Gary Blau, Ph.D.

Dr. Blau is a clinical psychologist and is Chief of the Child, Adolescent and Family Branch of the federal Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In this role, he provides national leadership for children's mental health and for creating systems of care across the country. He is responsible for implementing the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program, the Circles of Care Program, the Statewide Family Network Program, the National Children's Mental Health Social Marketing Campaign, several national technical assistance programs for children's mental health, and a wide variety of other programs designed to improve the lives of children and families. Through the Director of CMHS and the SAMHSA Administrator, he is also responsible for translating the President's New Freedom Commission Report for children and families and for implementing the children's portion of the CMHS Action Plan. Previously, Dr. Blau was the Bureau Chief of Quality Management and Director of Mental Health at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, a consolidated state agency serving youth with mental health, juvenile justice, and child welfare needs. He served as Chair of the Division of Children, Youth and Families of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors from 1998 to 2000. Dr. Blau has received awards including the Pro Humanitate Literary Award for literary works which best exemplify the intellectual integrity and moral courage required to transcend political and social barriers to promote best practice in child welfare, the Governor's Service Award, the Phoebe Bennet Award for outstanding contribution to children's mental health in Connecticut, and the Making a Difference Award from Connecticut's Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health.
 

David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Satcher is Director of the Center of Excellence on Health Disparities at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia where he occupies the Poussaint-Satcher-Cosby Chair in Mental Health. From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Satcher served as the Interim President of the Morehouse School of Medicine and previously served as Director of its new National Center for Primary Care. Dr. Satcher completed a four-year term as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States in 2002. For much of his tenure, he also served as Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. As Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary, Dr. Satcher led the Department's effort to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health, an initiative that was incorporated as one of the two major goals of Healthy People 2010. He also released the first Surgeon General's report ever on mental health, a landmark document that established mental health as fundamental to public health and summarized scientific evidence about treatment. This was followed by a supplement on children's mental health, outlining a national action agenda. Dr. Satcher also released Surgeon General's reports on tobacco and health; health disparities and mental retardation; culture, race and ethnicity; suicide prevention followed by a national strategy to prevent suicide; oral health; sexual health and responsible sexual behavior; youth violence prevention; and overweight and obesity. Dr. Satcher has received over 40 honorary degrees and numerous awards. Most recently he received the Sackler Award from Research!America for sustained leadership at the national level, and the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute Visionary Award for engagement in research and education.

The Friends of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development are deeply honored to join with the Department of Pediatrics in awarding the Caring for Children Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Satcher, to be presented at the Training Institutes. This award was established in 2001 to annually recognize an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to improving the quality of life for vulnerable children and their families. The award is in recognition of Dr. Satcher's extensive and exemplary contributions to children's health, and in particular, children's mental health.
 

Lucille Eber, Ed.D.

Dr. Eber is State Director of the Illinois Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Network, sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). This Network coordinates technical assistance and evaluation related to school-wide PBIS in over 700 Illinois schools and includes implementation of wraparound and interagency initiatives for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD). As a collaborative partner with the U.S. Department of Education's National PBIS Center at the University of Oregon, Dr. Eber facilitates PBIS implementation by coordinating planning, training, and technical assistance for states and school districts across the country. In addition, she provides training and consultation to mental health agencies, school districts, and state agencies involved in implementing systems of care, wraparound, and PBIS. Formerly the Deputy Director of the La Grange Area Department of Special Education (LADSE), Dr. Eber directed LADSE's Project WRAP from 1990 to 1996, which led to restructuring special education services for students with EBD into the wraparound-based EBD Network. Dr. Eber is a former board member of both the Illinois Federation of Families and the national Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health. She is a current board member of the Association for Positive Behavior Supports.
 

William C. Bell

William Bell is President and Chief Executive Officer of Casey Family Programs, the nation's largest operating foundation with a mission focused solely on providing and improving foster care. Prior to assuming this position in 2006, he provided strategic direction to Casey Family Programs as its Executive Vice President of Child and Family Services, overseeing Casey's field offices and providing leadership to staff working directly with young people from the public child welfare system to provide quality services in safe and stable families through foster care, kinship care, family reunification, guardianship, and adoption. Mr. Bell has nearly 30 years of experience in the human services field, including serving as Commissioner of the New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS) where he managed child welfare services-including Child Protection, Foster Care, Child Abuse Prevention, Day Care, and Head Start-with a staff of more than 7,000 and a budget of about $2.4 billion. Previously, he served as Deputy Commissioner of ACS' Division of Child Protection, Deputy Commissioner of Field Services and Contract Agency Case Management for the New York City Human Resources Administration, and Associate Executive Director for Miracle Makers, the largest minority-owned, nonprofit child and family services organization in New York. Mr. Bell is a trustee for America's Promise and serves on the American Bar Association's Commission on Youth at Risk. He is on the board of directors of the Association of Black Foundation Executives and the Marguerite Casey Foundation and is co-chair of the board of directors of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. His many honors include the Lutheran Social Services of New York President's Award for leadership, the Valeria Bullard Black Administrator of the Year Award from the Black Administrators in Child Welfare, the Betsey R. Rosenbaum Award for Excellence in Public Child Welfare Administration from the National Association for Public Child Welfare Administrators, and the Child Welfare League of America Advocacy Merit Award for Outstanding Leadership in Children's Services.

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