Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As I reflect on 2024, I am grateful for the partnerships and collective efforts that have emerged in response to the complex challenges facing our youth. For the past several years, increased funding and commitment to children’s behavioral health have provided opportunities to address system challenges and better meet the needs of children, families, and schools.
Our joint efforts to turn these opportunities into meaningful impacts are making a difference in all four of CHDI’s core areas: system development, evidence-based practices, comprehensive school mental health, and quality improvement.
In our system development area, CHDI served as a hub to guide and support statewide efforts to advance Connecticut’s system of care by investing in comprehensive school mental health systems. We also published and began implementing a workforce strategic plan - informed by extensive input from providers, families, youth, educators, and others - that equips the State of Connecticut with a roadmap to guide our efforts for years to come. This year we celebrated the successful expansion of Connecticut’s comprehensive youth crisis system - with new Urgent Crisis Centers and a Sub-Acute Crisis Stabilization program, working together with 988/211 and Mobile Crisis. CHDI has long advocated for this expansion in partnership with many of you, and it was gratifying to see those efforts come to fruition.
In our comprehensive school mental health area, we worked with a record 394 schools across multiple initiatives, providing training and technical assistance to help schools and districts strengthen student mental health supports and connect with community services. A total of 14 schools participated in the School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) this year, resulting in an average 23% reduction in court referrals. We were also excited to begin piloting two promising new school-based models: a new SBDI-E adaptation for elementary schools and a student peer support model for middle and high schools.
In our evidence-based practices area, we trained over 300 clinicians across Connecticut in a trauma-focused evidence-based behavioral health treatment (EBT), bringing the total number trained by CHDI since 2007 to nearly 3,000. Those EBTs were delivered to 2,388 children and their families this year alone. At least two-thirds of children receiving an EBT experienced significant symptom reduction. In partnership with state agencies, we hosted the 16th Annual EBP Conference, attended by nearly 500 providers, school and state agency staff, and others. We also continued to expand access to trauma, behavioral health, and substance use screening at the state and national levels through projects like Trauma ScreenTIME, CT-TREE, and SBIRT-PATHS.
In our quality improvement area, CHDI continued our work as the Performance Improvement Center (PIC) for Connecticut’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Service and began developing a PIC for the state’s new Urgent Crisis Centers for youth. Mobile Crisis continued to distinguish itself as a national best practice, providing care for over 8,400 youth in nearly every city and town statewide, while maintaining mobility rates and response times that continue to be among the highest in the nation. We also shared Connecticut’s Mobile Crisis expertise with other states looking to improve their youth crisis systems, including Kansas, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia, Texas, and Louisiana.
At the organizational level, we are growing and thriving. A partnership between CHDI, DCF, providers, and schools, was the recipient of the “2024 Mission Award” from the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration. We welcomed eight new staff members in 2024 and were recognized for the third straight year as a Best Place to Work in Connecticut by the Hartford Business Journal. Our staff and Board continued learning anti-racist and equitable principles and are now working to embed those learnings throughout our programs and operations.
Scroll down or click here to view an infographic with more highlights from 2024!
Looking ahead, our key priorities in 2025 will include:
These priorities will continue to define our work in the years to come. At CHDI, we understand that investing in youth behavioral health and well-being is an investment in the future prosperity of our state and country.
I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to all who contribute to CHDI’s mission. Our Board of Directors, our talented staff, our valued funders, and our extensive network of partners and collaborators have been integral to our success. Together, we are making significant strides in ensuring that every child grows up healthy and thrives.
Let us continue our momentum into 2025, driven by our shared commitment to achieving equitable, optimal behavioral health and well-being for all children, youth, and families.
Best wishes for a peaceful and joyous holiday season and a happy, healthy new year!
Jeffrey Vanderploeg, PhD
President and CEO
Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI)
Join CHDI's Email List to get our latest publications and updates on children's health and mental health issues.
