Left to Right: Lillian Deaton, Danielle Cravero, Jordyn Lord, Anna Abella and Annette
Christy at the Florida Behavioral Health Conference.
Faculty from both the department of Child and Families Studies and Behavioral Health Science and Practice presented at the Florida Behavioral Health Conference held August 26-28 in Orlando.
Team members from Evaluation of the Florida Pediatric Behavioral Health Collaborative (FPBHC) presented, “Improving Pediatric Behavioral Health Outcomes through an Integrated
and Capacity Building Model.” The presentation shared implementation insights and
outcomes from an integrated behavioral health model in the Big Bend region that provides
psychiatric consultation to pediatric primary care providers and care coordination
to children with behavioral health needs.
FPBHC is funded by the Florida Department of Health and Areana Cruz, PhD, and Anna Abella,PhD, associate research professor, are principal investigators of the project.
Cruz, along with Connie Walker, PhD, assistant research professor, co-presented accompanied by representatives from the
Florida State University Behavioral Health Hub, J’ere Clark and Cori McGooden. Cindi Shockley, Data Coordinator of FPBHC, co-developed the presentation.
In addition, Abella, and Annette Christy, PhD, presented “The Main Characters: Learning from Adults’ Experiences with Repeated Involuntary
Baker Act Examinations.”
The presentation covered data from the project, “Baker Act Reporting Center Qualitative
Evaluation” which is funded by the Florida Department of Children and Families. Christy
serves as the principal investigator.
The two, along with team members Jordyn Lord, Lillian Deaton, and Danielle Cravero
provided insights into challenges faced by individuals with repeated mental health
crises as well as recommendations for addressing gaps in care. This qualitative evaluation
supplemented data collected by the Baker Act Reporting Center for legislatively mandated
annual reports.