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Winner of the 2023 Distinguished Friend to Behavior Therapy Award

This award recognizes the Ballmer Institute's groundbreaking work to craft and implement a national model for a bachelor’s-level specialty training program in children's behavioral health. 

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A New National Model in Children’s Behavioral Health

The vision of the Ballmer Institute is that access to high-quality mental health support is a fundamental right of all children and families, starting in Oregon. Accomplishing this vision requires expanding the behavioral health workforce to meet the growing need for support among children and adolescents. And doing that requires new approaches like the child behavioral health specialist!

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Why choose child behavioral health?

Our child behavioral health programs provide students with the latest evidence-based strategies to cultivate universal child behavioral health. Whether it is by entering a new profession as a child behavioral health specialist, or continuing in your existing youth-serving role, the Ballmer Institute equips you with the skills needed to support youth well-being.

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Philanthropy

The Ballmer Institute was launched in 2022, made possible by a transformational lead gift from Connie and Steve Ballmer to provide foundational support for core operations.

Additional support is needed to build, scale, and expand our innovative approach to improving the behavioral health of youth in Oregon and across the nation.  

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What’s new at the Ballmer Institute

The number of teens reporting depressive symptoms has risen sharply over the past decade, and the trend is particularly bad in Oregon. On this week's episode of "Straight Talk," three experts, Dr. Jen Doty, Dr. Beth Stormshak, and Dr. Ariel Williamson who are working to get ahead of the curve, came together to talk about what's driving the trend, what researchers say can be done to help, and what kids are saying they need.

Ariel A. Williamson, PhD, with The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health, University of Oregon, Portland, Oregon, and colleagues tested an electronic, age-based sleep screener that evaluated infant bed sharing, snoring three nights a week, short sleep time, perceived sleep problems, and adolescent daytime sleepiness.

Nevada just passed a law allowing bachelor’s degree-trained behavioral health specialists to practice in schools and other settings. The new legislation is part of a grassroots movement that started in Oregon.

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