Sep 20, 2021 2 min read

The Denis Theatre in Mt. Lebanon will present a Pittsburgh Perspectives program to be streamed live at 7 p.m. Sept. 28.

Featured will be a discussion about the increased the pressures faced by children, teens and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, including signs that they may need help and the resources available to support families.

The program will be moderated by Jon Delano, president of the Denis Theatre Foundation Board. Featured panelists are:

• Mary Birks is executive director of Outreach Teen and Family Services, an agency providing counseling to children, teens, young adults and parents. A public education advocate, she served as a director on the Mt. Lebanon School Board as vice- president and president.
• State Rep. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, has served as a public defender focusing on juveniles. He later served as county solicitor where he worked to ensure children were safe in their homes and received a quality education. He is a former board member of Outreach Teen and Family Services. In 2020, he became chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.
• Dr. Abigail Schlesinger is the chief of child and adolescent psychiatry and integrated care at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She was instrumental in the development of Children’s Community Pediatrics Behavioral Health, which embeds therapists and psychiatrists in pediatric primary care.
• Dr. Bradley Stein is a senior physician policy researcher at the RAND Corp. and a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist. He has worked in the area of school mental health, developing, implementing and evaluating a school-based intervention for students exposed to trauma and violence, along with a suicide intervention program.

Pittsburgh Perspectives is a series of interactive community discussions exploring contemporary issues with local thought leaders.

To register for the Sept. 28 program, visit us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dm-W2xDER9Wt1cu8S1vhLg.