B'more for Healthy Babies Director Addresses Health Inequities

“You’ve given people a good understanding. Professor Stevens of why you and your team are so appreciated and recognized as heroes, including by the Mayor, both recently for the work you’ve done—not just for how you conceptualize the problem—but for the commitment that you and your team have shown…working with so many people in West Baltimore to see these kinds of outcomes.

You’ve also indicated how the social determinants of health aren’t an afterthought: they’re integral to how you’ve been able to be successful.”

— Joshua M. Sharfstein, to Stacey Stephens after her presentation

On July 20, 2021, Stacey B. Stephens, Director of B’more for Health Babies, Promise Heights was the first presenter in the #LiveAtUrban Urban Institute Webinar, “Addressing Health Inequities in Promise Neighborhoods.”

This Urban Institute panel discussion featuring health equity implications of the Promise Neighborhoods initiative was rescheduled from earlier this year due to the pandemic. Click here to see this webinar

Stacey B. Stephens opened the panelist’s presentations on July 20, 2021

The program’s speakers examined how social determinants of health interact in our communities and—specifically—how education affects, impacts, and drives health outcomes.

The discussion was moderated by Joshua M. Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement, Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, and Professor of the Practice in Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University.

About the panelists:

·   Stacey B. Stephens, MSW, LCSW-C

Director, B’more for Health Babies, Promise Heights UMB School of Social Work

·   Amy Carroll-Scott, PhD, MPH

Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Prevention, and Colead of the Policy and Community Engagement Core, Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health

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Stacey B. Stephens is the Director of the B’more for Healthy Babies Upton/Druid Heights Program at the University of Maryland School of Social Work’s Promise Heights Initiative. With meaningful partnerships with residents and community partners, she has led the team that accomplished a 75% reduction in the infant mortality rate over the past decade.

This has resulted in the elimination of the disparity between Black and White infant deaths in this community. Stephens brings over 26 years of experience in assisting underserved women and children gain access to medical and mental health services throughout Baltimore and the DC-Metropolitan area. She is a Clinical Instructor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, and an Adjunct Professor at Morgan State University School of Social Work where she teaches and inspires future healthcare professionals.

Stephens was a governor-appointed member of the Maryland taskforce to study perinatal mental health, and is also a Certified Diversity Practitioner that enables her to help individuals, groups, organizations, and communities effectively manage cultural differences, influence system change, and create equity in the healthcare and educational sectors.

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This Webinar recording is relevant to Full-Service Community School representatives, to Promise Neighborhoods grantees, and to anyone planning to identify viable methods to improve overall community health and wellness.

Click here to see this webinar

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