Julie Magers joined the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry team in 2017 to work on program development and technical assistance for the Youth Crisis and Transition Services (CATS) program. She has been involved with this initiative since its launch in 2014 and has helped in its expansion and quality improvement efforts since her arrival at OHSU.  Julie brings valuable insights to this work due to her own personal experiences navigating mental health crisis services and her support to families in addressing a multitude of barriers to effective and safe mental health care. 

As an appointed founding member to the Alliance to Prevent Suicide, Magers co-chairs the Transitions of Care Committee. Prior to coming to OHSU, Julie was instrumental in the passage of four mental health laws in Oregon that address safe transitions from mental health crisis care in emergency departments and inpatient settings to community-based outpatient treatment and support.  She is currently involved in supporting the implementation of these laws and collaboratively finding solutions to implementation barriers. 

Magers champions the role of Family Peer Support by articulating what this role brings to multidisciplinary teams and providing leadership to the professional development of this workforce in team-based crisis response programs.  Along with other family leaders, she was a founding member of the Oregon Family Workforce Association and has served as vice president (2018-2019) and president (2019-2020) of the organization. 

Magers provides consultation on family involvement to providers of EASA (Early Assessment and Support Alliance) services for clinical high risk and first episode psychosis treatment.  She launched the EASA Family & Friends Leadership Council in 2018 and serves as coordinator of this group for the EASA Center for Excellence in the OHSU School of Public Health. 

As a 4th degree black belt in karate, Magers is a member of the faculty at Beaverton martial arts academy where she instructs women and children in self-defense and empowerment training. Her work with women focuses on relieving adverse effects of trauma through physical integration, raising self-awareness into how traumatic experiences show up in one's daily life, and developing new narratives that serve to improve one's sense of safety and calm.