Committees & Working Groups

Liaison: Barbara Romito, MA, CCLS

Mission and Goals: The role of the ACLP Liaison to the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Health Care is to:

• Represent ACLP in all proceedings of the Committee, including facilitating the ongoing review, update, and publication of the “Child Life Services” AAP policy statement
• Solicit, organize, summarize, and submit comments from ACLP leadership on other AAP policy statements that address child life services or other hospital services of direct relevance to child life

Chair: Melissa Racioppa, CCLS
Chair-Elect:
Board Liaison: Cara Sisk, CCLS
Staff Liaison: Emily Eagon, Manager of Program Standards

Committee Charge: 

The charge of the Academic Review Committee (ARC) is to utilize the program standards and recommendations to manage undergraduate and graduate program endorsement. Responsibilities include:

• In partnership with ACLP staff, select and orient academic endorsement reviewers
• Ensure completion of review assignments in an accurate and timely manner
• Determine policies and procedures and manage processes regarding endorsement eligibility, application review and approvals, maintenance, renewals, and appeals
• Document endorsement policies, procedures, and decisions

Furthermore, the committee is responsible for enforcing the standards outlined by endorsement for the protection of both students and the credibility of the child life profession. We also work to promote endorsement visibility.

Chair: Leslie Grissim, CCLS
Chair-Elect: DeAnna Bay, CCLS
Historians: Jerriann Wilson, CCLS, Lois Pearson, CCLS, Civita Brown, CCLS, & Claire White, CCLS
Board Liaison: Cara Sisk, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Baily Kasten, COO

Mission and Goals: To collect, maintain and promote the history of the organization and the child life profession.The tasks of the Archives Committee is to:

• Archives Management- collect, assess and catalog documents, photos and footage related to the history of the organization and the profession.
  • Collect and organize academic and clinical child life program histories, including historical documents, video clips and materials
  • Maintain an accurate listing of archived materials for easy member access
• Write blogs, Bulletin articles, develop Conference posters and social media messages to share valuable historical information and promote the use of archived materials in collaboration with Association of Child Life Professionals’ Office
• Support/develop special projects which highlight the history of the organization and the child life profession for Anniversary celebrations or as requested by the Board of Directors.
• Work with the Past-Presidents’ and historians’ Advisory Group as needed

Chair: Sarah J. Patterson, MSc, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Janis Smith, BS, CCLS
Board Liaison: Tracy-Lynn Akitt, BS, CCLS
ACLP Staff Advisor:  Mary Bean, Executive Assistant

Mission and Goals:  The mission of the Awards Committee is to:

• Present the ACLP Board of Directors with the recommended winner for the Distinguished Service Award and the Mary Barkey Clinical Excellence Award.
• Select recipients of the ACLP’s International Conference Scholarship.
• Select recipients of the Diversity Scholarship for internships three times a year.
• Select recipients of the Student and Professional Research Awards.

The Committee’s process includes the following tasks:

• Review and score applications/nominations for each of the above listed awards.
• Present the ACLP Board of Directors with the recommended Distinguished Service Award and Mary Barkey Clinical Excellence Award winners for approval.
• Select International Scholarship recipients.
• Maintain policies and procedures related to the awards process.
• Following the Board’s approval of recipient(s) for the Distinguished Service Award and Mary Barkey Clinical Excellence Award, work with the staff liaison to prepare a presentation of awards during the Annual Child Life Conference.

Executive Editor:  Kathryn Cantrell, PhD, CCLS
Associate Editor: Kathleen McCue, LSW, CCLS
Managing Editor: Keri O'Keefe, ACLP's Manager of Digital Education
Board Liaison: Lois Wolgemuth, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Bailey Kasten, COO

Mission and Goals: 

The mission of the Bulletin Committee is to produce the ACLP Bulletin and to develop the publication to become a valuable professional resource focusing on issues of interest to clinicians, administrators, educators, and students in the child life field.

The group fulfills this mission in several ways:

• produces quarterly issues of ACLP Bulletin in conjunction with ACLP staff
• solicits and develops ideas for ACLP Bulletin and features that discuss issues of interest to the child life community, with an emphasis on increasing the scholarship, innovation, and visibility of child life work
• acquires, reviews, and strengthens meaningful content for the publication
• partners with relevant ACLP committees and task forces to disseminate information about strategic planning and ongoing initiatives
• documents milestones and achievements within the child life community

Bulletin Subcommittees

Bulletin (Editors Only)

 

Senior Chair and Board Liaison: Sherwood Burns-Nader, PhD, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Leslie Daniels, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Mission and Goals: The mission of the Certification Commission is to:

