About Us

Who we are

The Community Technical Assistance Center of New York (CTAC) and the Managed Care Technical Assistance Center of New York (MCTAC) are a training, consultation, and educational resource center serving all behavioral health agencies in New York State. We help agencies strengthen their clinical and business infrastructure through training opportunities focused on implementing evidence-based practices and addressing the challenges associated with the recent changes in regulations, financing and overall healthcare reforms.

What We Do

Co-directed by Drs. Kimberly Hoagwood and Andrew Cleek, CTAC was founded in 2011 as the Children's Technical Assistance Center and expanded in 2012 as the Community Technical Assistance Center to offer technical assistance to all Article 31 mental health clinics in New York State.

In 2014, CTAC expanded its scope through the Managed Care Technical Assistance Center (MCTAC), working in conjunction with New York State to provide technical assistance to all behavioral health agencies in New York State in preparation for the transition to Medicaid managed care. CTAC provides training and support on quality improvement strategies -- including training on specific clinical skills and evidence-based practices.

We help agencies develop strong business and financial models to ensure sustainability in the changing healthcare landscape.

Our Partners

A collaborative partnership aimed at improving outcomes for New York's children, families, and adults, CTAC and MCTAC have a strong set of New York state-based partners working collaboratively to provide training and technical assistance activities to your agency /clinic(s).

McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research

The McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University Silver School of Social Work is committed to creating new knowledge about the root causes of poverty, developing evidence-based interventions to address its consequences, and rapidly translating research findings into action.

http://mcsilver.nyu.edu/

Center on Addiction

Center on Addiction is a national nonprofit research and policy organization focused on improving the understanding, prevention and treatment of substance use and addiction. CASA connects science with policy and practice to better the lives of all people impacted by substance use and addiction.

http://www.centeronaddiction.org/

Coordinated Care Services, Inc. (CCSI)

CCSI has more than 25 years of experience in providing support to organizations in the behavioral health and human services fields so that they can improve services for those in need. CCSI will provide training and technical assistance related to billing practices & fiscal management, the use of data for quality improvement and decision making, and treatment supply & demand.

http://ccsi.org/

Families Together in New York State (FTNYS)

Families Together in New York State, Inc. is a non-profit, family-run organization that strives to establish a unified voice for children and youth with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. FTNYS has several initiatives designed to strengthen and sustain the important work of family support organizations and family advocates, including the Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) Training Initiative, the establishment of a Family Advocate Credential, the creation of learning collaborative opportunities for family advocates, and the development of data-informed strategies to better understand the unique contribution of family support as an important cross-system resource for families. FTNYS will provide consultation on training related to all parent support, engagement, multi-family group, and development of new training modules.

http://www.ftnys.org/

Institute for Community Living, Inc. (ICL)

With 25 years of experience providing services for people with serious mental illness, as well as those with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, ICL offers accessible, quality health and mental health care, family support, school-based services and more. ICL provides training and technical assistance in billing practices, fiscal management, data management and quality improvement.

http://iclinc.net/

NYAPRS

A statewide coalition of people who use and/or provide recovery oriented community based mental health services. NYAPRS is dedicated to improving services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities or diagnoses, and those with trauma-related conditions by promoting their recovery, rehabilitation and rights so that all people can participate freely in the opportunities of society. NYAPRS will provide consultation on developing and delivering peer directed services in adult mental health clinics.

http://www.nyaprs.org/

NYU IDEAS Center

The Center for Implementation and Dissemination of Evidence-based Practices in States (IDEAS Center) is focused on the advancement of implementation science in behavioral health systems serving children, adolescents and their families. Implementation and dissemination research focuses on how the best evidence-based practices in children’s behavioral health can be more efficiently and effectively put to use in a way that they will ultimately benefit the greatest number of children and families.

Funded by a combination of support from the National Institute of Mental Health (including a P30 Center grant) and New York State Office of Mental Health, the mission of the IDEAS Center is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of state roll-outs of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and quality improvement initiatives (QI).

https://www.ideas4kidsmentalhealth.org/

Our Team

Andrew F. Cleek

Andrew F. Cleek, PsyD | Executive Officer: McSilver-UIBH

Dr. Andrew F. Cleek is an expert on the scalable implementation of systems change initiatives, particularly related to healthcare reform, value based payments, Medicaid managed care, and trauma-informed services. He is the Chief Program Officer at McSilver Institute, where he oversees a portfolio of technical assistance offering training and support to all behavioral health, child welfare and intellectual and development disabilities-serving agencies in New York State. He additionally directs a number of initiatives involving trauma-informed prison education, early childhood mental health and the implementation of healthcare reform.

