Danbury High School and Newtown Middle School. A special award was given to long-time (and now retired) CASBHC Executive Director Jesse White-Frese.

The CASBHC Conference is always a great opportunity to network with and learn from colleagues across the state, who are all committed to providing primary care to children and teens at schools, where it is most convenient for them to receive it.

You can learn more about CASBHC here. And, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

- Deb