The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health is committed to addressing the needs of children and families historically underserved by the current behavioral health system. To achieve this goal, we have established the Community Advisory Board (CAB) to collaborate with community stakeholders as we continue to refine our new child behavioral health undergraduate degree program. The CAB plays a vital role in ensuring our training programs are culturally responsive, fostering community engagement, and shaping workforce development efforts that align with the needs of Portland's diverse communities.
Goals
As defined by the Ballmer Institute Community Advisory Board Governing Charter and endorsed by the signature of each member, the goals of the CAB are to:
- Develop a better understanding of community needs and priorities with regards to children’s behavioral health needs, especially those who have been historically or persistently underserved by the behavioral health care system.
- Build community capacity for addressing children’s behavioral health needs through the creation of a new profession to expand the child behavioral health workforce.
- Provide targeted, culturally responsive professional training for educators and professionals working with children and families
- Develop community partnerships to train child behavioral health specialists in collaboration with community organizations that serve youth and families that have been persistently underserved in the behavioral health system.
- Support community advocacy efforts to bring about systemic change.
- Engage in resource and knowledge sharing about children’s behavioral health as informed by input from community stakeholders about the types of information and communication strategies that would be most useful.
Membership & Meetings
The CAB meets six times per year to provide feedback and help inform the Ballmer Institute’s community engagement and workforce development priorities. CAB members serve a one or two-year term, with the opportunity for reappointment based on their involvement and commitment.
