Substance Use Disorder/Behavioral Health Virtual Conference

Robert E. McCartney MSW, “Rob,” is the Chief Executive Officer for The Barry Robinson Center, a behavioral health system in Norfolk, Virginia, anchored by a 72-bed residential treatment center. Over the past six years, Rob has led The Barry Robinson Center’s residential program’s transition from a typical residential treatment center to a premier program whose primary mission is to help military-connected children and their families heal. Since 2013 The Barry Robinson Center has provided care to over 500 military children, adolescents and their families from over 35 states and 4 countries.

Trish and Dave are the Co-Founders and Co-Executive Directors of Youth Development Institute (YDI), a non-profit agency providing residential and outpatient behavioral health care services to emotionally disturbed and behavior disordered youth and their families. A JCAHO accredited organization, Youth Development Institute currently operates a full continuum of care on a 9 acre campus in central Phoenix with a $16 million annual budget. Trish and Dave were awarded ACRC’s Spirit of Bettelheim Award in March of 2018.

Like a lot of parents, Nancy started her “career” learning to navigate the child serving systems for her children. Little did she realize that her personal experiences would lead her on professional quest to ensure every family, no matter the challenges have access to a family peer helping to teach, coach and mentor parents as they journey towards their personal strength and empowerment.

Nancy has worked with Families Together for almost 20 years. First as a Regional Parent Advisor and currently as the Director of Community and System Engagement, leading a team of 10 Regional Parent Advisors engaging and advising the child serving systems on the value of family driven and youth guided practices, data collection and especially outcomes!

Nancy works closely with Family Peer Advocates in delivering the Family Needs & Strengths outcome measure for Family Peer Support to use to quantify their excellent work.

In her spare time and in true advocacy fashion Nancy worked with other FPA’s to create a very low cost summer camp experience for the whole family to come together for three nights -four days in a safe supported environment to build those memories as a family, not an illness.

Sandy Heine is a parent of a youth who was in a residential program following a serious mental health episode.  She was the first peer delivered services staff of  Kairos NW, having been hired as a Family Support Specialist in 2009 and becoming the Peer Delivered Services Manager, in which capacity she worked with families of youth in the therapeutic programs and managed 22 Family and Youth Peer Support staff until 2019, providing coaching, supervision, and administrative management for the agencies Peer Delivered Services workforce. Sandy is currently a consultant for the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), working with residential programs on organizational transformation with a focus on strengthening parent engagement.

Sandy led a Building Bridges effort in the residential program throughout her time at Kairos. She conducted a pilot test of the BBI Self-Assessment Tool and was  the adult liaison for the Youth Advisory Council of the Kairos PRTF program.  She was also a staff advisor for YouthMOVE Kairos, a chapter of YouthMOVE National, and worked with the peers and young people receiving services to provide public education and awareness, as well as to advocate for policy and practice changes in the agency and its individual programs. She is certified as a Peer Support Specialist in Oregon and  worked closely with the Clinical Director and the CEO to advance youth-guided, and family driven programing and practice in the organization.

Sandy served on the Children’s System Advisory Committee for the Oregon Health Authority, was a member of the Family Leaders group and served as a committee member, bringing family voice, for the System of Care in several counties in Oregon and the Rogue Valley Wraparound Initiative.

Ms. Heine has presented statewide and nationally on incorporating Peer Delivered Services into residential interventions.

Max Smart, MSc, Dip. SW, has worked for thirty-six years in both social care and social work with vulnerable people. Max has specialised in child and youth care provisions with vulnerable teenagers, particularly in residential care, but has extensive experience in family practice, working with offenders. He has written over a number of years and is a trainer in various disciplines, in relational trauma, neurorelational working and supporting development with young people in difficulty.

Dr John M Digney has been working with vulnerable children and families since 1991 as a frontline worker, manager and clinician. The majority of this time has been working with children and youth who exhibit ‘challenging behaviours’. John is currently the National Training & Learning Coordinator for Tusla, in addition to providing consultation, training and support to carers and practitioners internationally. John has professional certification in Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis and Coaching and other qualifications in Psychology, Management, Facilitation, and Adult Education. His PhD examined the therapeutic potential of humour in our work with troubled youth

Allyson Hagan has been working in the field of Therapeutic Recreation for 13 years following a very special summer of working at a camp for individuals with varying developmental, intellectual, and physical abilities. She then changed her educational path and pursued a degree from Old Dominion University in Therapeutic Recreation, then matriculating again from Clemson University with her Master’s in Recreational Therapy Management in 2017. Since 2013, when she became a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, Allyson has worked for The Barry Robinson Center to provide quality Recreational Therapy services to residents, along with her team of Recreational Therapists, a Therapy Dog and 3 Horses. As the Activities Director, Allyson oversees the planning, implementation and evaluation of daily Recreational Therapy programming. Allyson has continued to work with universities to supervise student internships on the campus and provide Recreational Therapy education and offer knowledge as a networking resource for other professionals.

