What our Government Agency Fellows Learn:

• Federal "state of the state" in Maternal Mental Health

• Federal Agency Programs Addressing Maternal Mental Health

• Review of State-Level Data Including:

  • Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitory System survey results, Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) reports on Maternal Suicide, and more

  • Strategies for supporting state Perinatal Quality Collaboratives in Implementing Actions to Reduce Maternal Suicide

• The Zero Suicide Framework

• Public Awareness Campaigns

• State Public Health Best Practices: States that shine and Highlights from the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Program Winners

• Addressing Racial & Rural Disparities

At the conclusion of the 12 Month Program

At the end of the program Fellows will have developed an action plan presented to their peers and leadership. Fellows will continue to receive support through the group listserv.

Time Commitment

Participants are expected to attend 2 hour-long monthly meetings and spend roughly 1-2 hours outside of monthly meetings reviewing materials, engaging in the online community, and meeting with others they identify as important in their state/county, and developing their action plan.

Meet our 2022-2023 Government Agency Maternal Mental Health Fellows

CALIFORNIA – California Department of Public Health

Mary Bost, MSW, currently serves as chief of Local Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH) Program Support for the California Department of Public Health. She interfaces with Local MCAH programs across California to coordinate activities to address maternal health issues. She is also a part of the Title V leadership team that develops and coordinates California’s Title V Maternal Child Health Block grant. In this role, she brings a local perspective to the state’s Title V Action Plan and manages many activities related to maternal and infant health and program development. She is passionate about creating policy and systems-level change to better the lives of moms and families. Prior to joining public health, she worked at the California Department of Social Services at the Office of Child Abuse Prevention. Before that, she spent several years at the local level in Sacramento County as a Human Services Program Planner developing and implementing various systems, policies, and programs.

Mary has a master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) from California State University, Sacramento, and a bachelor’s degree majoring in Social Work from Weber State University. She continues to pursue educational opportunities with an interest in educational and organizational leadership. She has two adult children and two fur babies. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, and adventuring with her husband and dog.

Stephen Bright, PhD, has had a fruitful career as a civil servant working on issues of health, wellness, and equity. He approaches each job as a means to understand health and perceived well-being, and to work toward decreasing disparity within California’s diverse population. He currently serves as a Senior Program Consultant in the Perinatal Equity Initiative-a program that aims to eliminate race-based health disparities. In the past, he has provided both epidemiological and programmatic support for a variety of projects in the California Department of Public Health’s Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Division. Much of Stephen’s focus has been to identify data & policy interventions that decrease racial and ethnic health disparities, particularly for African American mothers/children. In all these activities, he strives to successfully integrate our work with the contributions of external stakeholders and community partners-crafting policy when possible but always engaging participants to see the bigger picture. Stephen received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Jackson State University, and Masters and PhD (Social Psychology) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). He is married with four adult (YAY!) children.

DELAWARE – Delaware Health and Social Services

Dara Hall, MSN, RNC-NIC, is a registered nurse and the Maternal Child Health Clinical Lead of the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance (DMMA) for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS). In her role, Dara oversees clinical and quality outcomes of maternal and child health within DMMA. She supports policy and operational changes, as well as participates in statewide efforts to improve maternal and child health outcomes. Dara works closely with other divisions within DHSS, including the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) and the Division of Public Health (DPH), to address maternal health disparities in Delaware. With a background in pediatric, NICU, and adult nursing, Dara understands the importance of addressing perinatal mental health to improve outcomes across the lifespan. She is passionate about promoting equitable access through policy and systems-level changes.

Mary Wise, MA, MFA, BSN, RN, is a nurse in New Castle, Delaware for the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH), Office of the Medical Director. She is the Chief Coordinator for Maternal Health Services, leading initiatives designed to support mothers who need mental health support and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. In this role, Mary serves as DSAMH's Perinatal Advisory Group chair and their Trauma Informed Care Committee's co-chair. She is also a member of the Core Technical Assistance Team for the State Opioid Response (SOR) Grant. In addition, Mary serves as a member of the Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative (DPQC), the Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRc), the Delaware Healthy Mother and Infant Consortium's (DHMIC) Housing Workgroup, and DHSS's multi-divisional perinatal workgroup and advisory committee. She is passionate about reducing maternal mortality and morbidity and eliminating health disparities. Her focus is on strengthening partnerships and pathways while filling in gaps in Delaware's system of maternal mental health and SUD care. She believes the path to this is through a holistic approach that addresses the needs of the entire family unit.

