Critical Issues Forum
Navigating Towards a Brighter Future: COVID-19 and Student Mental Health

Join the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education for a virtual Critical Issues Forum exploring the ways educators as well as state and local leaders can support the mental health of students as we navigate towards ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Our keynote speaker, Dr. David Schonfeld, (Director, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement) will be discussing key considerations for supporting school recovery. He will be followed by a panel on school-level strategies for addressing these challenges and a panel on the role of state policy makers in addressing student mental health.

The complete panel lists are as follows:

Panel #1: What’s Happening in the Schools 

Dr. Terri McFadden, Immediate Past President, Georgia Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics – Moderator

Mr. David Crooke, CEO, CarePartners of Georgia

Dr. Curtis Jones, Superintendent, Bibb County Schools

Dr. Tinisha Parker, Executive Director of Student Services, Gwinnett County Schools

Panel #2: State Structures: A Policy Conversation

Dr. Erica Fener Sitkoff, Executive Director, Voices for Georgia’s Children – Moderator

Dr. Sarah Vinson, Chair, Children and Adolescent Behavioral Health SubCommittee, Georgia Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission

Ms. Kim Jones, Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)