Capturing our Worth: A Value Proposition Statement for the Child Life Profession

Jessika Boles, PhD, CCLS is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, and a Certified Child Life Specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies from Rhodes College, a Master's degree in Applied Child Studies from Vanderbilt University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Psychology with a graduate certificate in Qualitative Research from the University of Memphis. She has been a practicing child life specialist for fourteen years, the first 8 of which were spent in pediatric and adolescent oncology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with the following years dedicated to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Dr. Boles is known for her research on the concept of legacy as it is perceived by various stakeholders and translated into clinical practices with children and families. Additionally, as the leader of the CHILL (Children's Healthcare, Illness, Legacy, and Loss) lab at Vanderbilt University, her research brings together multidisciplinary collaborators and student researchers to study the psychosocial needs and experiences of children and families in multiple contexts: pediatric critical care, medical complexity, developmental disabilities, adverse childhood experiences, and grief and bereavement. She has held multiple posts in the Association of Child Life Professionals, and currently serves as Lead Fellow for the Association of Child Life Professionals and as a voting member of the Institutional Review Board at Vanderbilt University and Medical Center. In her spare time, she enjoys punk rock, her family's home and menagerie of pets in Montana, and spending time with her children and husband.

Camille Fraser, MS, CCLS, CIMI is a Certified Child Life Specialist working with the cardiology population at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. Within this role, she works in the outpatient cardiology clinic, the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit, and the cardiac step-down unit. She has been a child life specialist for five years and has also worked in acute care, and PRN roles. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in family relations from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a Master of Science degree in child life from Bank Street College of Education in New York, New York. In addition to practicing child life, she is also an adjunct professor teaching child life courses at Lipscomb University.

Ashlie Woodburn, M.Ed., CCLS, CIMI is currently working as a child life specialist in the CVICU at Phoenix Children's and has been practicing as a CCLS for five years. Ashlie has experience implementing a wide range of child life interventions that meet the needs of diverse patients and families across outpatient clinic, inpatient acute and critical care settings. Ashlie is particularly interested in meeting the developmental needs of infants with chronic medical conditions and has worked to implement programs to increase the utilization of child life support during infant procedures and encourage developmentally appropriate sensory support in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Ashlie is a contributing author for the child life value proposition statement and is passionate about evidence-based practice in child life. Her academic training includes Bachelor of Science degrees in Psychology and Family and Human Development from Arizona State University and a Master of Education degree in Child Studies from Vanderbilt University. 

Erin Munn, MS, CCLS is a Child Life Specialist 3 at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee, with twenty-five years of experience as a Certified Child Life Specialist.  Since 2017, she has served as the child life specialist within a healthcare improvement initiative focused on improving care for women and newborns affected by the opioid crisis during their prenatal care, birth admission, and up to one year post-partum.  Prior to this position, Erin has served children and families across a wide range of inpatient and outpatient areas, including cardiology, critical care, presurgery, burn/trauma, and specialty clinics, first with the Child Life Department at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1995 to 2011, before joining Child Life Services at Vanderbilt in 2011.  Throughout her career, she has maintained a commitment to the professional development of child life students and staff, with highlights including her roles as a child life clinical specialist, interim staff supervisor, internship coordinator, and as co-chair of the Internship Task Force for the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) which developed standardized curriculum modules and a supervisor manual for child life internship programs. In addition to numerous presentations at conferences in the United States, Erin has been an invited speaker for conferences and education series in New Zealand, the Philippines, and in the Balkans.  During her time at Johns Hopkins, Erin helped to co-author a training curriculum titled Child-centered health care trainer manual: A 5-day inservice training course for pediatric health care workers and collaborated with fellow authors to pilot the training for healthcare providers at a pediatric hospital in Macedonia before implementing the training for representatives of 10 hospitals in Serbia.  Erin has been an active member of ACLP since 1995 and is a former President of the organization.  Additional highlights of her leadership within ACLP include serving as a Board liaison for the Clinical Supervision Task Force, as chairperson for the Conference Planning Committee and the Child Life Certifying Committee, and the Internship Task Force, and as an inaugural member of the Internship Accreditation Oversight Committee. 

Maile Jones, MEd, CCLS, CIMI is currently a full-time research lab manager for the Stress and Coping Lab at Vanderbilt University where their research focuses on understanding the psychological, biological, and interpersonal processes in stress and coping among children and families facing healthcare adversities. After obtaining her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Health and Wellness from Tulane University, Maile spent a year in Australia working for the Starlight Children’s Foundation to expand her knowledge in international child life practice. She then moved to Nashville to pursue her graduate degree at Vanderbilt University. 

During her time in graduate school, Maile published and presented on a wide range of topics including the importance of play in healthcare settings, the ways in which children’s anxiety level and self-reported fear are influenced by medical play interventions, and pediatric patient and caregiver perceptions of legacy. Maile was also involved in the publication of the Child Life Value Proposition Statement that details the evidence-based outcomes associated with child life intervention. After completing her child life internship at Children’s Mercy Hospital and returning back to Nashville, Maile is excited to start her professional career as a Certified Child Life Specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt! In her free time, Maile enjoys spending time with friends and family, hiking, and playing tennis.