Prior to his current role, Dr. Cleek was the founding director of the Urban Institute for Behavioral Health, an association of 15 nonprofits dedicated to the implementation of evidence-based models in real-world settings. Dr. Cleek has 15 years of experience leading local and statewide, and national technical assistance activities to help nonprofits improve business, clinical, and administrative operations.

Dr. Cleek holds a PsyD degree and an MA degree in Clinical Psychology from Spalding University; and a BA degree in psychology from California State University, Long Beach. He is also a Research Assistant Professor at the NYU School of Medicine.

Lydia M. Franco

Lydia Franco, LMSW |

Lydia Franco, PhD, LMSW is Senior Director of Education and Innovation and a member of the Senior Leadership Team at the McSilver Institute. She is also the Director of the Community Technical Assistance Center of New York (CTAC), a statewide training and technical assistance center for licensed mental health providers.

Previously, Dr. Franco co-led the development of the 4 Rs and 2 Ss for Strengthening Families model, an evidence-based practice, and managed the NIMH-funded study that assessed its effectiveness within real world mental health clinics.

Dr. Franco has led a variety of technical assistance projects, including for the Connections to Care program through ThriveNYC. Moreover, she provides training and technical assistance expertise locally and nationally on engagement best practices, family strengthening approaches, workforce resilience, coaching and supervision, implementation science, and culturally responsive services.

Dr. Franco has clinical experience working with children and families in outpatient mental health. She was awarded with the SAMHSA-funded Council on Social Work Education’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minority Doctoral Fellowship Program and the 2019 NASW-NYC Sapphire Leadership Award. She received her PhD in Social Work from Rutgers University and her MSSW degree from Columbia University.

Boris Vilgorin

Boris Vilgorin, MPA |

Boris Vilgorin currently works at the McSilver Institute as the Health Care Strategy Officer. He provides technical assistance to all publicly-funded mental health, substance abuse, foster care and intellectually and development disability agencies in New York State that are transitioning to Managed Care and Value-Based Services. Vilgorin also is an Adjunct Lecturer at New York University Silver School of Social Work and Columbia University School of Social Work.

Vilgorin was formerly the Vice President Managed Care and Business Development, overseeing Managed Care Contracts and Services for F•E•G•S behavioral health network. He was also part of New York State Office of Mental Health Clinic Restructuring Stakeholder Workgroup and involved in implementation of New York State Department of Health Chronic Illness Demonstration Project, PROS and Health Home services. In addition, Vilgorin served in number of DSRIP/PPS Senior/Executive Committees and on the board of an Independent Practice Association (IPA). Prior to F•E•G•S, Vilgorin worked at Magellan Behavioral Health, where he implemented and supervised Call Center services, was part of development and implementation team, and served as contract manager for ambulatory care network for the metropolitan region.

He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Baruch College.

Diana M. Arias

Diana M. Arias, MSW, MS |

Diana M. Arias works with the Clinical Education and Innovation Department where she assists on developing and disseminating training initiatives throughout the State of New York. As a member of the Community Technical Assistance Center (CTAC) she assists in creating training and educational resource opportunities for behavioral health agencies. Arias has worked on initiatives related to trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, resilience, engagement best practices, sexual abuse/violence and service provider burnout. Additionally, she helped to coordinate the Family and Food Matters research projects, which address food insecurity among caregivers and kids as well as pregnant women.

Prior to joining McSilver, Arias was a clinical case manager for the Assessment and Referral Team (operated by Public Health Solutions through Ryan White HIV/AID Program funding) and provided time-limited, home-based, specialized case management services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, serious mental illness, and significant unmet needs. She has worked at Four Winds Hospital, which offers inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment services for children, adolescents and adults, and the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Department of Psychiatry on research projects.

Arias has an MS degree in Social Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MSW from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.

Meaghan Baier

Meaghan Baier, LMSW |

As the Assistant Director of Strategic Operations at McSilver Institute, Baier is an integral part of the team that manages the ongoing work of the Managed Care Technical Assistance Center (MCTAC), as well as a variety of other projects. Meg helps to oversee the daily operations of MCTAC, as well as numerous on-going partnerships and the development of trainings, tools, and resources to support ongoing healthcare transformation work.

Baier was formerly the Project Manager in the Department of Innovations at Institute for Community Living (ICL), one of MCTAC’s provider partners. In this role, she was responsible for the coordination and management of MCTAC and Community Technical Assistance Center of New York (CTAC) deliverables, including the management of various CTAC business offerings.

