Polk County Partners with Polk Vision for Third Annual Behavioral Health Summit

Published: May 8, 2026

Bartow, Fla. (May 8, 2026) — Polk County partnered with Polk Vision to host the third annual Conversations in Behavioral Health Summit on Thursday. About 250 mental health professionals and community members attended the summit.

Holly Vida, behavioral health program manager for Polk County, and Polk State College provost Amy Bratten, Ed.D., welcomed attendees and thanked them for participating in the day’s discussions.

Sheriff Grady Judd also welcomed participants via video and spoke about impact of mental health and substance abuse on crime and homelessness in Polk County. He said, “Events like this are a big step towards making good things happen in Polk County.”

The first keynote presentation of the day was presented by Tony Hoffman. Hoffman shared his experience in overcoming addiction and homelessness to coaching BMX racing at the Olympic level.

Superintendent of Polk County Public Schools Frederick Heid also delivered a keynote presentation. Heid spoke about the school district’s strategies for equipping staff and students with resources to support mental health and wellbeing and shared data showing the district’s progress with behavioral health initiatives.

The final keynote presentation was offered by Kati Morton, LMFT, a YouTube creator who educated participants about how to teach effective coping skills and move from awareness to action.

Various breakout sessions also took place throughout the day, led by Edith Shiro, Psy.D., Judith Grisel, Ph.D., Sharon Fekete and Natasha A. Pierre.

Breakout sessions facilitated dialogue on various topics, including:

Practical skills for mental and emotional stability
Mental health in the workplace
Neuroscience of addiction
Growth after traumatic events

Two of the breakout sessions were sponsored in part by Orlando Health and AdventHealth.

In between sessions, participants had the opportunity to interact with behavioral-health-focused community organizations and learn about available resources.

This project is funded by the Florida Opioid Abatement Settlement and is administered by the Polk County Health and Human Services Division. The event was hosted by Polk State College.

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