Task Force Activities

Legislative Task Force

Bills To Watch This Session A new legislative Task Force of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics has developed. The group will work to support policies that improve the health of children in our state. Pediatricians are uniquely positioned to advocate for kids as respected experts in child health. In the short-term, the Task Force will review policy at the state-level during the 2023 session in Frankfort and if appropriate lend support or voice opposition. Long-term goals include increasing our influence across the state by establishing relationships with decision-makers and expanding pediatrician involvement in legislative advocacy by reaching out to colleagues across sub-specialties as well as in rural areas. We will leverage these relationships to build policies that are good for kids.

The group plans to meet monthly via Zoom and the time commitment will vary depending upon interest and activity level that Task Force members choose, based upon their availability. The group will collectively set short and long terms goals. Some potential areas of focus in the near future may include:

Vaccines
Scope of Practice
Injury Prevention

Contact, Dr. Brit Anderson, brit.anderson@louisville.edu, if you are interested in joining this new group or would like more information.

Childhood Obesity Task Force

The Kentucky Action for Childhood Obesity (KACO) is a new KY AAP program. The goal of KACO is to engage pediatricians and promote best practices in addressing pediatric obesity. The Obesity Task Force members have dual roles: 1. To serve as “Coaches” for the KACO network and 2. To serve as Chapter experts on childhood obesity for advocacy and policy work at the state level.

Members of the Obesity Task Force include:
Chris Bolling, MD, FAAP (Chair), Kim Boland MD, FAAP, Suzanne Kingery MD, FAAP, April Mattingly MD, FAAP, Tok Omoruvi MD, FAAP, David Parker MD, FAAP, Joelle Paulozz MD, FAAP, Lisa Pfitzer MD, FAAP, Aurelia Radelescu MD, FAAP, Charlotte Stites, MD, FAAP

Contact KACO Chair for further information, Dr. Chris Bolling

Archived KACO Posts
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014

Adolescent Health Task Force & KAHF

The KY AAP has established a newly formed Kentucky Adolescent Health Forum ( KAHF), a project of the KY AAP Adolescent Task Force. The goal of KAHF is to promote best practices in addressing various adolescent health issues. The members of KAHF will also serve as Chapter experts on adolescent health issues for advocacy efforts at the state level. Various adolescent health topics will be covered throughout the year and delivered to members through email. The content of the email will include useful tools, guidelines, and discussion of picture based clinical scenarios.

For more information, contact: Dr. Mandakini Sadhir , KY AAP Adolescent Health Task Force Chair , KY Adolescent Health Forum (KAHF)

KAHF Members: Stephanie Stockburger, MD, Pat Purcell, MD, Stan Block, MD, Kendall Purcell, MD, Jessica Holloman, MD, Mrudu “Maddie” Herbert, MD, Brittany Badal, MD

Archived KAHF Posts

Adolescent Health

Reproductive and Sexual Health

Mental Health and Substance Use

Social Media and Technology

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D/E/I)

Mission Statement: Dedicated to facilitating discussions and programmatic implementations to improve the diverse, inclusive community of The Kentucky Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (KY-AAP). We are a working committee of individuals focused on creating a welcoming environment for our community per the mission, vision and initiatives of our organization by making recommendations to enhance diversity in clinical practice, training and professional development. We are impassioned to include all members of the organization to strive for a diverse, inclusive and equitable community.

Diversity & Inclusion Statement: As an organization, The Kentucky Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (KY-AAP) strives to create an environment where each member is valued and respected. We vehemently oppose any acts of hatred, intolerance, bias, bigotry and discrimination and stand united to condemn any discriminatory acts towards the diverse pediatric communities we serve. Diversity among our members and the patients we serve fosters advancement in healthcare, health equity and overall improvement in the outcomes of our pediatric patients. We aim to take the necessary steps and commit to ongoing efforts to provide a fully inclusive organization for our profession and to continue to cultivate an environment that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusivity.

For more information, contact Chair, Dr. Julia Richerson, juliaericherson@gmail.com

DEI Newsletters:
Diversity as a Driver for Health Equity
Spring 2025 KY AAP DEI Task Force Newsletter
Advocate for the health and well-being of all children – including LGBTQ+ youth

Immigrant Child Health Task Force (ICHTF)

Kentucky has a growing immigrant community. Nearly 4 percent of Kentuckians are immigrants, and about 3 percent are native-born U.S. citizens who have at least one immigrant parent. Over 24,000 U.S. citizens in Kentucky live with at least one family member who is undocumented.

