By Georgia Ullman, Health Services Manager|

All Head Start and Early Head Start programs, such as ClackCoKids, have a Health Services Advisory Committee (HSAC) that meets regularly. The purpose of HSAC is to connect programs with local health providers, learn about local health resources, and gather local input to ensure our program is meeting the health needs of our community.

Our HSAC meetings often include parents, staff, local pediatricians, staff from Clackamas County Public Health, staff from Health Share, and staff from Neighborhood Health Center. We’re fortunate to have a diverse group come together to help us make decisions about health services and strengthen our connection with community partners.

In the past, HSAC focused primarily on physical and oral health. This year, we’re expanding our HSAC to also focus on mental health, as there is a growing need for mental health support in our program. We noticed this became one of the biggest needs after the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, roughly 40% of parents reported a mental health concern for children entering our program. Today, approximately 70% of parents report a mental health concern for children entering our program.

While we face a growing need for mental health support, we also learned at a recent HSAC about the lack of mental health providers serving young children in our area. During the pandemic, the Portland metro area lost 40% of our behavioral health workforce, leaving us ranked number 50 in terms of states with access to mental healthcare for children. So, it’s even more crucial that our program knows our mental health providers, so we can refer our families to them.

In response to the lack of mental health providers, our program has implemented Cards for Connection, a program designed by Dr. Amy King, to support families as they wait to get mental health services like therapy.

We are so grateful for our HSAC members who dedicate their time and expertise to furthering the health of children and families in our programs. If you are interested in participating in an upcoming HSAC meeting, please contact Georgia at GeorgiaU@clackcokids.org.