Baier received her MSW degree from Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work in Community Organizing, Planning and Development. Prior to her graduate studies, she lived in Alaska working as an advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence and as a program coordinator for children who had experienced abuse and neglect. Baier is passionate about social justice and trauma informed practices and has a background in the development and implementation of community violence plans and working within child welfare reform.

Patricia Batista-Quintero

Patricia L. Batista-Quintero, MPA |

Patricia L. Quintero is the Assistant Director of Analytics and Evaluation at the NYU McSilver Institute. In this role, she leads all evaluation, data analytics and system-wide infrastructure creation efforts for several technical assistance centers serving health care agencies in New York State. Under her leadership, data and metrics are consistently evaluated across various platforms to understand user behavior, inform stakeholders and produce tools to facilitate the implementation of best practices.

Quintero has over 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and has held previous roles encompassing web development, marketing, strategic planning and large event coordination. She completed the National Urban Fellows Leadership program and received her Master of Public Administration degree from CUNY Baruch College. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development from Binghamton University, along with multiple advanced certificate degrees in health care, nonprofit leadership and project management.

Susan Burger

As the Director of Family Peer Advocate Credentialing and Workforce Development at Families Together in NYS, Susan brings with her 22 years of both personal and professional experience in the field of peer-to-peer support and advocacy. Susan is committed to developing a strong, credentialed Family Peer Advocate workforce. She provides outreach and assistance to family support programs and caregivers interested in becoming professional Family Peer Support workers. Susan works closely with the Community Technical Assistance Center on projects related to the Parent Empowerment Program Training, continuing education for Family Peer Advocates and their supervisors, and overall growth and sustainability of Family Peer Support Services. Susan earned a Bachelor of Arts from CUNY Brooklyn College, a New York State Family Development Credential from Cornell University Division of Continuing Education and a Family Peer Advocate Credential from Families Together in NYS.

Geraldine “Jerry” Burton

Geraldine “Jerry” Burton, FDC, CFPA |

As a veteran mental health advocate and a pioneer of the mental health family support movement in New York State, Geraldine Burton is committed to the principles of collaboration, partnership, and cooperation with service agencies and with the research community. She has worked collaboratively with the McSilver Institute’s Clinical Education and Innovation Department (CEID) and Technical Assistance Center (TAC) teams to plan and implement a series of offerings supporting mental health clinical and family peer support providers and other related programs.

As well, Burton has participated in curriculum development for these programs: Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) training, 4 Rs and 2 Ss for Parent Partners, Veteran Families Unite, and Family and Food Matters! In addition, she has led many CTAC activities in past, specifically pertaining to family peer support. She has identified, planned, and implemented a series of training and technical assistance offerings geared to the needs of family support programs.

Burton is a co-facilitator and New York State trainer for the NAMI NYC Metro Family-to-Family, NAMI Basics Education and Home Front programs. She is a member of Families Together in NYS, Inc., Families on the Move! and the FPA Workforce Development Advisory Council.

Ruth Colón-Wagner

Ruth Colón-Wagner, LMSW |

Ruth has over 27 years of experience in the field of Child Welfare, Homeless Services, Employment, and Mental Health Care working with Children, Adults, and Families. For 12 years, Ruth served as Director of mental health programs at the Mental Health Association of Rockland County. During that time, Ruth brought recovery-based, person-centered and culturally competent approaches to increase staff competency and increase client outcomes. Ruth currently works with NYAPRS as Director of Training and Development and manages various initiatives for the organization including training providers across New York State in recovery-oriented principles and practices to transform our system of care. Ruth received her MSW from Hunter College School of Social Work and is licensed as a social worker in New York State. Ruth’s other specialties includes Group Facilitation, Program Management and Compassion Fatigue. Ruth is certified as a Dialectical Behavioral Therapist, a Functional Family Therapist and a Life Skills Educator.

Chris Copeland

Chris Copeland, LCSW |

Mr. Copeland joined ICL in 2011 as the agency’s Chief Program Officer. In his new role as COO, Chris will ensure that the agency continues to produce quality outcomes that meet the demand of the Triple AIM of: improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing per capita costs of health care. An experienced leader and innovator, Mr. Copeland brings to the position his over 30 years of clinical and administrative healthcare experience both in the United States and England. Prior to joining ICL, Mr. Copeland lived in Maine where he took on progressively more responsible positions at the Tri-County Mental Health Services, before ultimately assuming the position of CEO. Mr. Copeland’s expertise is in combining the need for fiscal responsibility with clinical excellence, particularly when funding and resources are severely compromised. He is a recognized expert in identifying the role that trauma plays in the seeking and receiving of social and health care, and transforming service systems to be trauma informed. Mr. Copeland received his social work degree in England in 1985 where he worked in inner city projects and subsequently as an administrator for a psychiatric social work team at St James University Hospital in Leeds, England.