Rob Grandy is a Recreation Therapist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He works at the HomeBridge Youth Society,working directly with teenagers living-in-care.
Rob is passionate about empowering young people to "see themselves in new ways" through sports, art, music, and connecting with nature. 
In his free time, you can usually find Rob playing guitar with friends, exploring the woods with his dog, or outside rock climbing. Rob is a co-author of the rock climbing guidebook "Bouldering Digby Neck".

Catherine Keisling is the Director of Pastoral Affairs at Father Flanagan’s Home for Boys, also know as Boys Town.  She started her career with Boys Town in 1985 as a Family Teacher working directly with girls.  Through the course of her career, Cathy has working in Foster Family Services, Juvenile Detention, Training, Public Schools and in the county mental health systems.  

Cathy holds a bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s Degree in Human Development from the University of Kansas.

Shayna began her journey in Lasallian education as a student, with her formative years based on the teaching of the Dominican sisters. Shayna earned her degree in political science, leadership, and global understanding. She researched indigenous feminism, where she was exposed to the Blackfeet Reservation and the Lasallian school on the reservation. She was then encouraged to apply for a service year with Lasallian Volunteers due to the immense number of hours she'd spent in and dedication she'd given to advocacy and volunteer work. She lived on campus at LaSalle School in Albany, NY in the Brothers community and, once her service year was completed, realized she wasn't quite ready to leave LaSalle or the students. While she studied for her LSATs, she was provided the opportunity to become LaSalle's director of campus ministry after the retirement of Jim LaFlave who guided the LaSalle students for more than 10 years.

Claude A. Robinson, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, PA. To beat the negative ills of the inner city, he attended Northwestern Military & Naval Academy in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for most of his high school years. At SJNMNA,
Claude excelled as a student-athlete and leader. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he successfully earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He was also co captain of the 1989-1990 NCAA Division III men’s basketball championship team. Claude went on to earn a Master’s Degree of Science in Counseling at Chicago State University. His interest in sports has turned into a life passion for serving youth. He has recently served as an AAU basketball coach for The Athlete Within and Kenwood Academy High School. He is currently working to build the North Lawndale Athletic and Recreation Association to ensure equity focused approaches for youth.

Claude is the Founder/CEO of Onyx Strategic Partners, a multi-disciplined strategic business consulting firm specializing in diversity equity and inclusion services, government affairs\advocacy strategies, community affairs, project management and leadership development. For 28 years, Claude served as the Executive Vice President of External Affairs & Diversity at UCAN. Claude’s work has yielded numerous accolades, in 2021, he was the recipient of the Donald Stewart Fellowship through the Chicago Community Trust African American Legacy Fund, Crain's
Chicago Business Notable DEI Executive and Chicago Cubs Nike Connect Community Champion. Including awards from former city of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Miss Illinois Leadership Award 2001, and WGN-TV Channel
9’s 2000 “Unsung Hero” award. In 2008, Claude led a U.S. delegation on a four city “Best Practice” exchange to the United Kingdom to assist policy makers and community leaders on positive youth development and violence
prevention strategies. Claude has helped inform policy by providing testimony in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Illinois State Senate and House and Cook County Board of Commissioners.

In addition to his work with UCAN, Claude also sits on the Board of Directors for Rush BMO Institute of Health Equity,Homan Square Community Action Council and the Attorney Registration & Discipline Commission. Claude
has affiliations with the Chicago Community Development Advisory Council, Business Leadership Council, United Church of Christ Council for Health and Human Service Ministries, Chicago Committee on Urban Opportunity, Latino
Policy Forum, Advocate Bethany Fund, Trinity United Church of Christ, and Leadership Greater Chicago. He is involved in a number of recreational, political and community outreach projects and has lectured and presented to
diverse audiences across the country.
Claude is the proud husband of Heather Ireland Robinson, Executive Director at the Jazz Institute of Chicago and father of their three beautiful children, Dorian, Damani and Devin.