FLORIDA – Florida Department of Health – Hillsborough County

Chedeline Apollon, MPH, CPH, (she/her/hers) is the Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan Coordinator, within the Office of Health Equity for the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County. She holds a B.S. in Public Health, with a minor in Africana Studies and a Masters in Public Health, with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health, both from the University of South Florida. Her specific research and academic interests include centering historically marginalized communities and their lived experiences through a mixed-methods approach to help achieve health equity. With additional experience working firsthand with birthing persons during pregnancy and in the postpartum, this includes amplifying the needs of birthing persons and the importance of focusing on the “fourth trimester.”

Chedeline is also an aunt to six boys and five girls spanning the ages of 22 years to 3 months old, so maternal health and maternal mental health is a topic that runs extremely close to home. A lifelong advocate for addressing social and health inequities, Chedeline believes that health equity is possible through systems level changes that center marginalized communities and empower them to better health.

Allison Nguyen, MPH, MCHES®, leads the Office of Health Equity at the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County. She is involved in multiple initiatives to support health equity including maternal health, infant mortality, health in all policies, Title X family planning, health literacy, public health re-accreditation and community health improvement planning. She is engaged in community partnerships around public health issues relating to accessing healthcare services, early learning, food security and transportation planning. She has been an invited speaker at state and national public health conferences on related topics. She has a background in local public health, having worked at local health departments in New York and North Carolina as well. In her personal time, she is an advocate for maternal mental health and enjoys time with her family, and hobbies including reading, baking, and traveling.

INDIANA – Indiana Department of Health

Trinity Edinburgh, MPH, is the Maternal Health Administrator in the Maternal and Child Health Division within the Indiana Department of Health in Indianapolis, Indiana. Trinity’s passion began to grow for maternal health during her journey completing her master’s degree through internship and research opportunities. In her current role, Trinity is the lead for the maternal health efforts and oversees various programs for the pregnant and birthing persons in Indiana. In her position, she collaborates with internal and external partners to work on meaningful projects including but not limited to the prevention of maternal deaths due to violence, group prenatal care, and the support of birth facilities through the Alliance for Maternal Health Innovation (AIM). Trinity is dedicated to advancing health equity through the mobilization of communities, using a systems approach to interventions, and taking an upstream perspective of maternal health including the physical, mental, and emotional health of pregnant and birthing persons.

Cat Meyer, MSW, is the Maternal Health Coordinator for the Indiana Department of Health, Maternal and Child Health division. She graduated from Ball State University with her Bachelor’s in Social Work. She then went on to complete her master’s in social work, with a consideration in community and organizational leadership, from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. Cat is committed to advancing maternal mental health knowledge and support throughout her state. She is currently working on a variety of projects dedicated to supporting women throughout childbearing age, one being a Preventing Maternal Deaths Due to Violence grant, which focuses on creating continuous education ECHO sessions for practitioners on interpersonal violence and prenatal group support. Prior to her work at IDOH, Cat interned at Covering Kids and Families, where she worked in legislation. Cat helped pass HB 1405 Insurance Matters in Indiana during the 2021 general assembly session.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time in nature, hanging out with her family, practicing yoga and sewing, and cuddling with her cat, Monty.

NORTH CAROLINA – North Carolina Division of Public Health

Deborah Smith, MSW, LCSW, is a Regional Social Work Consultant for Care Management for High-Risk Pregnancies (CMHRP) within the North Carolina Division of Public Health (DPH). While volunteering at an orphanage, 11-year-old Deborah didn’t like the idea that pregnant teenagers were not allowed to remain at the orphanage. A maternal health spark was lit that day.

Deborah began her public health social work career in a rural health department providing care management to pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries. After providing direct services for numerous years, Deborah accepted her current position within DPH. Maternal care management services have been through three different model variations since Deborah began her career, but they all have the foundational base of providing services to Medicaid eligible beneficiaries who are experiencing a high-risk pregnancy as indicated by social or medical needs. Her coverage area spans over 18 local health departments from the middle of the state to the coastline.

Deborah experienced postpartum depression and anxiety following the births of her two children. As a result of this personal experience, she is even more passionate about maternal mental health. Deborah has a Master of Social Work from North Carolina State University and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

Sara Thomson, MSW, LCSWS, works for the North Carolina Division of Public Health as the Statewide Clinical Social Work Consultant for the Maternal Health Branch. In her role, Sara works closely with North Carolina's Local Health Departments to provide consultative guidance to health care providers and administrators around maternal mental health and conducts program monitoring and evaluation. Additionally, Sara works on perinatal mental health initiatives that impact pregnant and birthing people across the state of North Carolina, such as the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina and NC Maternal Mental Health MATTERS, a perinatal psychiatric consultation line.

