Kansas LEND

10/09/2026

Emerging Leaders of Kansas LEND...

Frieda Tresvan is a Family/Community Advocate Fellow with the 2026-2027 Kansas LEND cohort at the University of Kansas Medical Center. As a parent who has navigated the disability service system for almost two decades, she knows firsthand how isolating it can feel when a child ages out of pediatric supports with no clear roadmap for what comes next. She is most looking forward to connecting with the transition community across Kansas and learning alongside families, advocates, and providers who are working to change that, bringing what she learns back to Wyandotte County. During her fellowship year, Frieda plans to get involved with transition-focused groups including the Wyandot County Youth Transition Alliance and the National Transition Coalition in Kansas, and to develop a community resource for Wyandotte County parents who are doing their research at 11pm and cannot find what they need.

I am most looking forward to connecting with the transition community across Kansas. As a parent who has navigated the disability service system for over two decades, I know firsthand how isolating and overwhelming it can feel when your child ages out of pediatric supports and there is no clear roadmap for what comes next. I am excited to learn alongside families, advocates, and providers who are working to change that and to bring what I learn back to Wyandotte County.

I am planning to get involved with transition-focused groups including the Wyandot County Youth Transition Alliance and the National Transition Coalition in Kansas, and to develop a community resource for Wyandotte County parents who are doing their research at 11pm and cannot find what they need.

Picture Description: • Frieda and son outside smiling and holding a diploma at high school graduation.

10/02/2026

Emerging Leaders of Kansas LEND...

Margo SalaczPlantz a second-year physical therapy student at KU medical center.

I am originally from the KC area but attended undergrad at the University of Arkansas where I earned a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science. My dream career would be to be a pediatric physical therapist supporting children in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Outside of school, I work as an inpatient rehab tech and as a sensory-enhanced aquatics swim instructor. My hobbies include reading, baking, traveling, and walking my dogs! I am so thankful for the opportunity to grow my knowledge and leadership skills as a LEND trainee!

Currently, I am looking forward to the family immersion! This is such an amazing opportunity to gain a better understanding of what families need and expect from healthcare providers, leaders, and advocates. Learning from the family will enable me to be an effective partner with future patients and their families as a pediatric physical therapist!

I am hoping to be involved with the policy & advocacy committee, KCART Bridge Clinic, PCIT, and maybe others as projects pop up!

Picture Description: Smiling white woman wearing white dress standing outside of a building.

09/30/2026

When a child with an Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities goes missing (elopes) it is critical that local law enforcement has immediate access to their information. In those moments, we as family, may not be able to share in the moment so getting the information to them ahead of time matters.

For those of you in Eudora, KS the Eudora KS Police Department has a program already in place. Take a moment and check out the information below.

If you know of other programs in Kansas feel free to share in the comments and we will post a program each week!!

09/29/2026

The Faculty of Kansas LEND... Jamie McGovern, Psychology Mentor

While Jamie is not new to Kansas LEND she has joined the faculty! Congratulations and Welcome Jamie...

Words on the picture: Faculty of Kansas LEND, Jamie McGovern, psychology faculty mentor, Jamie McGovern, PhD, LP, is a psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Dr. McGovern is interested in screening, evaluation, and therapy for children and adolescents with developmental differences and behavioral difficulties. She primarily works on interdisciplinary developmental evaluation teams for younger children. She is also a certified provider and within-agency trainer for Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT; a behavioral intervention for young children) and uses behavioral and cognitive-behavioral strategies to help families and children with challenging behaviors and emotions.

LEND Activities: Dr. McGovern completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Kansas LEND in 2016-2017. Her LEND activities have included acting as the supervisor for the APA Accredited North Kansas City School Psychology Doctoral Internship's summer rotation in the KUMC clinics, providing supervision and assistance with portions of trainee’s capstone projects, and assisting with Kansas LEND childcare provider continuing education webinars. This year Dr. McGovern is stepping into a role as discipline mentor in psychology.

Picture Description: Smiling woman with long auburn hair in black top and dark grey jacket.

09/25/2026

Emerging Leaders of Kansas LEND...

Peter Fantozzi is a PhD student in the Clinical Child Psychology Program at the University of Kansas. His research focuses on the prevention and rehabilitation of long-term morbidities in children, adolescents, and young adults treated for cancer through health behavior interventions. ​

Peter is originally from Seattle, which is where he developed his love for seafood and the Northwestern nature. In his free time, he enjoys staying active, finding new music artists to listen to, and taking the occasional road trip to Chicago where his family now lives.​

I am most looking forward to the clinical experience. My training up to this point has focused almost exclusively on the role of psychologists in clinical care, and the chance to be in a room where experts in psychology, medicine, education, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology all collaborate together is rare. I am excited to not only learn how psychologists contribute to care in interdisciplinary environments, but also how collaboration with experts across disciplines can extend care beyond what any one expert could provide alone.

I plan to spend the majority of my training in various clinics working with youth with neurodevelopmental conditions and medical complications. My capstone project will focus on developing a clinical tool for the Survivorship Transitions Clinic at KUMC. My hope is to create a tool to promote awareness of the long-term neurocognitive impacts of cancer for adolescents and young adults who have completed treatment. The ultimate goal is to help survivors understand what resources are available to support their long-term well-being.

Picture description: A smiling man with his arms crossed, wearing a white button-down with rolled sleeves and a brown leather watch, standing in front of portraits and framed journal articles of past University of Kansas psychology faculty.

09/14/2026

Last month, Kansas LEND welcomed the new 2026/27 Emerging Leaders cohort with a joint orientation and meeting alongside our partners at KUCD (Kansas University Center on Disabilities) and members of the Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP)!

We're excited for the year ahead with these up-and-coming leaders in the disability field! 🎉

09/04/2026

📣Exciting News📣

Kansas LEND has been named a University of Kansas Inaugural Community Impact Champion — recognizing our statewide work training childcare providers on Autism and related Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), and our Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) training program.

Thank you to our LEND Faculty, Emerging Leaders, Community Partners, Childcare Providers, and Community Therapists who have trained with, attended, or supported this work. Together, we're making Kansas a better place for families of children with disabilities — one training at a time. 🎉

The KU Office of Community Impact has announced 26 inaugural Champions and Hubs that support community-engaged scholarship and collaboration across Kansas.

08/25/2026

Earlier this month the Kansas LEND Family Education Session was a School Preparedness for little ones! This was an excellent presentation by Molly and Jamie at Integrated Behavioral Technologies! 🎉

The session gets both you and your child ready for school: practical school readiness skills for your child, and navigating your school team for you. We'll teach skills like opening food packages, managing clothing and fasteners, and sitting near peers without wandering. These skills free your child to be available for academics, rather than requiring the teacher's time and attention on small self-help tasks. We'll walk through how to teach them at home step by step. We'll also cover how to navigate your school team, including who to contact if you want to explore special education services or general education support.

As a parent with a child who has been diagnosed with autism or a re...

08/24/2026

Our Kansas LEND Chilcare Training Team had a fantastic video shoot this weekend! We can’t wait to share the final product with you all!!
Stay tuned….