• Maintain a quality certification program for the child life profession.
• Work with ACLP staff and testing agency to oversee the certification process
• Review and update policies
• Develop and revise certification examination through job analysis studies and the management of item development and exam assembly work groups

COMMITTEES:
Appeals Committee
Chair: Amanda Honeyman, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Toni Crowell-Petrungaro
ACLP Staff Liaison: Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Ethics Committee
Chairs: Lucy Raab, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Geri Sehnert, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Exam Assembly Committee
Chair: Rebecka Dolyniuk, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Caitlin Vazquez, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Item Writing Committee
Chair: Melissa Schotthofer, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Megan Fisher, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Item Review Committee
Chair: Caitlin Leary, CCLS, CEIM/CIMI, CPST
Chair-Elect: Amber Hill, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Recertification Audit Committee
Chair: Regina Gohr, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Morgan Ford, MS, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Communications Committee
Chair: Tracey Craddock, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Monica Gibson, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Ame Enright, Director of Certification

Chair: Jessica Laperle
Chair-Elect: Jessie Hagerman
Board Liaison: Lindsay Heering
Staff Liaison: Ame Enright

Task Force Charge: This task force is charged with investigating and defining recommended criteria and guidelines for the development of a child life clinical ladder model.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and recommend a position statement on the creation of a clinical ladder.
• Recommend child life clinical ladder criteria and guidelines to support the development and implementation of a clinical ladder including examples/samples of established programs who have implemented a clinical ladder, how it can be used across program types and sizes, and identification of variables that impact the development, implementation, and sustainability of a clinical ladder.
• Align recommendations and criteria with current and relevant ACLP standards, competencies, guidelines, certification requirements and other key resources.

Chair: Lisa Ciarrocca, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Allison Moore, CCLS
Board Liaison:  Shawna Grissom, CCLS, CEIM
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Barb James, Manager of Membership & Operations

Mission and Goals: The role of the Community Based/Non-Traditional Role Committee is to:

• Provide oversight, guidance, and support to a variety of child life practices and services that exist outside of the traditional inpatient/outpatient hospital setting.
• Explore ways to engage the various practices, and identify issues relevant to their work
• Work in partnership with the ACLP to identify and recommend any actions or initiatives that the ACLP can address to support the needs of the community based practitioners.

• Explore opportunities for standards and supervision for practitioners.

SUBCOMMITTEES:
Community Agency/Office Subcommittee
Chair: Emily Synnott, BASc, CLSt. Dipl, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Allison Moore, CCLS
Board Liaison:  Kim Stephens, MPA, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Jennifer Lipsey, CEO
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Barb James, Manager of Membership & Operations

Hospital Based Non-Traditional Role Subcommittee
Chair:  Denise Matsuyama Lai, CCLS, CIMI
Chair- Elect: Emily Beauchemin, CCLS
Board Liaison:  Kim Stephens, MPA, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Jennifer Lipsey, CEO
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Barb James, Manager of Membership & Operations

Private Practice Subcommittee
Chair:  Shannon Thornton, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Crystal Wilkins, M.Ed., LPC, RPT, CCLS
Board Liaison:  Kim Stephens, MPA, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Jennifer Lipsey, CEO
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Barb James, Manager of Membership & Operations

Program Guidelines and Standards Subcommittee
Chair:  Meredith Ross Cooper, LPC, CCLS
Board Liaison:  Kim Stephens, MPA, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Jennifer Lipsey, CEO
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Barb James, Manager of Membership & Operations

Chair: Divna Wheelwright, MS, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Rechelle Porter, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jenaya Gordon
Staff Liaison: Jennifer Lipsey, CEO

Task Force Charge: This task force will expand the dialogue about and elevate awareness of the importance of inclusion, equity, and diversity within ACLP and the field of child life. This task force will be charged with investigating and making recommendations for the development of a diversity and inclusion position statement.

Responsibilities:

• Explore and recommend: a position statement for ACLP on diversity, equity, and inclusion and definitions of key terms including cultural humility
• Make recommendations of initial actions ACLP can take to meaningfully engage members in conversation and action around diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Review the ACLP diversity scholarship information and make recommendations for criteria to support racial, ethnic and cultural diversity.
• Identify resources for education and training to promote working with diverse racial, ethnic and cultural groups for both child life professionals and for students entering into child life. 