Sara has a master's degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and practiced as a mental health therapist prior to taking her current role. In her clinical practice, Sara specialized in treating individuals with high suicidality and those impacted by complex trauma. She uses this clinical background to inform systems-level changes in an effort to improve North Carolina’s maternal mental health landscape for all pregnant and parenting individuals, including those who are the most vulnerable.

PENNSYLVANIA – Pennsylvania Dept. of Health, Bureau of Family Health

Giselle Hallden is a Public Health Program Manager in the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She has 14 years of experience working with various maternal and child health-related programs. She has worked closely with county and municipal health departments, health systems, community organizations, and national organizations to improve the health and well-being of Pennsylvania families.

Tahesia Thomas, MHA, MPA, CPhT, is the Public Health Program Administrator for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Maternal Mortality Review Committee. In her role, she coordinates the multidisciplinary committee’s activities and oversees the implementation of the Maternal Review Program, contracts, and federal reporting. She earned her Master of Health Administration and Public Administration from the University of Phoenix. In addition, she maintains her certification as a pharmacy technician so that she can use this knowledge in her current work addressing maternal health issues.

In addition, Tahesia has ten years of experience working in both the Health Care and Human Services fields, including Intellectual Disabilities / Development Disabilities (ID/DD), Children and Youth Services (CNYS), and Bureau of Human Services Licensing. In these positions, she measured compliance for the safety and well-being of individuals and helped identify the root cause(s) of death and injuries to identify ways to prevent these occurrences.

VIRGINIA – Virginia Department of Health

Dane De Silva, PhD, MPH, is the Lead MCH epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Family Health Services in Richmond, VA, where he supervises the MCH Epidemiology and Evaluation Unit in the Division of Population Health Data. He provides epidemiology support to the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, where maternal mental health has been identified as a priority and State Performance Measure. He is working closely with the Title V Director to engage Local Health Districts in bolstering work in maternal mental health.

Dr. De Silva is an experienced population-health researcher rooted in the life course framework, and his research interests include the intersection of social determinants of health with birth outcomes, reproductive health, and infant and child health. He earned his Master of Public Health in Maternal-Child Health from the University of British Columbia and his Doctoral degree in Maternal and Child Health from the University of Maryland. Dr. De Silva is looking forward to learning how to best move the needle in maternal mental health using a multidisciplinary approach.

Lauren Yerkes, MPH, CPH, (pronouns: she/her(s), last name rhymes with 'circus') is the Injury and Violence Prevention (IVP) Epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), providing subject matter expertise, data analysis, technical assistance, and consulting on injury, violence, and substance use data to inform state policy and program planning. Lauren also works on IVP efforts that intersect with maternal and child health, including neonatal abstinence syndrome, adverse childhood experiences, safe sleep initiatives, and maternal mental health and violence prevention. She has nine years of epidemiology and public health experience, and prior to her current work, she led the HIV epidemiology team at VDH. Lauren has a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from Virginia Tech and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and is Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners.

WASHINGTON – Washington Health Care Authority

Beth Tinker, PhD, MN/MPH, RN, is a Clinical Nurse Consultant/Nurse Advisor at the Washington State Health Care Authority. Her nursing experience is in Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Public Health, home visiting, and management. Beth completed her PhD in Nursing Science at the University of Washington in 2019, where she was awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Scholar Award for doctoral studies. Her research interests include health disparities, infant mental health, protective factors for children and families living with complex adversity, breastfeeding, early intervention, home visiting, and public health nursing. At the Health Care Authority, she focuses on clinical programs and policies across the reproductive health continuum and care for children and families, with a focus on perinatal and infant mental health. She is also an affiliate faculty member at the University of Washington School of Nursing.

Christine Cole, LICSW, IMH-E®, came into the mental health field excited and eager to work with the youngest members of our communities, kids. She quickly discovered that she wouldn’t get very far without also working with their parents and caregivers. And so began her passion for relationship-based work with children and their families.

Christine started her career in Denver, Colorado while attending the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work focusing on children and families with a specialization in Interpersonal Trauma. From early on in her practice, she has worked with caregivers and their young children from promotion to treatment in a variety of settings. Regardless of the services, she has learned that supporting caregivers in their role is integral to the health and well-being of their children.

Currently, she works at Washington Health Care Authority as the Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Program Manager. This role has allowed her the opportunity to apply her clinical experiences with families to inform state policy and initiatives. She has the privilege of working alongside colleagues who focus on maternal health which has increased her interest and learning around the critical importance of support during the perinatal period has in the success and wellbeing of children and families.

Meet our 2021-2022 Public Health Fellows