Amy Chlouber, Sunbeam Family Services Early Childhood Mental Health Coordinator, LPC-S, was recently honored with the 2017 C.V. Ramana Award. The award recognizes Chlouber for her outstanding contributions to children’s mental health in Oklahoma.
The C.V. Ramana Award was established to honor individuals who have played exceptional roles in enhancing awareness of children’s needs and the development of education and services to meet those needs.
Amy leads Sunbeam’s Infant Mental Health efforts with enhanced and expanded Infant Mental Health services across the organization’s four core programs: early childhood, foster care, counseling and senior services. She and her team also provide training for child welfare professionals and the District Courts of Oklahoma County as well as community presentations that create awareness about the mental health needs of infants and very young children who experience stress and trauma.
“Amy leads this initiative with her vision and passion for the youngest and most vulnerable in our community. She is the Russell Westbrook of Infant Mental Health. Talented. Passionate. Resourceful. Focused,” said Sunbeam Family Services CEO Jim Priest. “I don’t know how well she shoots free throws, but I know she consistently scores a triple double in the arena of Infant Mental Health.”
Amy is an Endorsed Infant Mental Health Mentor-Clinical/IMH-E ® (IV-C) who has worked in the mental health field for more than 20 years, specializing in infant and early childhood mental health in public, private and non-profit organizations. She has provided home and office-based therapy services and support to biological, kinship, foster and adoptive families. Amy developed and served as Clinical Director of a private mental health agency satellite office where she provided consultation and training to child welfare professionals and foster families as well as content expertise in juvenile court. She served on the Board of Directors of Canadian County CASA and provided training to CASA volunteers for many years. Amy was one of the original therapists chosen to participate in Oklahoma’s Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation pilot in licensed child care facilities. She served as the Mental Health and Disabilities Coordinator for Early Head Start through Sunbeam Family Services where she provided consultation and training for direct care and administrative staff and was instrumental in the design of the mental health program of OKC Educare. Amy left Sunbeam to work at the state level for seven years providing leadership and oversight of the Oklahoma Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Strategic Plan. She has served on numerous local, state and national early childhood work groups. Amy is on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Association for Infant Mental Health (OK-AIMH) and is currently President-elect. She returned to Sunbeam in 2015 as the Early Childhood Services Manager.