 

Chair: Sarah Wiebler, MS, CCLS
Chair-Elect: 
Board Liaison: Cara Sisk, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Emily Eagon, Manager of Program Standards

Mission and Goals:

• Provide linkages between academic and clinical programs
• evaluate challenges in the process of becoming a child life specialist
• provide support to emerging professionals through identification of resources that may be helpful

Chair: Shawna Grissom, CCLS, CEIM
ACLP Staff Liaison: Jennifer Lipsey, CEO

Mission and Goals: The mission of the Finance Committee is to: 

• Monitor the financial health of the ACLP
• Ensure that ACLP assets are protected and resources are used properly
• Ensure that ACLP complies with all applicable laws and reporting requirements

Co-Chairs: Rebecca Myers, CCLS
Co-Chair: Janet Cross, CCLS, CPXP
Board Liaison: Quinn Franklin, MS, CCLS, CTRS
Staff Liaison: Jennifer Lipsey, CEO

Governance Committee Charge:

The Governance Committee will conduct an ongoing review of the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) governing documents and related governing processes. This committee will make necessary updates to these documents and processes as indicated to help ensure compliance with legal requirements and association business standards; as well as keeping current the professional and ethical standards related to Child Life Practitioner competency and scope of practice.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement a process for maintenance and updating of the bylaws with support and input from ACLP executive leadership and other experts as needed.
• Ensure the Bylaws and Policies & Procedures Manual comply with Maryland state corporate law, the Articles of Incorporation, and any applicable federal laws or statutes.
• Maintenance of the Official Documents-Review existing documents, make recommendations for updates/edits and implement process for continuing revision.
• Oversight of ACLP’s Policy and Procedure Manual to include identification and development of new policies per protocol, and review and editing of existing policies either per schedule, or per ACLP Board of Directors request.   
• Review and provide recommendations of other key governance documents as identified by ACLP executive leadership and board of directors.
• Establish and maintain a process whereby all related governing documents will be reviewed and updated on a regular and consistent cycle. These documents will primarily consist of, but are not limited to, the Association Bylaws, Policy and Procedure Manual, and The Official Documents (i.e. Child Life Competencies, Standards of Practice, Position Statements).

Chair: Krista Stringer, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Alisha Saavedra, CCLS
Board Liaison: Teresa Schoell, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Emily Eagon, Manager of Program Standards

• Manage ACLP internship accreditation process in collaboration with ACLP office
• Oversee Internship Accreditation Reviewers

IAOC Reviewers - Review internship accreditation applications

Executive Editor: Kathryn Cantrell, PhD, CCLS
Associate Editor: Kathleen McCue, MA, LSW, CCLS
Associate Editor: Alison Chrisler, PhD, CCLS
Managing Editor: Keri O'Keefe, ACLP's Manager of Digital Education
Board Liaison: Jill Koss, CCLS
Staff Liaison: Bailey Kasten, COO

The mission of the Journal Committee of the Association of Child Life Professionals is to produce The Journal of Child Life: Psychosocial Theory and Practice (JCL) and to develop the publication to become a valuable, peer-reviewed professional resource focusing on issues of interest to clinicians, administrators, educators and students in the child life field and others invested in the psychosocial care of children and families.

The group fulfills this mission in several ways:

• produces bi-annual issues of JCL with the end goal of producing issues on a quarterly basis to align with typical, scholarly journal frequency

• solicits and develops ideas for JCL content and features that discuss issues of interest to the child life community and others invested in the psychosocial care of children and families, with an emphasis on increasing the visibility of research and scholarship

• maintains integrity and accountability to authors, readers, and stakeholders in the process of blind peer review
• applies best practices in acquiring, reviewing, and strengthening manuscripts and materials for the publication

Journal Subcommittees:

Journal (Editors only)

Chair and Board Liaison: Jessica Correnti, MS, CCLS, CEIM
Chair-Elect: Rebecca Meyers, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jill Koss, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Jennifer Lipsey, CEO

Mission and Goals: The mission of the Nominating Committee is to:

• Facilitate the succession of ACLP Leadership.
• Provide a slate of qualified candidates for Board of Directors positions
• Administer the election process with ACLP staff
• Recommend members for committees and other leadership positions 

Chair: Eugene Johnson, MS, MA, RN, CCLS
Chair Elect: Sarah Patterson, CCLS
Board Liaison: Janet Cross, Med, CCLS, CPXP
ACLP Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff, MA, CCLS

Mission and Goals:

The Partnership Development Committee operates in collaboration with ACLP leadership serving as an additional layer in reviewing and vetting prospective partnerships.  The committee is charged with definition and policy development as well as investigating opportunities for potential partnerships with other non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, and federal, state, and local government agencies. 

Board Liaison: Kim Stephens, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Jennifer Lipsey, CEO

Mission and Goals: The mission of the Past Presidents Advisory Group is to serve as a resource to the association, as requested by the current President.

