Whole Health Louisiana

Empowering Families, Protecting Children through Advocacy and Awareness: A Public Webinar Series

Louisiana CASA is excited to host our third webinar series. This series is brought to you in partnership with the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund so we are required to ask participants certain demographic questions during registration. Once you register, an email will be sent to you that includes the link to join the webinar. We hope to see you there!

Whole Health Louisiana

Despite the many initiatives introduced to respond to harmful health outcomes experienced by Louisiana's children and families, Louisiana ranks 49th in overall child well-being. A unified trauma­ informed state plan that addresses the prevalence and prevention of childhood adversity is necessary to improve health and safety outcomes for all Louisianians. Whole Health Louisiana seeks to create a trauma-informed state plan that is responsive to the needs and prosperity of Louisiana's children and families. Join us for a panel discussion with the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center about Whole Health Louisiana. 

About the Blanco Center

The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at UL Lafayette focuses on advancing evidence-based public policy to make Louisiana a better place to live and work. The Blanco Center is highly engaged statewide and works to impact all parts of the state while developing best practices that can help communities elsewhere address challenges similar to those prevalent in Louisiana. One of the Blanco Center’s policy priority areas is health and health care, but the work of Whole Health Louisiana connects with other Blanco Center priority areas including poverty and economic opportunity, education, and criminal justice reform. This work aligns with two major research programs that the Blanco Center has launched within the past year, which are Child Development & Opportunities and Connecting People & Policy. Our work in Child Development & Opportunities is aimed at evaluating and informing programs and policies that invest in early development and enhance lifelong opportunities. Our work in Connecting People & Policy is intended to engage people in the policymaking process and in the study of the impact policies have on communities.

About the Speakers

Stephen Barnes is the Executive Director of the Blanco Center and an Associate Professor of Economics at UL Lafayette. Dr. Barnes was a co-PI on the Louisiana Health Insurance Survey for 10 years and has published numerous reports on topics in health, health care and a broader range of topics about Louisiana's population and economy. Dr. Barnes received his PhD in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Claudia Laurenzano is the Assistant Director of Research at the Blanco Center and leads the data team. With a background in advanced data analysis and visualization as a scientist (M.S. and B.S. in biology from Universität Regensburg in Regensburg, Germany), Claudia has over 10 years of experience in analyzing data in a variety of topics.

Quyen Nguyen is a research associate at the Blanco Center, with experience working on projects in child welfare policy. Prior to the joining the Blanco Center, they received dual master’s degrees in public health and social work from Columbia University. During this time, they worked in a variety of contexts such as with the NYC Department of Health and a mental health equity research study project.

Anna Osland, is the Director of Research at the Blanco Center. Dr. Osland has led research and community-based initiatives focused on health care, community development, and education in Louisiana and beyond. She earned a master’s and PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Liz C Skilton is a newly appointed Associate Director of Research at the Blanco Center. With expertise in community engagement and historical research with a focus on Louisiana, environmental, trauma and hazards history, in addition to qualitative research methods training, Dr. Skilton has led a wide range of grant and research projects. As the director of the Connecting People & Policy Program, she has experience with interdisciplinary and collaborative community-based projects geared at engaging people in the policymaking and implementation process. Dr. Skilton holds a PhD in History from Tulane University.

Jordan Thibodeaux is an Associate Director of Research at the Blanco Center and leads the Child Development and Opportunities Program. With a background in infant and child development, Dr. Thibodeaux’s work focuses on evaluation of programs and services for children and families across the state. He received his PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from George Mason University.