Natalie Bretl, LCSW, is currently the Clinical Operations Coordinator at Milwaukee Academy, a provider of residential care for females assigned at birth in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Natalie has developed a specialization in the treatment of youth that have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and complex trauma. Additionally, she is active in the training and development of youth care staff to ensure youth receive exceptional care. Natalie is passionate about helping to integrate her clinical knowledge and trauma informed practices into all aspects of treatment to help youth toward a path of healing and success.

Tiffany Hulberg has been working at Milwaukee Academy for eight years, in which she has grown in her role as a Therapist and moved onto bigger picture clinical duties through her growth into becoming Clinical Services Coordinator. Tiffany is well versed in Addictions, Trauma Informed Practices, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Youth/Children, and Attachment Disorders. Tiffany guides her therapy style through the use of her knowledge and certifications in DBT, TF-CBT, and EMDR modalities, among many others. Tiffany has committed her career toward working with adolescent youth in finding a healthy and successful path toward their future goals.

Val Villano, LICSW, graduated with her MSW in 2012 and started off as a clinician at a group home and a therapeutic afterschool program before finding her passion of working with adolescents in residential care.  Val has been with JRI at the Walden Street School since 2015; previously the Clinical Director, she has overseen the implementation of clinical programming and individualized treatment plans for all youth programmatically, as well as the training of clinicians and staff in this area.  Val is trained in ARC (Attachment, Regulation, and Competency framework) and SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) and incorporates them into her daily work; she well-versed in working with youth having experienced complex developmental trauma as well as high conflict families.

Alanna specializes in adolescent counseling related to attachment, grief and loss, healthy relationships, and trauma exploration. Her goal is to give tools to make decisions that support living according to what’s most important to you. Through unique ways of engaging in therapy (recreation, music, drawing, horses), we can process trauma and explore possibilities for the future.

Michele specializes in trauma work, grief and loss, conduct disorders, anxiety, and depression. With her fifteen years of experience working alongside youth and families, she has found that growth starts with solid connections. She believes that, together, we can engage in experiences that help you to process difficulties and gain confidence + connection.

Originally from the public school system, Mrs. Singleton has entered her 17th year at Bonnie Brae Residential Treatment Facility. Realizing quite quickly that the residential setting was going to be totally different from a public school, Mrs. Singleton has sought out ways to expand the experiential learning for Bonnie Brae residents through community service opportunities. Mrs. Singleton earned her teaching certifications (Elementary, English, and Special Education) from Centenary College, her Masters of Science with a Specialization in Teaching and Learning from NOVA Southeastern University, her Masters of Arts in Educational Leadership from Centenary University and her Applied Behavior Analysis Certification from Arcadia University. Ms. Singleton was honored with the 2016 National Safety Educator of the Year Award at the ACTE Conference in Las Vegas, NV and received a letter of commendation from the US Assistant Secretary of Labor, Dr. David Michaels for her work with the Bonnie Brae students. One of Mrs. Singleton’s greatest joys is watching her students accomplish goals and achieve successes that they deemed impossible for themselves. 

Kyron Trumpet began his career at Bonnie Brae as a Child Care Counselor in 2008. Kyron furthered his leadership role throughout his years, advancing in several positions, including Assistant Cottage Supervisor and Cottage Supervisor. After a brief departure from the agency, he returned as Bonnie Brae’s Assistant Residential Director, where he was responsible for direct oversight of the campus-based cottages. Kyron, is currently the Director of Community Based Residential Services where he is responsible for the supervision of the agency’s community programs. His commitment to Bonnie Brae, its mission, the youth, and families throughout New Jersey represents the dedication needed to assist those in need. Kyron completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Montclair State University in 2008 and his Master of Social Work (MSW) at Walden University in 2021.

Ms. Laskey began her career as an owner and entrepreneur of a successful catering business for 12 years. Realizing that she had a passion for teaching, she dove into her second career as a educator. Combining her love for cooking with her commitment to the success of her students, Ms. Laskey joined Bonnie Brae in 2010 as the Activities for Daily Living (ADL) teacher.  ADL is designed to assist students with the management of their daily lives integrating culinary, math, and social skills into the curriculum.  Ms. Laskey earned her Masters of Arts in Special Education from New Jersey City University and a Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from National University.  Ms. Laskey currently represent two cottages on the main campus as the Educational Coordinator and works closely with the clinical departments and families to assist as they navigate their treatment goals. Ms. Laskey has come to realize that her calling is the connection she creates with the boys and the intrinsic rewards she gains.

