Department of Community and Specialty Pediatrics

The AAP Department of Community and Specialty Pediatrics (DOCSP) provides staff support and technical assistance to national committees, sections, councils, task forces, and work groups that develop policy statements, clinical/technical reports, manuals, and other resource materials on child health; administer council/committee/section/task force activities; and assist in the development and implementation of special projects and programs. Departmental staff manage the development of numerous professional manuals. Several of the 2009-10 AAP strategic priorities fall within the DOCSP: Special Health Care Needs-Foster Care, Mental Health, and Medical Home.

Medical Home for all children is a primary focus of the department and the Academy. Many activities are planned that include, but are not limited to, facilitating demonstration projects targeting areas such as telemedicine, family-centered care, and transitions; promoting medical home tools for various settings; organizing Chapter Champions to serve as professional medical home mentors; partnering with community health centers; and providing education to pediatric practices on quality improvement techniques.

There are five divisions within the DOCSP and an Administration staff.

The Division of Children with Special Needs is responsible for the National Center for Medical Home Implementation; Medical Home Screening programs and grants; Medical Home Training Programs; the Shriners Hospitals "Developing Co-management Models within the Medical Home" project; Developmental Screening/Autism; The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "Program to Enhance the Health and Development of Infants and Children"; and the Council on Children with Disabilities.

The Division of Developmental Pediatrics and Preventive Services (DODPPS) provides staffing for the following committees, councils, and other groups: Adolescence; Bright Futures Education Center, Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care; Mental Health Initiatives including the Task Force on Mental Health; the Task Force on Foster Care; Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health; and Substance Abuse. The division also assists four sections: Adolescent Health; Adoption and Foster Care; Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; and Early Education and Child Care. The division oversees and implements many grant-funded programs including Bright Futures, the Child Care and Health Partnership program, the Partnership for Program Planning for Adolescents, and Improving Mental Health in Primary Care through Access, Collaboration, and Training.

The Division of Hospital and Surgical Services (DHSS) is responsible for staffing and management of the Surgical Advisory Panel. The division is the home for several large AAP committees and sections including the Committee on Fetus and Newborn; the Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine and the Section on Emergency Medicine; the Committee on Hospital Care and the Section on Hospital Medicine; and the Sections on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Critical Care, Neurological Surgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Perinatal Pediatrics, Plastic Surgery, Radiology, Surgery, Transport Medicine, and Urology. The division oversees grant-funded programs and national public awareness campaigns on prematurity and SIDS.

The Division of Safety and Health Promotion (DSHP) provides staffing, policy analysis, and technical assistance for the following committees, councils, or other groups: Bioethics; Child Abuse and Neglect; Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention; Obesity; Pediatric AIDS; School Health; and Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Care. The division also provides staffing support for five multidisciplinary sections including Bioethics; Child Abuse and Neglect; and Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention; School Health; and Sports Medicine and Fitness.

The Division of Technical and Medical Services (DTMS) manages the policy, program, and advocacy activities of five national committees and 13 subspecialty sections. Included within the division's complement of committees are the the Committees on Drugs, Environmental Health, Genetics, Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition. The AAP subspecialty sections supported by the division include Allergy and Immunology, Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Genetics and Birth Defects, Hematology-Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Nephrology, Neurology, Pediatric Pulmonology, and Rheumatology.

Within the Administration staff are the Academy’s Disaster Preparedness efforts to provide assistance to pediatricians to support children and families in times of disaster. Department staff manage the Committee Forum Management Committee, the Council Management Committee, and the Section Forum Management Committee. 

Fan Tait, MD, FAAP, Director

October 2009