Carry Buterbaugh presents at the annual meeting of Project LAUNCH

Carry Buterbaugh, Ph.D., researcher at the UNE鈥檚 Center for Community and Public Health, presented preliminary findings of Maine鈥檚 Project LAUNCH (Linking Action for Unmet Needs in Children鈥檚 Health) - Special Studies at the annual LAUNCH meeting in Washington D.C. in late April.

Maine is one of five sites funded to conduct Special Studies to measure the local impact of Project LAUNCH, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Asministration (DHHS SAMHSA). Project LAUNCH is a 5-year project housed at the Community Caring Collaborative (CCC) in Washington County, Maine, and is designed to improve the health of at-risk infants, children and families.

Buterbaugh鈥檚 presentation highlighted the project鈥檚 impact on maternal and child health, healthcare utilization and costs, and the comparison of integrated models of care for expecting mothers on drug replacement therapy.

Other presenters included: Dr. David Willis, Director of the Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Services, Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) who emphasized the importance of maternal and early childhood services on early brain and child development; and, Marjorie Withers (Local Project LAUNCH director, Maine) who highlighted the Bridging program , a locally developed program to better serve at-risk pregnant mothers and infants.  The innovative Bridging model, and potentially a best-practices model, emphasized Maine鈥檚 leadership in early childhood intervention programs and its commitment to strengthen child development through collaborations.

UNE鈥檚 Ruthanne Spence, Ph.D. (lead-evaluator), and Buterbaugh have been conducting on-going evaluation research for Project LAUNCH in Washington County for nearly 5 years.

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The University of 51小黄车 is Maine鈥檚 largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state鈥檚 top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine鈥檚 only medical college, Maine鈥檚 only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.