Caitlin Cronin

Caitlin Cronin |

Caitlin Cronin works primarily with the Institute’s Managed Care Technical Assistance Center (MCTAC). As part of MCTAC she helps build infrastructure, create interactive tools, cultivate resources, and craft presentations to help train providers in Managed Care and other system transitions. She also works to facilitate the institute’s growing efforts to offer CE credits for behavioral health trainings and assists with the creation of reports, research papers, and grant applications. Caitlin also coordinates and produces content for various projects with Managed Care Plans as well as consultation with provider networks.

Caitlin received her BA in psychology from Vassar College, graduating with departmental and general honors. While at school she engaged in research looking at the intersection of social psychology and media specifically in regards to gender, emotional regulation, and the role and effects of “edutainment.”

Kara Dean-Assael

Kara Dean-Assael, LMSW, DSW Candidate |

Kara Dean-Assael is Co-Director of the McSilver Institute’s Clinical Education and Innovation Department and the Clinical Leader for the Community Technical Assistance Center of New York State (CTAC). She was the co-director of an NIMH-funded project that is now known as the 4 Rs and 2 Ss for Strengthening Families Program and has spent years training clinicians and supervisors on how to utilize the model in their settings.

As an innovator, Dean-Assael develops, coordinates, manages, produces, and facilitates various programs, projects, and trainings, both locally and nationally. She also co-founded the 501c3 Fareground, Inc. in 2012, a project that focuses on food justice in Dutchess County, NY. She is passionate about helping to create and disseminate programs and practices to improve family mental health and outcomes for families, children, and adults.

Dean-Assael holds an MSW degree from Columbia University School of Social Work, and has been working with children and families since 1997.

Ashley Fuss

Ashley Fuss, LMSW |

Ashley Fuss works as an evaluation associate with McSilver Institute, where she designs program evaluation and research assessment batteries.

Dr. Fuss’ research interests include the psychosocial well-being of veterans, service members and military families, and prevention research. She received her MSW degree from Fordham University with a concentration in research, and her PhD degree from University of Pennsylvania.

Briana Goncalves

Brian Goncalves |

Briana Gonçalves primarily serves in the Clinical Education and Innovation Department (CEID) managing the daily work of a variety of technical assistance projects, including the Community Technical Assistance Center (CTAC) and the Managed Care Community of Practice (MC-COP) for Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Providers.

As Program Associate, Gonçalves facilitates the creation and coordination of training, tools, and resources to support the diverse service delivery and business needs of the behavioral health and I/DD provider populations. Gonçalves assists in the development and submission of grant proposals and research publications in the areas of training and technical assistance, social determinants of health, trauma-informed care and resilience, and workforce development.

Gonçalves is pursuing her doctoral studies at NYU Steinhardt in Educational Leadership. She is a graduate of NYU Steinhardt’s master’s degree program in educational leadership, politics, and advocacy.

Prior to joining the McSilver Institute, Gonçalves worked with Success Academy Charter Schools in Brooklyn, NY fostering an environment of intellectual growth in a K-4 elementary school. There, she managed students’ special education needs and programs, as well as local and state-wide assessments and data collection.

Priya Gopalan

Priya Gopalan, LMSW |

As Program Associate for Evaluation and Research, Gopalan provides technical assistance with program implementation and evaluation. She has worked with local, national and global research initiatives, helping to train staff on mental health initiatives and build organizational capacity to collect and use data.

Gopalan joined the McSilver Institute as a research evaluator and program coordinator. She has experience with both quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods. Her research interests include substance use treatment, health equity, and cultural competence training.

Gopalan holds an MSW degree from New York University Silver School of Social Work and an MS degree in Applied Statistics for Social Science Research from Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at NYU.

Kimberly Hoagwood

Kimberly Hoagwood, PhD |

Since coming to NYS from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Kimberly Hoagwood, PhD, has worked to advance knowledge about effective implementation strategies for improving the uptake of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in the New York State public mental health system. She has received substantial federal funding to study effective implementation of EBP's within the state public mental health systems, including the new NIMH-funded Center on Implementation Science, which is focused on researching innovative strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of evidence-based services in state mental health programs. Her research portfolio includes numerous studies underway to examine the impact of family-to-family engagement and empowerment interventions and strategies for improving the uptake and sustainability of these therapies within NYS school and outpatient clinics Dr. Hoagwood is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry at Columbia University, the Child Unit Director for the Division of Mental Health Services and Policy Research at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and is the Director of Youth Services Research in the Office of Performance Measurement and Evaluation within the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH).

