The Early Childhood Alliance Onondaga
About
The Onondaga County Proof Point Community (PPC) is anchored by a long-standing partnership between the Early Childhood Alliance (ECA) and State University of New York Upstate Pediatric & Adolescent Center (SUNY Upstate), serving children and families across Onondaga County. Through this collaboration, the PPC focused on strengthening connections between pediatric care and community systems and recognizing that families’ needs extend well beyond the clinic setting. Their work has been shaped by a shared commitment to listening, learning, and adapting in response to what families and providers experience.
This team is proud of the strong relationships formed and the lasting system changes achieved, including pediatric residency advocacy rotations, integrated maternal mental health services, and parent-designed engagement spaces. The power of authentic partnership, the growth of parent leaders, and strengthened cross-sector collaboration emerged as this PPC’s most meaningful and lasting impacts.
View Onondaga County’s explainer video to learn more.
Innovations
The Onondaga County PPC supports pediatric care through community partnerships, maternal mental health support, and family voice.
Pediatric Residency Advocacy Rotation
This innovation introduces first-year residents to community-based advocacy through partnership with the ECA and Help Me Grow (HMG). Residents learn about the social and structural factors affecting children’s health and development in Onondaga County, and the rotation provides firsthand exposure to community organizations, parents, and advocates. By experiencing “the other side of the referral,” residents build understanding of local resources, gain confidence guiding families to appropriate supports. This approach strengthens relationships between medical providers and community systems, aligning care with families’ real-world needs.
Integration of Maternal Mental Health Services in the Pediatric Medical Home
This PPC created a structured workflow for maternal depression screening and expanded its integrated behavioral health program to include direct maternal therapy services. PSP funding supported specialized training for an integrated clinical social worker in perinatal depression treatment, allowing mothers who screen positive during pediatric visits to access therapy in the same building where their child receives care. This model promotes timely support, continuity of care, and reduced stigma around seeking maternal mental health services.
Parent Voices in Action: Better Together Onondaga
A parent-designed initiative that created a dedicated space for families to connect and collaborate. Through shared learning sessions, parent-led discussions, and focus groups, families helped shape every aspect. The initiative grew from the ECA’s goal of creating an agile, family-centered space where parents could share experiences, build community, and drive change. Through centered family voice, belonging and meaningful impact are fostered within the early childhood system.
Family Partnership and Co-creation
In Onondaga County , parents are resilient, insightful problem solvers whose lived experience is essential to designing services, care, and support that actually works.
At the Onondaga County PPC, families help shape priorities, programs, and the way information is shared, rather than offering feedback after decisions are made. Through their Parent and Family Advisory Councils, community outreach, and parent-led spaces, families guide the development of tools, engagement strategies, and supports that reflect their lived experiences and real needs. This approach intentionally creates space for shared ownership and trust between families and pediatric providers.
Engaging families in this way is essential because pediatric care does not happen in isolation. Families are often navigating basic needs, stress, and complex systems. Partnership allows providers to better align care with family realities. This team has learned that meaningful collaboration between families and pediatrics requires time, humility, and intentional trust building, but does lead to more responsive and sustainable systems of care.
Heather Bushnoe
“Once I was brave enough to use my voice the first time, everyone listened. When I didn’t have all the right words, they still got what I was trying to say.”
Strategies for Making the Case for Family Partnership and Co-creation
Co-creation Definition
Enabling Family Partnership
Honoring Lived Experience
Making the Case
Sustaining Family Partnership
View Onondaga County’s case for investment in family partnership video.
The Onondaga County PPC is seeking to increase growth and awareness of their parent leadership pathways.
The ECA Onondaga is…bringing families, community leaders, and systems together to build a stronger more connected foundation for young children.
Resources
This storytelling resource is a strategic communication guide for the Early Childhood Alliance’s Parent Voice work, featuring the complete, unabridged stories of five Parent Advisory Council families. It includes detailed analysis that organizes key vignettes into three strategic frameworks: Parent Recruitment, Fundraising and Development, and Program Evaluation.
Download Now
Provides a detailed overview of the Parent Support Navigator position which performs outreach and engagement with an emphasis on listening and developing relationships with parents, and when appropriate, connect families to available resources.
Meet the Onondaga County Team
Heather Bushnoe
Parent Leader, The ECA
Heather began as a Parent Leader on the Early Childhood Alliance Parent Advisory Council and later served three years as a Family Leader on the Governance Body for PSP. She now facilitates the council and works to advance policy and systems change that supports children and families. Guided by her belief that families deserve to be lifted up, not limited, Heather draws strength from her daughters, EveLynne and Madison, and from the memory of her angel baby, Grace Lynne.
Bethany Creaser
Executive Director, The ECA
Bethany works closely with staff and partners to strengthen early childhood services and elevate Onondaga County’s youngest residents at the ECA. She is engaged in this work because she is deeply committed to improving systems that support young children and families in her community. Her career includes leadership roles in youth, family, and mental health services, grounded in collaboration and prevention. Bethany has spent her entire life in Syracuse and remains passionate about giving back locally. She can be reached at [email protected].
Denita Jones
Parent Support Navigator, The ECA
Denita was born and raised in Syracuse and is the proud parent of four children. She joined the ECA as a Parent Partner and was an active member of the Parent Advisory Committee. She is committed to meeting parents where they are to make a meaningful difference for families and is passionate about creating safe spaces, especially for other moms. Denita values her growth as a parent and community leader who enjoys helping families navigate systems and resources. She is competitive about football and can be reached at [email protected].
Brandi Mee
Director of Family Voice, The ECA
Brandi’s background spans from IT to direct family support, healthcare improvement, and policy research—all grounded in a commitment to equity and prevention. She is engaged in this work as a single parent who has navigated multiple systems and believes family lived experience should guide the policies and programs designed to support them. She is passionate about elevating family voice and building responsive, humane, and impactful systems. Raised on the U.S.-Canada border, she maintains a sanctuary for rescued animals and can be reached at [email protected].
Dr. Jenica O'Malley
Pediatrician, SUNY Upstate
Dr. O’Malley attended medical school at University of New England in Maine and completed her pediatric training at SUNY Upstate. She has spent her career working in early childhood development, early relational health, and building both parent voice in the medical home and strategies to help buffer the effects of poverty and chronic stress. Dr. O’Malley serves as an Associate Program Director for the pediatric residency program at SUNY Upstate, educating residents about the importance of hearing, supporting, and uplifting parent perspectives.
Nathanial Slater, Sr.
Parent Support Navigator, The ECA
Nathaniel is the proud father of five children and is engaged in this work because he believes showing up for families, especially fathers, can strengthen the entire community. Nate joined the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) last year after learning about it from the Fatherhood Group at P.E.A.C.E. Inc. and was recently elected to lead on their policy council. He finds fulfillment in helping other parents find the confidence that comes from feeling seen, valued, and supported. Nate is a chef who enjoys cooking for his family and can be reached at [email protected].