My name is Jysenia Valle and I am 35 years old. My job title is a Vocational coordinator for Devereux foundation in Rutland Ma. I am Puerto Rican and I was born in Brooklyn NY. I graduated from N. Grafton Job Corps with 3 trades medical assistance, homeland security and culinary. I currently live in Springfield Ma. My favorite things to do are singing, changing lives, working out and cooking. Started working at Devereux in 2012 and have been here for 10 years. I started off as a direct care provider in the school and worked residential  for only Spanish speaking students, became a residential supervisor for a drug rehabilitation unit for teenage males and females. Worked as a substitute teacher in the school for Math and English and was promoted to Vocational coordinator 3 years ago. For the holidays I am known for cooking huge luncheons for our students. Awarded Teacher Aide award in 2013, Awarded STARS Safety award in 2015 and Awarded STARS innovation Award in 2019. I currently oversee a Woodworking program, Automotive Program, Animal Care Program, Culinary Program, Pre-Vocational Program and Community Worksite Program for students ages 16 to 22 years of age.

Ms. Peck-Sobolewski is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has worked in children’s residential and mental health treatment for over 20 years. She has held a variety of positions to include direct services staff, clinician, clinical supervisor and program director. Ms. Peck-Sobolewski has also trained nationally on a variety of topics which includes clinical assessment/treatment, vicarious traumatization, risk management and Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC). Gina currently oversees the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) programs for Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, a nonprofit agency that provides various residential and community based services for at risk youth and families in Los Angeles, CA. Within her current role, Ms. Peck-Sobolewski oversees all areas of residential programming to include Transitional Shelter Care (TSC), Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP), foster family/adoption services and various community based mental health programs. Also within this role, Ms. Peck-Sobolewski assists in developing and implementing initiatives and processes for youth in various levels of care and expanding treatment programming for specialized populations. She has most recently focused efforts on program development/expansion as well as state wide advocacy efforts for at risk youth. Ms. Peck-Sobolewski also maintains a private practice in Southern California.

Dr. Nick Ryan (he/him) is a licensed marriage and family therapist and psychoanalyst currently serving as the Assistant Vice President for the Training and Implementation Practices Department at Sycamores in Los Angeles, CA. He has been dedicated to working with young people and their families in residential care since 1997. Dr. Ryan has training and experience working with the LGBTQ community and has presented on the topic of working with LGBTQ youth in child welfare both nationally and internationally.

Jedaia Rose Doñoz is the Therapeutic Aftercare and Advocacy Manager of My Refuge House, a non-government organization that provides aftercare services to survivors of trafficking and abuse. A graduate of BA Psychology from the University of the Philippines, she currently leads MRH's Clinical program in giving trauma-informed interventions to survivor-participants, and spearheads its advocacy program, iSpeak, in providing free seminars on violence-related issues.

Jedaia is a registered psychometrician with experience in field research, community consultation and decision-making, and community awareness-raising. Under iSpeak, she has spent the past seven years providing training sessions and seminars to churches, companies, schools, and local government units, among other institutions on violence-related issues such as human trafficking and abuse. This WEDU Rising Star also served as one of the Philippines’ representatives during the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) Advancing Gender Equality Conference in Brunei last 2019.

Remebie Villarmia is a graduate of BS Development Communication. She has worked for My Refuge House for almost eight years now, serving as its Family and Community Development Officer. Her greatest desire is to live one day without being anxious about people hurting children and all those who are vulnerable and at risk. She hopes to see a day where everyone is free to live, focusing on loving themselves more instead of living in doubt. 

Rose Ann Obenque-Ababa is a registered Social Worker who graduated Cum Laude from Mindanao State University-Marawi City in 2009. She currently works for My Refuge House, where she served as a Social Worker in 2011, as a Residential Program Supervisor in 2012, and has been appointed as the Director of Program Operations since 2014. 

In 2016, Rose Ann represented the Philippines during the YSEALI Women's Leadership Academy (WLA), eventually taking on the role of the Philippines's YSEALI WLA Country Lead for 2018 and one of the Co-Chairs in 2019. 