Jayson Jones

Jayson Jones, LMSW |

Jayson Jones is the Assistant Director of the McSilver Institute’s Clinical Education and Innovation Department. He develops and disseminates clinical initiatives and trainings throughout the State of New York, and serves as the Manager of the CTAC-MCTAC Self-Learning Center. Within this role, he oversees the development of all self-paced learning initiatives offered by the Community Technical Assistance Center of New York. He also served as the creator and inaugural host of the Black Boys and Men: Changing the Narrative Podcast Series and as a coordinator and school-lead for the Step Up program. Prior to joining the McSilver Institute, he served as a City Year Corps Member and with a number of New York based non-profit agencies addressing the academic and mental health needs of children, young adults, and senior citizens. Mr. Jones holds a BS in Human Development from Cornell University and an MSW from the Columbia School of Social Work.

Yvette Kelly

Yvette Kelly, LMHC |

Yvette Kelly is Director, Children Services and Healthcare Innovation at McSilver Institute. Bridging clinical and business practices, she assists behavioral health providers throughout New York State to develop competencies for enhancing organizational efficiencies. Her expertise includes strategies for effective supervision, documentation, revenue cycle management, and managed care.

Kelly has over a decade of experience working with children and families. Passionate about ensuring that the world’s most vulnerable populations have access to high quality services, she has served in a variety of roles over the years, including: Clinician, Supervisor, Quality Improvement Coordinator and more recently, Director of Children’s Mental Health.

Kelly received a Master of Science in Education degree from The College of Saint Rose and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor.

Anne Kuppinger

Anne Kuppinger |

Anne Kuppinger has focused her professional energies on fostering partnerships that improve access to effective and responsive services for children and families. This includes partnerships between researchers, providers, funders, policymakers, families, youth and communities – working together to achieve positive outcomes. Anne’s current focus at CTAC is on scaling up the training and credentialing of Family and Youth Peer Advocates, promoting family-driven and youth-guided practice, and supporting children’s services providers as they adapt to changes in the healthcare environment. Anne earned her BA in History from Boston College and her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Daniella Labate

Daniella Labate, MSW |

Daniella has worked in the field of recovery services for the past 18 years. She has experience working in and overseeing Continuing Day Treatment, Intensive Psychiatric Rehabilitation Treatment (IPRT) and Personalized Recovery Oriented Services (PROS) Programs in New York City. She is a certified Cognitive Remediation Specialist and oversaw Cognitive Remediation services in the IPRT and PROS programs she worked in. She also has experience writing group curricula and has presented at both local and national conferences on developing group curricula and the implantation of Cognitive Remediation.

Daniella oversaw the transition to Medicaid Managed Care in a PROS program in NYC and took her expertise to NYAPRS in May 2016 where she became the Director of Managed Care Readiness Initiatives. Daniella is using her skills to coordinate with MCTAC and MCTAC partners to facilitate in person trainings, webinars and developing learning communities for providers with little or no experience billing Medicaid. She is also working with Performing Provider Systems (PPS) to meet with their partners, where she is providing technical assistance in transitioning to a value based payment environment and helping them to be ready to meet the needs of DSRIP.

Daniella holds a Master’s degree from Hunter College School of Social Work.

Carla Lisio

Carla Lisio, LCSW | Director of Health Care Reform Consultation

Carla Lisio leads the Health Care Reform Technical Assistance Center at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). As a licensed clinical social worker, she brings over 25 years of experience in the behavioral health arena as a clinician and an administrator. Prior to joining CASA, she served as the Executive Vice President of a not-for-profit, behavioral health organization, leading that organization’s services through adaptive change and growth in the environment of health care reform. She graduated with a BS in Psychology from Cornell University and earned an MS in Social Work from Columbia University. She holds a certificate in Not-For-Profit Business Management from the Columbia University Business School.

Elizabeth Meeker

Elizabeth Meeker, PsyD |

Elizabeth is Director of Training and Practice Transformation for Coordinated Care Services, Inc. where she provides technical assistance in System of Care development, particularly in the area of Trauma Informed Care. She is also a Clinical Consultant for the Monroe County Office of Mental Health (MCOMH) providing expertise in the area of child and family services. Elizabeth presents and consults on a range of topics including trauma-informed care, trauma, grief and loss, and family engagement to cross system providers including mental health, substance abuse, child welfare, education, probation and family advocates. She served as the first coordinator of The Consortium on Trauma, Illness, and Grief in Schools (TIG), a program that provides training and consultation to assist the nineteen school districts in Monroe County in being prepared to respond to crisis situations. In addition to her administrative and consultation work, Dr. Meeker is a licensed clinical psychologist and has a private clinical practice specializing in children, adolescents, and young adults. She completed her pre-doctoral training at Hutchings Psychiatric Center in Syracuse, NY. She received her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Indiana State University, MS in Psychology from Indiana State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wellesley College.

