Policy & Practice | October 2021

staff spotlight

Name: Trinka Landry-Bourne Title: Organizational Effectiveness Consultant Time at APHSA: Four months

What I Can Do for Our Members: Collaboratively align group discussions and communities, tools, resources, and policies with members, affinity groups, and learning communities to build capacity in support of strategies for healthier families and sustainable communi ties throughout the nation. Best Way to Reach Me: I can be reached at tlandry-bourne@aphsa.org. When Not Working: I love spending time with my family, especially my grandchildren. My lifelong aspiration has always been to travel the world and I seek the opportunity to travel every chance I can. I love learning and experiencing diverse cultures, cuisines, and traditions. Fitness has also become one of my daily ambi tions. Walking and strength training regularly allow me to run, jump, and play with my grandchildren…One of my favorite pastimes! Motto to Live By: You Only Live Once … Live every day to the fullest!

Life Before APHSA: Prior to APHSA, I served as Chief Learning Officer for the largest geographical county in the United States. I have been working for 30 years in health and human services, serving in eligibility, policy, training and facilitation, simulation, and execu tive leadership. With a passion to inspire others, I serve as an instructor and adjunct professor at UC Davis CPE and California Baptist University. I have had the honor of teaching numerous classes in human services, leadership, equity, diversity and inclusion, and organizational culture. Priorities at APHSA: My priorities at APHSA include using tools and processes from the field of organizational effectiveness, in partnership with members and community partners at all levels, to build awareness and capacity within their organizations and communities.

HELLO BABY continued from page 6

asking for support and to minimize any stigma associated with the differenti ated outreach. The providers don’t know families’ scores and no PRM data are shared with the child welfare system. To ensure ethical appropriate ness, program design took place with considerable community involvement (including civil liberties groups) and DHS commissioned two independent ethical reviews by recognized experts. More information about the devel opment and implementation of Hello Baby can be found at DHS’s analytics website at https://www.allegheny countyanalytics.us/.

Dalton. “It might take years to refine our approach, but now we can finally start building an evidence base. In the meantime, we are confident that we are reaching families who need early support and who would not have con tacted other programs on their own.” Two thousand of the approximately 10,000 babies born in Allegheny County during the program’s first 10 months were offered higher-tier services by Hello Baby. Providers successfully engaged approximately 30 percent of these families (600) in services such as FCs, home visiting, and care coordina tion. The Hello Baby website ( https:// hellobabypgh.org ), which provides a wealth of resources for all families, received more than 30,000 visits during the same time period. The universal nature of the program is intended to normalize the idea of

Participating families with moderate to high levels of need are connected to one of the county’s neighborhood based Family Centers (FCs) and/or home visiting programs. FC staff links families to needed supports such as sub sidized child care, parenting programs, food assistance, and other basic needs. Families with the greatest need are offered support from a two-person team composed of a family engagement spe cialist and a social worker. These teams develop individualized plans to address each family’s expressed needs—for instance, evidence-based home visiting, transportation assistance, housing, and substance use treatment. “Hello Baby embodies our commit ment to be scientific and rigorous in testing what works to prevent abuse and neglect and to support families early,” stated DHS Director Erin

Amy Malen is the Assistant Deputy Director for the Allegheny County Department of Human Services’ Office of Community Services.

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