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In the 1970s, a
group of physicians and legislators worked
together to develop one of the
most innovative approaches to comprehensive care
of children with special needs in the United
States, Children’s Medical Services of the
Florida Department of Health (CMS). Led by Dr.
Jerry
Schiebler at the University of Florida and Dr.
Robert Stempfel, then Director of the Mailman
Center,
this group created an integrated network of pediatric health care providers across the state
who made
comprehensive care, previously a dream, a reality. Today, Children’s Medical Services is
Florida’s
Title V agency and has offices all over Florida.
It supports programs for children with chronic
illnesses,
at-risk newborns, children suffering abuse and neglect, and early intervention, to name just a
portion of its outreach and mission.
Since Children’s Medical Services started, the
Mailman Center has served as the location
where tens of thousands of children have come
for clinical, behavioral, and developmental
services
provided by CMS. The Mailman Center and CMS also
have a longstanding relationship that focuses
on training the future workforce in special
needs, as well as providing ongoing training for
the dedicated
staff of CMS all around the state. More than
1000 of the trainees at the Mailman Center
between
1999-2003 established their first practice in
Florida, providing the infrastructure for the
next generation
of care. Our relationship with CMS is one of our
most important and valuable, and it demonstrates
what can be accomplished when two institutions
share a common mission and work together.
Our training relationship insures that there
will be knowledgeable professionals to provide
services for many years to come.
While our relationship with CMS reaches across
the State of Florida, our relationship with the
United Way of Miami-Dade County is a local one,
with national implications. The Mailman Center
and
United Way have a long-standing and outstanding
relationship and shared mission related to
children
with special needs. This past year, we moved
this relationship to a new level. United Way is
finalizing
construction of a new Center of Excellence in
Early Education, and the Mailman Center has
agreed to
be the research arm of this new program. We are
extremely excited about the chance to work with
United Way to make it possible for children
throughout our community to have access to the
best approaches
to early child development and prevention. We
hope to establish a model that others may
adopt.
Children’s Medical Services of Florida and
United Way of Miami-Dade County. These are the
kind of partners that make it possible for us to
accomplish our mission.
We thank them for sharing our mission, and
salute them for all of the great things they
make
possible.
Daniel Armstrong, Ph.D.
Director, Mailman Center for Child Development
June, 2006 |
