Each year ACLP brings together more than 1,000 child life professionals at the Child Life Annual Conference—the world's largest gathering of child life professionals. It is an unsurpassed opportunity for attendees to enhance their professional development, gain fresh perspectives, meet with colleagues, and form new and lasting relationships within the child life community.
--from childlife.org
Two alumni from our Child Life Specialist MS program presented their latest innovations and research at the annual Association of Child Life Professionals conference, which was held in Chicago in April.
Colleen Cherry, Certified Child Life Specialist (Class of 2013)
Colleen presented work titled "Introduction to Working with Insurance Companies: the American and Canadian Experience in Successful Billing for Child Life Services in the Community."
Now in private practice, Colleen supports children experiencing medical issues (and related diagnostics and procedures), divorce, and loss/grief/bereavement. She also contracts with a hospice facility, providing in-home support to children and teens in palliative hospice care, along with their siblings. She also provides services to the grandchildren of adult patients.
Colleen has served on the ACLP's Community Based/Non-Traditional Role Private Practice Subcommittee. Members of this group contributed to the 2019 Beryl Institute’s White Paper on Child Life, which includes recommendations for community child life positions, including private practice.
Kayleigh Chang, Certified Child Life Specialist II, Emergency Department, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford (Class of 2015)
Kayleigh's presentation was titled "'Why Can't I Go Home with Mom?': Child Life's Role in Supporting Children of Abuse."
Currently working as a child life specialist in the Emergency Department at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University, Kayleigh is a member of the Lucile Packard SCAN (Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect) Team, where she advocates for children of abuse. Kayleigh balances her clinical work by teaching an online grief and loss course to child life students at UC Santa Barbara Extension.
Kayleigh serves on the Certification Commission for ACLP, working on content for future child life certification exams. She was also a participant in the ACLP Child Life Job Analysis in 2018.