RCCP Director

Martha J. Holden, M.S., is a Senior Extension Associate with the BCTR, principal investigator and Director of the RCCP. Ms. Holden provides technical assistance and training to residential child caring agencies, schools, juvenile justice programs, and child welfare organizations throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Israel. She is the author of Children and Residential Experiences (CARE): Creating Conditions for Change, a program model for residential care organizations and the lead developer of the TCI System. Ms. Holden has published in the Children’s and Youth Services Review, Child Abuse and Neglect: An International Journal, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Problems, Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, and The Journal of Child And Youth Care Work. She has co-authored chapters in the books, Therapeutic residential care for children and youth: Developing evidence-based international practice; For Your Own Safety: Examining the Safety of High-risk Interventions for Children and Young People; International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Volume 2, Trans-forming Troubled Lives: Strategies and Interventions with Children and Young People with Social, Emotional, and Behavioural Difficulties; Understanding Abusive Families: An ecological approach to theory and practice. Previously Ms. Holden served as an administrator overseeing the day-to-day operations of a residential treatment agency for adolescents, including its education resources.

Zachary Barry, M.S.W., is an Extension Support Specialist at the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research/Residential Child Care Project. A TCI trainer since 2013, Zac has trained school staff, residential workers, community-based workers, and foster parents to prevent, manage, and de-escalate crises. As a social worker, Zac has served youth and families through numerous roles within residential treatment centers and community-based services. Zac has developed agency policies, procedures, and developed a nationally recognized model to provide youth and families meals over extended school breaks. Zac’s research interests include resiliency and post traumatic growth. Zac provides training and technical assistance in TCI, TCIS, and TCIF

Richard Heresniak has worked in school and residential care settings since 1985 in a variety of capacities including direct care, school support services, supervisor, and staff training/development coordinator. Richard was the first professionally certified TCI trainer and was a consultant with the RCCP from 2003 until 2018, when he was hired as a full time faculty. He provides training and technical assistance in TCI, TCIS, and CARE. His work with the project also includes curriculum design and development, as well as providing written contributions to project communications.

Amin Lilley is a TCI instructor and CARE consultant for the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell University.  He has worked for Astor Services for Children and Families since 2007. In 2009, he became a TCI trainer. During his time at Astor, Amin has held several positions including:  Direct Care Professional, Therapeutic Support Counselor, and Direct Care Manager.  He has served in numerous supervisory roles at Astor as well.  Currently, Amin is the Manager of Training and Staff Development. In this capacity, he builds and oversees many of the trainings, including: TCI, CARE, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Family-Driven Care, Supervisory Skills, and Self-Care.  He also assists Astor with recruitment and staff retention, as well as performance improvement initiatives. In his years at Astor, Amin has worked alongside clinicians, educators, governing bodies, administrators, families, school programs, and foster care programs.  In addition to being the co-chair for Astor’s Diversity Counsel, he is also a member of the Ulster County Anti-Racism Committee. Helping leaders with performance improvement and organizational culture shifting is his passion.

Kirra Pope, B.F.A., is an Extension Associate with the BCTR with the Residential Child Care Project. She has dedicated her life’s work to helping children and young people process and heal from trauma. Kirra’s Bachelor's Degree is in Fine Arts from DePaul University where she majored in Theatre Studies and minored in Psychology and Women and Gender Studies. Kirra’s career spans over 18 years working with the youth and adolescents in schools as a behavior specialist, and in residential facilities as a youth advocate, unit supervisor, and training coordinator. Her research interests include teaching trauma informed care techniques to foster families and single mothers.

Mary Ruberti, LMSW, is an Extension Associate with the BCTR. Mary has worked in child welfare and residential treatment for over 25 years in various roles including direct care worker, supervisor, social worker, training coordinator, and quality assurance manager. She has been affiliated with the RCCP since 1993. She provides training and technical assistance to agencies implementing Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) and Children and Residential Experiences (CARE) in the USA, Canada, Australia, Bermuda, and South Korea.

Andrea Turnbull, LMHC, is an Extension Associate within the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translation Research at Cornell University. Andrea serves as the Program Manager of Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI). With over 25 years of experience working with children and staff in out of home care settings, Andrea provides training and technical assistance in a variety of residential, juvenile justice, foster, school and community programs across the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, South Korea, and Australia. She works closely with the RCCP team to support organizations with TCI implementation and fidelity.

Deborah E. Sellers, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation for RCCP, is a sociologist with master’s level preparation in biostatistics. Debbie coordinates research and evaluation activities as well as data collection and reporting activities required in the implementation of TCI and CARE. She has expertise in program and research administration, research and evaluation design, the design and implementation of survey research, and the analysis of quantitative data as well as data collection and processing. Debbie has managed multi-year, multi-site, multi-component studies for 25 years and has published in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Preventive Medicine, Health Education and Behavior, Patient Education and Counseling, Social Science and Medicine, and Prevention Science.

