Page 18 - Abacoa Community News - Decembe '23

Page 18, Abacoa
Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine Appointed

As Medical Director Of Center For Child Counseling

Center for Child providing trauma-informed care. Yet, experts believe that tools for other primary care doctors to evaluate, manage,
Counseling announces the the complete assessment of child and adolescent behavioral, and treat common mental health disorders in children and
appointment of Shannon developmental, emotional, and physical health requires adolescents. She is on a school-based committee to address
Fox-Levine, M.D., as medical consideration of trauma as part of the differential diagnosis the increase in Baker Acts during the pandemic. She also has
director. Dr. Fox-Levine joins to improve diagnostic accuracy and appropriateness of care.” an interest in the business of medicine and enjoys managing
the Palm Beach County-based As medical director, Fox-Levine’s scope of services will the practice. She has been an advocate for pediatricians to
nonprofit at a critical time as include: developing a collaborative model of care between improve payment for services in Florida as the past chair of the
our nation’s youth face a primary pediatrics and mental health in the community; Florida Pediatric Council, most notably negotiating a grant
mental health crisis and there developing and presenting trainings and workshops on from a major health plan to subsidize consultation hours for
is a shortage of professionals psychopharmacology, pediatric medical conditions, adverse patient centered medical home recognition for independently
who can support their overall childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma, and other topics owned pediatric practices. She currently serves on the AAP
well-being. to enhance professional knowledge; mental health diagnoses Payer Advocacy and Advisory Committee to improve payment
The current snapshot of Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine consultation and follow-up care coordination; and providing to pediatricians to decrease the financial barrier to access to
Palm Beach County’s youth oversight of medical students to develop a formal internship high quality care for all children. She was the president of
mental health is alarming. In 2021, 41.5 percent of Palm Beach experience within the center. the Palm Beach Pediatric Society for ten years, organizing
County high school students reported that they felt hopeless, and Layman and Fox-Levine agree there is no lack of continuing medical education for peers in the community. One
20.7 percent of total high school students seriously contemplated resources available to children and families in Palm Beach of her proudest achievements is advocating for child safety by
suicide (PBC Youth Behavioral Health Survey). Today, one in County; the lack of communication about the resources is being one of six named pediatricians in the “Docs vs. Glocks”
four children suffer a mental health or behavioral concern. where the barrier exists. lawsuit against the State of Florida which found in the doctors’
In 2022, the entire state of Florida had a total of 493 “When conversations happen in the community, favor in Federal Appellate Court. With COVID-19, she was an
child and adolescent psychiatrists with 43 practicing in Palm pediatricians are often overlooked when they are the ones active participant in the state chapter and local school board
Beach County – one psychiatrist per 6,553 children under who have been seeing kids and their families since the day discussions about returning children to school safely. She has
the age of 18 in the county (American Academy of Child they were born. There’s a gap between what pediatricians been married for 22 years with two sons, 21 and 18. In her
and Adolescent Psychiatry). do and what community organizations and schools do. So, spare time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and exercising.
According to Renée Layman, CEO of the center, “We we are thrilled to have Fox-Levine to help further our work About Center For Child Counseling
are thrilled to enhance our collaboration with Fox-Levine within our community by advocating for the continuity The Center for Child Counseling has been building the
and further tackle system issues, advocate for children, and of care. She will be the voice on behalf of pediatricians foundation for playful, healthful, and hopeful living for
create action to improve the mental health and access to and connect pediatric offices to the community resources children and families in Palm Beach County since 1999.
quality care for the children in our community.” available to their patients and families,” said Layman. Its services focus on preventing and healing the effects of
The creation of the medical director position is a About Shannon Fox-Levine, M.D. adverse experiences and toxic stress on children, promoting
continuation of the partnership the center has been building with Dr. Fox-Levine is a pediatrician and the sole owner of resiliency and healthy family, school, and community
Fox-Levine and her pediatric office, Palm Beach Pediatrics, for Palm Beach Pediatrics, where she has worked for 20 years. relationships. www.centerforchildcounseling.org, Twitter: @
more than a decade. In addition to Center for Child Counseling She completed medical school at University of Maryland at ChildCounselPBC, Facebook: @CenterforChildCounseling,
integrating its services within Palm Beach Pediatrics to deliver Baltimore and trained in pediatrics at Bellevue/NYU Hospital. Instagram: @childcounselpbc.
an array of prevention, early intervention, and mental health Her goal as a pediatrician is to give the best comprehensive Interviews Available With
services within the primary care setting, Fox-Levine will now medical care to children while also being an advocate for • Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine, Newly appointed medical director
expand early intervention and prevention methods within the them in the community. Integrating mental health care for of Center for Child Counseling; president and pediatrician at
community and advocate for change within the systems. children into primary care is her special interest. She has Palm Beach Pediatrics
“One of my long-term goals has been to bridge the gap in worked with Center for Child Counseling for ten years • Renée Layman, president and chief executive officer of
the continuity of care of children with mental health issues promoting trauma-informed care and developed educational Center for Child Counseling
between therapists and the county’s pediatricians. With this
new role, I am excited to turn this dream into a reality and
improve the mental health care for all children in Palm Beach
County,” stated Fox-Levine.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics,
“Pediatric clinicians are on the front lines of caring for
children and adolescents and, thus, have the greatest potential
for early identification of and response to childhood trauma.
Data indicate that, although pediatric providers intuitively
understand the negative effects of trauma, they report a
lack of knowledge, time, and resources as major barriers to

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