WCAAP has just received notification of a two-year grant award from the Perigee Fund to facilitate Washington’s First Year Families to advance child and family well being in the first year of life. We are thrilled to have this important opportunity to advance WCAAP’s mission and know the benefits of family well-being at the earliest stages of life will yield improved health for children throughout their lifetimes.
WCAAP will fulfill three key functions in our First Year Families program.
- We will convene and facilitate a Systems/Advocacy Stakeholders Table around Early Childhood and Family Well-being, staffed by WCAAP program manager Edna Maddalena in partnership with WCAAP Executive Director Sarah Rafton.
- WCAAP will also facilitate a quality improvement Post-Partum Mood Disorders Learning Collaborative in Pierce and Yakima Counties to ensure screening for maternal post-partum mood disorders and timely support for new parents via the pediatric medical home and strong community partnerships. This learning collaborative will be led by WCAAP member MaryAnn Woodruff, MD, FAAP and Program Manager Tatiana Sarkhosh.
- Lastly, WCAAP’s communication manager, Jennifer Donahue, will lead our work to launch a Paid Family and Medical Leave Campaign in pediatric medical settings in Yakima and Pierce counties in 2020 and then statewide in 2021.
Our work will begin in July 2020. If you work in a primary care clinic in Pierce or Yakima Counties and would like to participate in the Post-Partum Mood Disorders Learning Collaborative, please contact Tatiana Sarkhosh. If you work in a primary care or hospital setting in Pierce or Yakima, we will need your help with our Paid Family and Medical Leave Campaign – you can expect to hear from us and you can also contact Jennifer Donahue now if you are interested.