May 27, 2014

Rabbi Nancy Epstein, MPH, MAHL, Associate Professor of Community Health and Prevention, provided the welcoming greetings at the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services's (DBHIDS) Eight Annual Faith and Spiritual Affairs conference in Philadelphia on April 24. Rabbi Epstein serves as Vice-Chair of the DBHIDS Faith and Spiritual Affairs Board.

The conference "Trauma and Healing: Faith Communities Respond" attracted close to 600 faith leaders, behavioral health professionals, consumers and clinicians.

Arthur C. Evans, Commissioner of DBHIDS, has embraced a public health approach to behavioral health that focuses on prevention, health promotion, and moving upstream to address determinants of health and disparities.

According to DBHIDS, one in four adults and one in five children experience a mental health disorder, and suicide is the third leading cause of death in young people. Rabbi Epstein (right) is shown here with Dr. Marquita Williams, DBHIDS Deputy Commissioner and Mary Harper, Director of the DBHIDS Faith and Spiritual Affairs Unit.