You may have noticed this post by Elizabeth Prewitt, about how a First Focus report on federal spending shows that only 8 percent of the national budget invests in the nation's children.
Her post is definitely worth reading and tsking over, but the purpose of my post is to call attention to Elizabeth. She's ACEsConnection's new policy analyst.
She'll be looking at what's happening at the federal level and how that translates to policies and actions on state, regional and local levels. In her post, she mentions the recent Dear State Director's letter about ACEs and trauma-informed care. She'll be providing more information about how that plays out -- or doesn't, as the case may be -- in states.
Elizabeth comes to ACEsConnection with a lifetime of experience in Washington, D.C. She served as director of government relations and public policy for the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) from 2006 to 2011. She was the organization’s principal representative on Capitol Hill and liaison with federal agencies for the states’ mental health authorities. She worked on the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the mental health parity law and served as the director of NASMHPD’s Financing and Medicaid Division. She has presented and written frequently on public policy issues related to Medicare, Medicaid, healthcare reform and mental health and is especially interested in the integration of primary care and behavioral health.
Prior to joining NASMHPD, she was director of governmental affairs and public policy for the American College of Physicians where she was the organization’s senior lobbyist and coordinator of the advocacy initiatives of ACP leaders and grassroots members. Elizabeth also held a senior government relations position with the American Institute of Architects.
She served on the legislative staff of several members of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Elizabeth holds a master's degree in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University.
I have known Elizabeth for many years, and we are very lucky to have her as a contributor to ACEsConnection and as a resource to our members. Please welcome her!
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