Derrick Gordon, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and director of research, policy & program on male development at The Consultation Center has been appointed as the designee of Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, to the Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee.
The committee is responsible for evaluating the availability and efficacy of prevention, early intervention, and behavioral health treatment services and options for children from birth to age 18. It will make recommendations to the Connecticut General Assembly and executive agencies regarding the governance and administration of the behavioral health care system for children.
Walker wrote in a letter appointing Gordon to the position that she is “confident that the knowledge and experience that you bring to this position will be of great value to the committee.”
Gordon’s research seeks to identify those factors that enhance the access and use of preventive and indicated healthcare services by families, with a special emphasis on men, on the fringes, including men transitioning from prison back to the community; low-income, non-custodial fathers; adolescent fathers committed to child protection services; and men mandated to batterer intervention groups in the community. Gordon’s work with men has focused on increasing the health of men and their positive involvement in family and community life.