Immigrant children face multiple health and educational challenges including barriers to access to health care, poverty, special mental health issues associated with immigration and family separation. These issues have worsened over the last months due to current changes in immigration laws and health coverage. Due to the increasing needs in immigrant health, the KY AAP Chapter has created the Immigrant Child Health Task Force (ICHTF) with the goal of supporting health care providers that work with immigrant children by:

1- Identifying community resources
2- Creating educational opportunities in immigrant child health
3- Facilitating networking

For more information, contact: Mary York, KY Chapter Executive Director at maryyork@kyaap.org

ICHTF Case Reviews

Health Maintenance
Development and Growth

Bilingualism and Speech Delay

Oral Health

Oral Health General Care

Immunizations

Mental Health

Infectious Diseases

TB Screening and Follow up

Folk Illnesses Conditions

Folk Medicine – Chamomile Turmeric Moringa

Cross-cultural Aspects of Immigrant Health

Kentucky Immigrant Child Health Toolkit

The KY AAP ICHTF has compiled and created numerous resources to assist providers in understanding best practices and tools to be an effective and comprehensive medical home for immigrant and refugee children in our state. The toolkit includes:

Clinical Guidelines
Provider Tools
Education Resources
Mental Health Resources
Social Services
Legal Services
Language Services/Interpretation

“E” Embers: The hottest E-cigarette prevention resources for pediatricians.

Michael Bricken, MD, FAAP is the current ‘E-cigarette Chapter Champion’ for Kentucky. He will be compiling, creating, and sharing resources with members throughout the year. These will include news updates, handouts, toolkits, and local advocacy and community engagement opportunities. The goal of this initiative is to better support pediatricians and their patients in the battle against the e-cigarette epidemic.

“E”Embers Posts
The Pandemic That Preceded SARS-CoV-2
Kentucky Updates – April 2021
Kentucky Updates – September 2021
Kentucky Updates – November 2021

Community Child Health Task Force

Community Health Task Force Co-Chairs: Julia Richerson, MD, FAAP, Stephanie Stockburger, MD, FAAP, and Brit Anderson, MD, FAAP

Community Child Health Task Force Information

Community Connections (Lexington area)
Community Connections (Louisville area)
CATCH GRANT examples: project example, ACEs example, mental health example
CATCH flier from Annual Meeting 2022
AAP CPTI Project Planning Tool – (Hoffman BD, Rose J, Best D, Linton J, Chapman S, Lossius M, Aligne A, Collins C, Ayoub-Rodriguez L. The Community Pediatrics Training Initiative Project Planning Tool: A Practical Approach to Community-Based Advocacy. MedEdPORTAL. 2017;13:10630. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10630)

Community Child Health Updates
June 30, 2025 (Summer Updates)
November 26, 2024
April 29, 2024
February 8, 2024
May 8, 2023

Child Health and Climate Advocates

This task force’s goals include engaging pediatricians in Kentucky to promote climate and child health equity through providing climate change counseling at well child visits. The group will focus on identifying key partners in the pediatric and broader community, developing a common vision, and considering barriers and strategies for impact, working in close collaboration with other Climate Advocate groups in Kentucky.

Child Health and Climate Advocate Co-Chairs: Julia Richerson, MD, FAAP, and Libby Mims, MD FAAP

Climate Health Resources:

AAP Climate Change Policy Statement
AAP Climate Change Technical Report
Climate Change Handout – English
Climate Change Handout – Spanish
Climate Health Counseling for Pediatricians Video

Child Health and Climate Advocates Meeting 3/28/2022

Meeting Powerpoint:
KCHCA 3.28.2022 meeting

References:
AAP Climate Change Resource Page
Talking to Children About Climate Change

Child Health and Climate Advocates Meeting 9/16/2022

Meeting Powerpoint:
KCHCA 9.16.2022 meeting

References:
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication: Six Americas Super Short SurveY (SASSY)
Louisville Climate Action Network
University of Louisville (UofL) Center for Integrated Environmental Health Sciences (CIEHS) – Community Engagement Core

Child Health and Climate Advocates Meeting 1/30/2023

Meeting Powerpoint:
KCHCA 1.30.23 meeting

KCHCA 1.30.23 meeting notes and references