Chair: Anna Ahrens, MA, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Stacey Koenig, CCLS
Board Liaison: Lindsay Heering, MS, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison:  Meagan Roloff, MA, CCLS, Director of Partnerships

Mission and Goals: The role of this task force is to: 

• Formulate strategies to engage the Association of Child Life Professionals in the Patient and Family Experience work

• Propose and recommend partnership opportunities, identify possible pilot projects that will allow us to explore the impact of Child Life Specialists on the Patient Experience, evaluate ways to support the work of Child Life Specialists in relationship to the Patient and Family Experience, and recommend ways to increase our involvement and recognition in this work. 

Co-Chair: Nicole Gandolfo, MA, CCLS
Board Liaison: Cara Sisk, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Emily Eagon, Manager of Program Standards

Chair: Catherine Leung, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Brittany Blake, CCLS
Board Liaison:
ACLP Staff Liaison: Ramona Spencer, Director of Professional Development

Mission and Goals:  The role of the Professional Development Committee is:

Responsible for overseeing initiatives that relate to the promotion of ongoing development for child life professionals and/or programs that support child life work.

Conference Program Subcommittee: Develop conference program content

Chair: Amanda Ammons, MS, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Jamie Bruce, DrPH, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jenaya Gordon, CCLS, NCC
ACLP Staff Liaisons: Ramona Spencer, Director of Professional Development and Mary Bean, Executive Assistant

Conference Abstract Reviews Subcommittee
Chair: Amanda Ammons, MS, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Jamie Bruce, DrPH, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jenaya Gordon, CCLS, NCC
ACLP Staff Liaison: Ramona Spencer, Director of Professional Development

Mission and Goals:  The mission of the Conference Program Committee is to:

• Select presentations for the conference program and assist the ACLP staff in planning, organizing and conducting the ACLP annual conference.
• Develop conference program content and recommend major speakers for board approval
• Assist with on-site logistics
• Assist in securing exhibitors and sponsorships
• Review evaluation results for each conference and suggest improvements for future programs

Professional Resources Subcommittee: 

Chair: Danielle Coleman, CCLS
Chair-Elect:  Paula Hampel, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jenaya Gordon, CCLS, NCC
ACLP Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff, MA, Director of Partnerships

Mission and Goals: The mission of the Professional Resources Sub-Committee is to:

• Ensure that ACLP is the undisputed resource for the child life profession
• Gather, evaluate, and create high-quality resources for use by members of the ACLP community
• Recommend publications, guidelines, position papers, or documents
• Review and evaluate external child life related publications/resources

Leadership Mentor Program Subcommittee

Chair: Nicole Tanghe, MA, CCLS
Chair Elect: Jessica Liles, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jenaya Gordon, CCLS, NCC
ACLP Staff Liaison: Ramona Spencer, Director of Professional Development

• Finalize the details and make updates as needed to conduct an annual, formal mentorship program, allowing for mentors to be identified and partnered with mentees
• Develop and/or revise any necessary application documents and general operational documents that will accompany this process
• In partnership with the Conference Program Committee, develop a formal program that can be used during the annual conference for 1st time attendees

Chair: Quinn Franklin, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Annette Bonjour, MS, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jen Sciolla, CCLS, CTRS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff, Director of Standards

Mission and Goals:  The mission of this committee is:  Support ACLP’s strategic plan by promoting, encouraging, and educating the membership regarding all aspects of research, EBP, and scholarly publication and presentation.

SUBCOMMITTEES:
Advisory Subcommittee
Board Liaison: Jen Sciolla
Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff

Benchmarking/Research Datacenter Subcommittee: To develop and oversee a benchmarking and research datacenter; and provide data to support staff ratios on revised a AAP Statement

Chair: Rene Assetta Guilbeau, CCLS, CPST, CIMI
Chair-Elect: Alyssa Luksa, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jen Sciolla, CCLS, CTRS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff, Director of Standards

EBP/QI/Awareness and Networking Subcommittee:  To make the membership of the ACLP and larger ACLP profession aware of research, EBP, QI process and maintain a platform that supports networking of child life professionals interested in research/EBP/QI
Chairs: Brittany Wittenberg, PhD, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Dorothy Barnhart, MS, CCLS
Board Liaison: Jen Sciolla, CCLS, CTRS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff, Director of Standards

Education and Mentorship Subcommittee
Chair: Jared Woodhouse
Chair-Elect: Sarah Wiebler, MS, CCLS
Board Liaison: Cara Sisk, CCLS
Staff Liaison: Emily Eagon, Manager of Program Standards

