Dr. Liz Barnert, a pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been honored with the 2024 Southern California Regional Chapter Recognition Award by the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
Barnert, who provides pediatric care to youth detained in the juvenile legal system, is being recognized by the chapter for her collaboration with Los Angeles County in developing and testing an intervention aimed at connecting young individuals to mental health and substance use treatment services post-incarceration. Her contributions to statewide, national and international health are also being recognized.
The pediatrician has advised the U.S. Congress, as well as California’s legislature, governor and Health and Human Services Agency, on youth justice policy. Her research contributed to laws around the country that: set a minimum age for arresting young children; protect child victims of sex trafficking; and promote continuity of Medicaid coverage upon release from incarceration. She serves as chair of the Juvenile Health Committee of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and is on the commission’s board.
Alongside her pediatric work for youth in the juvenile legal system, Barnert is passionate about improving the health outcomes of underserved youth through her clinical care and by using research as a tool for social justice. She is author of the ethnographic book, “Reunion: Finding the Disappeared Children of El Salvador.”