Charles J. Neighbors

Charles J. Neighbors, PhD, MBA | Director of Health Services Research

Dr. Neighbors oversees research on treatment system change and integration with health care at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). He came to CASA from Brown Medical School where he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and a Research Fellow. Prior to that, he was a Financial Analyst at Kraft-General Foods in White Plains, New York. He received his BA in history and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis, his MBA in finance from Indiana University, and his PhD in clinical psychology from Rutgers University.

Research Topics: Health care reform; treatment systems change; big data analytics; integration of behavioral health care into mainstream health care

Briannon O'Connor

Briannon O'Connor PhD | Senior Consultant

Dr. O’Connor is a Senior Consultant in the Center for Collaboration in Community Health at CCSI, where she is currently developing and expanding services for child-serving mental health organizations and growing research and development initiatives. Previously, Dr. O’Connor’s experience centered on improving the quality of care for children and adolescents with mental health disorders. Dr. O’Connor received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University at Buffalo, where she conducted empirical research to enhance the effectiveness of behavioral interventions for children with disruptive behavior disorders and to develop models for disseminating Evidence-Based Practices into school and community settings. She completed her pre-doctoral training at the Center for ADHD at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York State. Through her post-doctoral fellowship in The Center for Implementation-Dissemination of Evidence-Based Practices (IDEAS Center) in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of NYU, her work focused on developing behavioral health care quality indicators for primary care settings and measuring access to mental health care. Dr. O’Connor has substantial expertise in research methodologies and data analytics, and has published peer-reviewed articles in journals such as JAMA Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Implementation Science, Psychiatric Services, Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, The Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, The Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, School Mental Health.

Aida Ortiz

Aida Ortiz |

Aida Y. Ortiz has been a Community Collaborative Board (CCB) member since 1999, helping with designing, delivering and testing interventions for poverty-impacted communities. As well, she is a Parent Advocate, trained and credentialed by the Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) at the McSilver Institute. She works collaboratively with the McSilver Institute’s Clinical Education and Innovation Department (CEID), and Community Technical Assistance Center (CTAC) to identify, plan and implement a series of offerings in support of mental health providers and other related programs. She has also worked with curriculum development and group facilitation the Family and Food Matters, and the Family and Food Matters for Pregnant Woman studies.

Ortiz served as an Assistant Community Coordinator for the CHAMPIONS Project, an HIV prevention program for youth that was driven by community members.

Tara Ready

Tara Ready, MSW |

Tara Ready is engaged with a variety of McSilver Institute’s training and technical assistance initiatives, including the Managed Care Technical Assistance Center (MCTAC) and the Community Technical Assistance Center of New York (CTAC). As part of MCTAC, she develops content, supports communications, and coordinates trainings related to New York’s transition to Medicaid Managed Care. Ready is also involved with developing content for CTAC’s Provider Spotlight, an initiative that aims to highlight the amazing work of providers and clinicians who participate in the program’s various offerings.

Tara is particularly committed to reducing stigma and removing systemic barriers that individuals who experience mental illness and/or the effects of poverty often face. Before joining McSilver Institute, she received her BSW and MSW degrees from NYU Silver School of Social Work.

Lenora Reid-Rose

Lenora Reid-Rose, MBA |

Ms. Reid-Rose leads CCSI’s work in the areas of Cultural Competence and Health Equity. With more than two decades of experience in the behavioral health field, she has served as a consultant and educator at the state, regional and national levels. Ms. Reid-Rose has extensive expertise in developing and implementing cultural competence assessments, training initiatives, and programs - helping agencies understand where they are on the continuum of cultural competence and then identifying critical changes in policy, practice, education and training needed to support continued progress. She brings with her a well-established network of national experts in the field of organizational development, data analytics, and research in the areas of cultural competence and social determinants of health that she routinely taps to remain informed and knowledgeable regarding research, advances, best practices and emerging works.

