Redding is among 57 chosen to participate from across the country

Jennifer Redding, LCSW-C, executive director of behavioral health at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health (UM UCH), has been selected to be part of the National Council for Behavioral Health's 2021 Behavioral Health Training Institute.

Redding will be part of the institute's sixth cohort for health officers. The program is a six-month professional development initiative designed to enhance behavioral health efforts in counties across the country. She will be one of 57 state, tribal and local health officials participating in program. Andrea Pappas, LCPC, behavioral health bureau director for Harford County's Health Department, will also be part of the cohort.

The program takes place from January through July and includes an introductory webinar, a training institute and the National Council for Behavioral Health's annual conference. In addition, participants will also have access to ongoing trainings and resources and the opportunity to network with state legislators and behavioral health leaders across the country.

Redding applied to the institute to strengthen the hospital-health department partnership around behavioral health and substance use disorders, with the goal of solidifying credibility in the community as a leader in behavioral health service delivery.

"Jennifer Redding being selected to be part of the 2021 Behavioral Health Training Institute is a great testament to the work she has done and will continue to do in behavioral health," said Lyle E. Sheldon, FACHE, president/CEO of UM UCH. "Behavioral health is an important part of our mission, and having Jennifer as one of 57 folks from across the country participating in this prestigious institute will strengthen the work we do each and every day."

About University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health

University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health includes the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and the Patricia D. and M. Scot Kaufman Cancer Center on its Bel Air campus. Most recently, it opened The Klein Family Harford Crisis Center in Bel Air offering services for behavioral health. The Senator Bob Hooper House in Forest Hill is an assisted living facility that specializes in hospice. The University of Maryland Harford Memorial Hospital has been operating in the community for over a century and is located in Havre de Grace. The leading health care system and largest private employer in Harford County, UM Upper Chesapeake Health offers a broad range of health care services, specialty care, technology and facilities to the residents of northeastern Maryland. Visit www.umuch.org for more information.