In 2015, Tarre Stanley, Jr. was working on his MPH at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University when he served as an R-IV PHTC Pathways to Practice Scholar. He was placed with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Office of Primary Care and Rural Health, where he was mentored by Carolyn Bern, who is now the Director of the Office of Community Affairs at the ADPH.
In this role, Tarre worked with the Alabama Community Health Improvement Plan (ACHIP) Workgroup to identify gaps in access to care and mental health and substance abuse services in Alabama. He facilitated conversations with the Alabama Department of Corrections, Alabama Medicaid, Auburn University and other state agencies about their mental health and substance abuse resources. After participating in these conversations, Tarre developed supplemental materials that were distributed to the ACHIP stakeholders.
Tarre shared, “Prior to coming to the Alabama Department of Public Health, I thought I knew about public health, mental health and substance abuse, but I was naïve to the nuances of the these concepts.” Among the most important lessons he learned is that “individuals who have mental health and substance abuse problems need assistance and should not be stigmatized because of their conditions.”
The 2015 State of Alabama Community Health Improvement Plan, completed as part of the ADPH Public Health Accreditation process, is now available online. ADPH achieved accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board in 2017.
Today Tarre is employed as a Health Promotion Specialist at Big Bend AHEC in Tallahassee, Florida.