A huge advocate for children, women, youth, family, and communities for the past ten years now, she is the co-founder of iSpeak: Break the Silence, Stop the Violence, My Refuge House's advocacy program that aims to provide free community training on different violence-related issues. Her advocacy and work at My Refuge House have been recognized internationally when she was chosen as one of the co-recipients of the "Changing the World Award" given by the Leadership Worth Following in Dallas, Texas in 2017 

Geselle Belda is a former Enfants du Mekong scholar and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from the University of Southern Philippines Foundation. A registered social worker, Geselle worked as a drop-in social worker at LGU Tubigon, Bohol before serving as one of the Family and Community Development Officers at My Refuge House. She then transitioned and assumed the role of Residential Social Worker at My Refuge House in 2022. 

Michael Semel, Ph.D., the Vice President of Clinical Quality and Outcomes, began his career as a residential counselor in 1984. He has been at The Home since 2001 and has served in numerous roles including as a Clinician, as a Clinical Supervisor, as a Program Director, and more recently as the Senior Director of Residential Services. Michael received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Michigan State University. He completed clinical internships and postdoctoral fellowships in Clinical Child Psychology at the Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Michael received his BA in Psychology from Amherst College and a graduate certificate from the Institute of Nonprofit Management and Leadership at the Boston University School of Management.

Seher is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst and has worked with Allambi Care for the last six years, providing behaviour support and skill building services to high needs clients. Seher completed her Masters in Clinical Psychology in Bangalore, India and  worked as a Psychologist in one of the major private city hospitals where she gained experience in working with patients with a diverse range of mental health difficulties. Seher has a passion for trauma informed care and holistic treatment plans . She enjoys training and supporting careers for young persons with challenging behavior. Seher also works directly with young people to help build their skills and achieve independence in their day to day life. Seher believes in taking a compassionate and strength based approach while creating an enagging learning environments to form  meaningful connections with her clients. In her spare time, Seher enjoys reading philosophy, spirituality and practicing yoga.

Erin was hired as the Residential Clinical Supervisor LaSalle in June 2020 then in September 2021 she joined the training team as a trainer in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention. In September 2022 she was promoted to her current position, Associate Clinical Director of Residential Services. Erin is passionate about residential care and believes it should be used as a tool to help children and families succeed, achieve their goals and reunite permanently.

An award-winning community leader, Tenecia Waddell-Pyle had a 15-year career in law enforcement and served as a Crisis Center Director before joining MyPath. Tenecia has been championing initiatives related to DEI since high school. She welcomes the challenge, reward, and fulfillment of using her professional and lived experiences to support the MyPath ecosystem with her continued career themes of innovation, education, service, and safety for others. Tenecia is a graduate of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

Candace serves as the Executive Assistant to the President and CEO of Glenwood Academy, a residential and academic human services organization in Glenwood Illinois, that provides life changing solutions for students from challenging circumstances impacted by poverty, violence, inadequate education and lack of resources. Glenwood strives to eradicate poverty, injustice and inequities.

Nicole has a deep knowledge of child welfare, nonprofit management, and Plummer Youth Promise. Her work with Plummer spans almost two decades. She joined the Plummer board in 2002, becoming board chair in 2006 at a pivotal period during which the organization adopted a transformative strategy to develop effective practices to help teens in residential foster care connect with permanent families before leaving care as young adults.

In 2009, with the explicit goal of raising philanthropic support to fund these practices, Nicole left the Board to become Plummer’s first Director of Development. In 2013, having built a strong development operation, Nicole was able to focus more on long-term organizational strategy and became the organization’s first Director of Strategy and Advancement. In this role, Nicole led a rebranding process that shifted the organization from its original identity, an 18th century group residence for boys, to that of a visionary, multi-service child welfare organization setting a standard of practice for others in the field. She became Executive Director in 2020.

Throughout her career, Nicole has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to philanthropic organizations and the people they serve. She serves on the board of Root, NS, a culinary training program for high-risk youth and is a member of its Strategic Planning Committee. She chairs the Family Builders Network, a collaborative group of foster and adoption organizations committed to finding permanent families for all young people. In prior years she chaired the board of the Mental Health and Addiction Network, a national fundraising group. Earlier in her career, Nicole worked for the City of Boston’s Emergency Shelter Commission, served on the Board of Directors of Rosie’s Place, a shelter for homeless women and provided relief staffing in a home for previously homeless women struggling with mental illness.

For 17 years, Nicole practiced law. Spending most of those years working with the Washington, DC, firm of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, she specialized in tax-exempt organizations, representing clients and providing legal and strategic counsel to a wide range of national foundations, charitable and lobbying organizations, associations and political action committees. Nicole has a BA in Political Science from Wellesley College and earned her JD from Northeastern University School of Law