Mental Health

Sarah is an advocate for honest conversations and policies that support the need for strong mental health access and the importance of destigmatizing it. For the years 2008-2014, Jefferson County ranked 11th out of 50 peer counties in terms of highest rates of suicide. This statistic inspired Sarah became one of 40 trainers for the Louisville Health Advisory Board – a cross-sector group of community organizations and leaders working to improve physical, mental and social well-being for residents of Louisville – to come together and set an objective to design and implement a community-wide, evidence-based and data-driven program to eliminate suicides in Louisville.

The goal was to set a world record by training the most individuals in one week in the technique of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR). Similar to CPR, QPR is a 90-minute training course designed to support an emergency response to someone in crisis, and it can save lives.

Aetna SKY Foster Advisory Council – This was a meaningful council where Sarah had a space to provide critical feedback on what she experienced as a foster parent when trying to get care for the children in her home. The council works together to find ways we can better serve Kentucky’s children, youth and young adults who are in foster care and  those who have aged out. Sarah’s focus is on the ease of accessibility for families and young adults, gaps in support systems and cultural competency.

SKY Governance Council – Sarah brings her unique perspective of a foster parent to ensure quality evaluations and recommendations can be made across the board. Sarah’s focus from a healthcare perspective includes ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) and how that affects the physical health of children.  She  advocates for deprescribing medication which  is the process of withdrawal of an inappropriate medication, supervised by a healthcare professional with the goal of managing polypharmacy and improving outcomes. Kentucky has one of the highest rates of children in care on psychotropic medications. She also wants to address the high level of anxiety and depression rates for kids first by ensuring the partnership between the healthcare providers and DCBS can strengthen better outcomes for kids by stable placements with fewer home disruptions.