Ms. Reid-Rose’s experience spans across local, state and national levels. She has served as co-director of the Nathan Kline Center of Excellence, focused on establishing community-defined and practice-based evidence for cultural groups and as a member of the New York State Office of Mental Health Multicultural Advisory Committee. She is a current member of the NYS Minority Health Council, which guides the preservation and improvement of minority health in NYS and advises the Commissioner of Health on these issues. Ms. Reid-Rose is the former Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York State Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) and continues to serve on various NYAPRS committees as well as on the Diversity Committee and Membership Committee of the American Association of Mental Health Administrators. She was instrumental in the creation of, and continues to administer, the Prevention, Access, Self-Empowerment, and Support (PASS) program, an immersive experience that aims to improve the psychosocial, educational, family interaction, and community outcomes of youth, and instills in them the need to be accountable for their own lives by taking ownership of their behaviors and actions.

James Rodriguez

James Rodriguez, PhD |

Dr. James Rodriguez is a Senior Research Scientist and Director of Trauma-Informed Services at the McSilver Institute. He is a New York State-licensed clinical social worker and psychologist with over 25 years of providing mental health services to children, youth and families in a variety of service settings, including direct practice, training and research experience in the area of trauma treatment and services. His work at McSilver Institute includes the development and dissemination of training materials to promote trauma-informed care in diverse service settings for children, youth and families. In addition, Dr. Rodriguez has a private practice that focuses on trauma treatment. As well, he is an adjunct faculty member and teaches cultural competence at the NYU Silver School of Social Work.

Prior to coming to McSilver, Dr. Rodriguez was a child therapist in the School-Based Mental Health program in the Department of Psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) and a research scientist with the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University.

Dr. Rodriguez received his MSW degree from Columbia University School of Social Work and his PhD in counseling psychology, counselor education and supervision, from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Anthony Salerno

Anthony Salerno, PhD |

Dr. Anthony Salerno is a New York State-licensed psychologist with over 30 years of public mental health experience in adult inpatient and outpatient settings. He is the McSilver Institute’s Innovation and Implementation Officer. In that role, he assists organizations serving impoverished communities to systematically adopt and sustain practice innovations with an emphasis on implementing trauma-informed and resiliency-supporting practices in a variety of educational, primary care, forensic and behavioral health programs serving children and adults.

In New York State, Dr. Salerno has developed system-wide strategies to promote evidence-based practices, with a particular emphasis on health self-management and family psycho-education. He was the lead author of the Wellness Self-Management curriculum-based program designed for adults with serious mental illness which received the Science to Service Award by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2010.

Prior to becoming a psychologist, Dr. Salerno was a high school teacher and guidance counselor. He has extensive experience as an educator, clinical trainer, supervisor, senior administrator, consultant, treatment developer and implementation specialist in areas such as psychiatric rehabilitation, health self- management, trauma, resilience, integrated care, group facilitation and health policy.

He received his PhD degree in Psychology from New York University.

Priscilla Shorter

Priscilla Shorter |

Priscilla is an energetic and motivated professional with 15 years of experience in the field of family support and advocacy in both education and hospital-research settings. She is currently a Parent Partner at the IDEAS Center, and in this capacity, provides training to clinicians on the 4R’s and 2S’s Program, a curriculum-based practice is designed to strengthen families, decrease child behavioral problems, and increase engagement in care by teaching the 4Rs (rules, roles and responsibilities, respectful communication, and relationships) and 2Ss (stress and social support). She has also worked as a ‘Standardized Parent’ for Columbia University/The New York State Psychiatric Institute, where she conducted 'walkthroughs' in service settings with family peer advocates, interviewed research subjects and conducted data entry and management of research data and information. Priscilla has also served as a Project Coordinator for the Parent Empowerment Program at Columbia University, a training and consultation program developed over a number of years through the collaborative efforts of researchers, practitioners, parents, parent advocates, and policymakers, designed to promote parents as agents of change for children’s mental health. Priscilla has also worked as an advocate for the Department of Education, helping families, parents, and her education colleagues to tackle complex situations regarding social and health issues, inclusion, case management, aging out of the education system, and guardianship.

Gabrielle Steinwachs

Gabrielle Steinwachs, MA |

Gabrielle is a Consultant for Coordinated Care Services, Inc. (CCSI). She and her team collaborate with local and statewide organizations to develop, oversee, and deliver evaluation strategies to understand and improve the quality, value, and impact of programs and services. Gabrielle completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology at The College at Brockport. Gabrielle served as the Project Coordinator in the Health Risk Behavior Laboratory where her team examined family routines, parenting profiles, and adolescent and young adult health behaviors. These efforts led to publications in peer-reviewed journals including, Journal of Health Psychology, Journal of Child and Family Studies, and Addictive Behaviors. Ms. Steinwachs also completed original research examining social disclosure of child physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and post-traumatic stress symptoms in adulthood. Gabrielle has worked professionally with children and families who have experienced trauma, unstable housing, substance abuse, and mental illness. She has provided risk assessment, risk behavior planning, and training for direct care professionals to safely support people transitioning from secure institutional care to community settings.