Proposal Subcommittee: To create research, EBP, QI topics/contents that could be incorporated into proposals for the CLC, along with developing a sustainability plan for revisiting and updating related documents or work therein
Chair: Amy Claridge, PhD, LMFT
Chair-Elect: Hannah Knott, CCLS, CTP
Board Liaison: Jen Sciolla, CCLS, CTRS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff, Director of Standards

Chair: Elana Brewer, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Jennifer Staab, CCLS
Board Liaison: Rene Assetta Builbeau, CCLS, CPST, CIMI
Staff Liaison: Meagan Roloff, Director of Member Engagement and Partnerships

Task Force Charge: This task force is charged with researching and developing guidelines which outline a staffing analytics model that can be used to inform number of child life FTEs required to meet the emotional acuity needs of identified patients.  This metric should have the potential for utilization across varying patient care areas and integrates child life practice standards and financial perspectives so to inform staffing and budgetary levels.

Responsibilities:

• Develop a timeline by which the task force will produce deliverables.
• Create value statement on the utilization of the CPFI (Capacity for Patient/Family Impact) thru participation in the Child life Professional Data Center (CLPDC) to establish a Child Life staff metric.
• Explore and make recommendations on the utilization of an emotional acuity tool to be used in the analytics metric.  Specifically identifying one singular tool vs. any tool which assesses emotional acuity.
• Research potential use of the EMR for data collection.\
• Include multi-disciplinary perspective, utilizing expertise from Finance, Quality, and Administration.
• Conduct a pilot to test the validity of the analytics formula in establishing a required budgeted FTE count.
• Include additional non-task force related institutions in the pilot who are already consistently engaging in data input in the CLPDC.  Create an education module related to pilot participation.
• Create deliverable of the analytics tool in the form of a guideline that includes definitions, scripting, and case examples of utilization.

Chair: t/k
Chair-Elect: t/k
Board Liaison: t/k
Staff Liaison: t/k

Task Force Charge: This task force is charged with creating a document/deliverable(s) identifying the impact of sibling focused programming, including research on the needs of sibling support services and the role of child life professionals in this work. 

Responsibilities:

• Develop Child Life Working with Siblings white paper identifying the unique needs of siblings, and the unique value (KSAs) of child life professionals in implementing sibling-focused programming.
• Review existing research and literature to develop standards for best practice in working with siblings.
• Identify current programming trends within the child life profession to support evidence-based practices
• Align recommendations and criteria with current and relevant ACLP standards, competencies, guidelines, certification requirements and other key resources.
• Develop a position statement based on the earlier written white paper.

Chair and Board Liaison: Linsey Hammon, MS, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Tommi McHugh, CCLS
Board Liaison: Lois Wolgemuth, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Emily Eagon

Mission and Goals: 

The Student Education Task Force will support the design and development of student- specific professional development with a focus on people who are interested in pursuing child life. The task force will support the development of a student programming schedule that will include regular programming designed to provide students with the information they need to become a certified child life specialist. 

Responsibilities:

• Identify key programmatic content, session overview, session objectives and facilitators for developing student professional development in collaboration with ACLP staff.
• Support the development of a student programming schedule. This programming schedule will include identifying a sequence of student professional development programming (including webinars, intensives or workshops).
• After developing a finalized student programming schedule, the task force will work to create a plan that identifies key next steps and maps out what needs to happen to support the implementation of the schedule. This plan will serve as the guide for ACLP staff to execute the vision laid out by the task force for the student programming schedule. 

Chair: Jennifer Smith, MS, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Rachel Delevett, CCLS
Board Liaison: Teresa Schoell, MA, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaison: Ramona Spencer, Director of Professional Development

Mission and Goals:

• Develop and support an event during the annual conference to orient and engage new attendees.
  
• Support and provide evaluation for the process by which ACLP members are identified and recruited for participation on committees, task forces, and other projects.
  
• Develop, maintain and promote a variety of initiatives that will recognize volunteers for their service.
  
• Support the development and delivery of a leadership recognition event as part of the annual conference
  
• Research and recommend innovative, evidence-based approaches for volunteer engagement to promote quality member experience across the organization.
  
• Identify, support and help create pathways for volunteer engagement to encourage ongoing development within the association.
  
• Survey volunteers for successes, challenges and next opportunities with ACLP after volunteer opportunity is over.
  

Chair: Millicent Ognaco, MS, CCLS
Chair-Elect: Holley Lorber, CCLS
Board Liaison: Teresa Schoell, CCLS
ACLP Staff Liaisons: Leah Bryce, Coordinator of Digital Marketing and Communications

Mission and Goals: Provide content for social media outlets