Dear SDBP Friends and Colleagues,

Since my last message, the SDBP Board of Directors, Committee/Section/Special Interest Group leaders and members, and many members of our Society, have been hard at work—providing exciting new SDBP offerings such as “SDBP Grand Rounds”, continuing to identify and prioritize our strategic initiatives to maximize the impact and value of our Society to its members, and carrying forward the work of the organization in all aspects of its mission.

However, in recent weeks, we have all been challenged by an almost dizzying array of initiatives emanating from our government that have caused deep concerns about the patient care we offer, the trainees we teach and mentor, and the research that advances our field.  I will provide you with an update on our ongoing work, but first, I want to let you know about the ways in which the Board and Society are responding to this challenging new environment.  We are guided by several facts:

1. We obtained and have reviewed a detailed evaluation of our organization that was completed by the Institute for Exceptional Care—focusing on how SDBP can best leverage its existing resources to advance our mission, while considering ways to expand our influence in the coming months and years.
2. We are committed to responding to issues in a way that has the potential to contribute to the best possible outcomes for children, families and our interdisciplinary membership.  At times, it may feel like we should issue immediate, public statements about every new challenge that emerges. Unfortunately, at this time the Society does not have the professional resources to ensure that our messages are heard by people who are making these decisions. 
3. The pace of challenges makes it difficult to respond quickly as each new problem arises.

So, what have we been doing?  First, please know that we have been listening to our members individually, by email and phone calls, and through the thoughtful posts on our Discussion Board.  As Congressional hearings began to consider nominees with philosophies about heath and healthcare that often diverge from established science, SDBP reached out to our colleagues in other organizations, including the AAP, and our contacts in Congress—established through our recent advocacy on behalf of the HEADSUp Act.  We provided important information, literature reviews and background to Congressional staff.  While these efforts were “behind the scenes”, they reflect our commitment to leverage our expertise in ways that are most impactful.

As the pace of challenges has quickened, we have developed a new, sustainable approach that will allow us to make our voice heard in a timely and—we hope—maximally impactful manner. This approach will involve the development of rapid response “fact sheets” to facilitate communication by the organization and by individual members, through channels that are most likely to amplify our voices.   We will be finalizing our plans in the coming week and will then engage our members through an SDBP Connects and direct communications to implement this new approach.  We are committed to a sustainable effort that reflects SDBP’s mission, recognizing that challenges are likely to continue in the coming months.

Meanwhile, we are nearing the completion of our Strategic Planning prioritization process, in which we solicited ideas directly from our members, through the Committees, Sections and SIGS.  This effort has helped to ensure that the voices of our members are heard as we operationalize our strategic plan to benefit our members and the children and families we serve.  We will be communicating the results in multiple ways, including an SDBP Connects.

Finally, a brief comment about the direction and potential of our organization. We plan to use the new Strategic Plan, informed by your aspirations for the Society and our field, to pursue several major new projects and programs. 

You will be hearing from me after our Spring Boad meeting with specific, detailed updates and plans on all of the items noted above.

Meanwhile, thank you for all that you are doing to support children and families, and each other.

Regards,

Bill