Joslyn Teter-McBride

Joslyn Teter-McBride, MSW |

Ms. Teter-McBride works as a project coordinator for Coordinated Care Services, Inc. (CCSI). She supports various initiatives which includes responsibilities such as logistical and technical support, reporting out on projects, approving contracts and invoices, and maintaining work plans with associated tasks. She previously worked with the Quality Improvement Department assisting in the development of evaluations, data entry and cleaning, and by collecting and analyzing data to evaluate human service programs locally, regionally, and nationally. Other experience includes contract negotiation and coordination for the development of a behavioral health network in Upstate New York under the New York Care Coordination Program. Ms. Teter-McBride received a Master’s of Social Work from the Greater Rochester Collaborative Social Work Program from Nazareth College and State University of New York at Brockport and her Bachelor’s in Sociology from the State University of New York at Brockport.

Phuong Tran

Phuong Tran |

Phuong Tran coordinates the clinical initiatives for the Clinical Education and Innovation Department (CEID). She hosts national and statewide webinars, handles administrative logistics, and assists in research studies and designing learning modules.

Tran holds a BS degree in neuroscience and behavioral biology from Emory University, where she was director of the Alternative Breaks division for Volunteer Emory, coordinating intensive service trips on various social justice issues such as health disparities, socioeconomic insecurity and education.

Janet Watson

| Janet Watson

Janet Watson has been an active member of the the Community Collaborative Board since 2003. She is a parent advocate trained and credential in the Parent Empowerment Program (PEP) and was involved with the Poverty and Shame Research Project at McSilver Institute. She is also involved in the Clinical Education and Innovation Department (CEID), Community Technical Assistant Center of New York (CTAC) and the Family and Food Matters Program (FAFM) programs.

Watson has served as a community coordinator for the CHAMPIONS program, an HIV prevention program for early and middle school students. Watson was also involved with other federally-funded research projects: (NIMH) Collaborative HIV Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP). In addition, she has served as a Community Outreach Worker, where she provided referrals for clients to access necessary health care and support services in the community.

David Wawrzynek

David Wawrzynek, MS, MBA | Senior VP for Finance at Spectrum Human Services

David E. Wawrzynek MS, MBA is Senior Vice President for Finance at Spectrum Human Services which is a private, non-profit community mental health organization, recognized as one of the most effective behavioral healthcare providers in Western New York. David has more than 35 years’ experience in public behavioral health and in his career has worked as a Substance Abuse Counselor, Mental Health Clinician/Supervisor, Clinical Program Director and Executive Management CFO. David has joined his clinical training and experience with his business/financial training and experience to bring a unique perspective and set of skills to the efficient and effective management of behavioral health services. In recent years David has been concentrating on the development of analytic modeling tools, communication platforms, and knowledge management supports to transform raw data into meaningful information to enable more effective strategic and operational insights and decision-making.

Naomi Weinstein

Naomi Weinstein, MPH |

Naomi Weinstein is the Vice President, Innovations, at ICL, where she focuses on training and clinical excellence. Ms. Weinstein has a long-standing interest in the needs of vulnerable individuals and families, and has extensive experience developing and managing training, education and technical assistance programs for mental health, substance abuse, child welfare and family court. Ms. Weinstein is the author of numerous curricula and other clinical resources, and has a special interest in curriculum development. Prior to ICL, Ms. Weinstein worked at the Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, where she directed the Center for Rehabilitation and Recovery, and at Phoenix House’s Center on Addiction and the Family for 15 years. Ms. Weinstein has a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University.

Effective Care.
Efficient Practices.

Since 2011.

About Us

Who we are

What We Do

Our Partners

McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research

Center on Addiction

Coordinated Care Services, Inc. (CCSI)

Families Together in New York State (FTNYS)

Institute for Community Living, Inc. (ICL)

NYAPRS

NYU IDEAS Center

Our Team

You are here

Effective Care. Efficient Practices.

Since 2011.

About Us

Who we are

What We Do

Our Partners

McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research

Center on Addiction

Coordinated Care Services, Inc. (CCSI)

Families Together in New York State (FTNYS)

Institute for Community Living, Inc. (ICL)

NYAPRS

NYU IDEAS Center

Our Team

Effective Care.
Efficient Practices.