Charles Izzo, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate at the BCTR and a member of the research team in the RCCP. He studied Clinical and Community Psychology with a specialty in the design and evaluation of community-based services to improve family functioning. His work has focused on applying social science research and methods to improve the quality of human service programs, particularly those that target caregiving. He has published in journals such as Prevention Science, The American Journal of Community Psychology, and the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community.

Lisa McCabe, Ph.D., is a Research Associate at the BCTR. Her research focuses on supporting high-quality services for children and families through program evaluations and policy studies in the areas of child welfare, early care and education, and home visiting. Lisa has published in scholarly journals such as Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Infant Mental Health Journal, Educational Policy, and the International Journal of Child and Family Welfare. Her work has also been shared through practitioner focused papers (e.g., Zero to Three) and research/policy briefs (e.g., QuickTRIP) designed to bridge the research to practice gap.

Michael Nunno, D.S.W., is a Senior Extension Associate, Emeritus with the BCTR. He has expertise in social policy, regulation, and legislation related to child welfare issues and specific expertise in the identification, prevention, and etiology of child abuse and neglect in residential care. More recently, Dr. Nunno has been working with therapeutic and residential child-care organizations to measure the impact of the RCCP's TCI system and CARE program model on critical incidents.  He has edited a Child Welfare League of America book For our own safety: Examining the safety of high-risk interventions for children and young people, and published in Children and Youth Services Review, Prevention Science, Child & Youth Care ForumResidential Treatment for Children and Youth, Child Welfare, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, and Child Abuse & Neglect: An International Journal.

Elliott G. Smith, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist with methodological expertise in experimental psychology and statistical analysis and content specialization in child maltreatment and child welfare. He is a Research Associate at the BCTR where he serves as statistician and CARE data specialist for the RCCP. In his research, Elliot evaluates the evidence for the effectiveness of the CARE program model. His implementation efforts center around providing quantitative data back to practice professionals in ways that is approachable, motivating, and actionable. His published research has appeared in numerous journals, including Child Welfare, Developmental Psychology, Journal of the American Medical Association, Pediatrics, and Prevention Science.

Kris Carlison (kmc16@cornell. edu): Handles financial, systems management, and administrative operations for the RCCP. She is responsible for New York State (NYS), National, International, and non-sponsored accounts; NYS and Federal proposal and budget creation (NYS, NIJ, DOE, SAMHSA (USDHHS), modification, and submission including reporting. She ensures reporting compliance to all funding sources, and provides supervision of support staff and oversight of positions’ responsibilities. Kris handles data systems and evaluation management for TCI and CARE.

Katelyn Decker, (kmd279@ cornell.edu): Coordinates shipments and packs training materials for NYS, national and on-site classes; orders training box materials, mats, CD’s, and flash drives; scans class information into databases; fills out and sends professional development certificates; sends out weekly Status of Training emails to instructors/staff; and handles participant list corrections and revisions.

Kristie Lockwood, B.S. (kap9@cornell.edu): Is responsible for packing and unpacking of evaluation/ test boxes for NYS, national, international and on-site classes; conference and event planning; updating and modifing the database for research and evaluation projects; handling TCI Fidelity surveys; preparing reports (packing, maintaining, scanning, etc.); and processing TCIS Syracuse City School district NIJ grant-surveys.

Brittany McCown (beb72@cornell.edu): Creates and tracks all POs for RCCP. Maintain information about agency restraint policies/ behavior audits. Invoice and process all workbook/ certificate orders and replacement material orders. Process consultant and casual employee payments. Review and approve hotel contracts and conduct hotel bill audits of the invoices for accuracy. Invoicing and deposits for on-site trainings and open TCI trainings and CARE. Conduct
account reconciliation and monitor bills and payments for accuracy to accounts.

Alissa Medero (ab358@cornell. edu): Handles TCI class registrations, including national and on-site; processes payments for classes; coordinates and schedules on-site TCI classes, including instructors, locations, etc. Alissa manages initial on-site contact, provides information regarding TCI programs.

Debbie Mojica (dmh20@cornell.edu): Sends reference guide packets to all national, NYS, and on-site participants; coordinates and schedules date requests with hotels for annual trainings for national and NYS events, as well as contacts sales office and catering representatives; and processes NYS (STARS) TCI class registrations.

Trudy Radcliffe, B.A. (tr55@cornell.edu): Is rsponsible for CARE project logistics, including trainings and online and paper surveys (packing, maintaining, scanning, etc.), certifications (assisting with grading and test creation), management of agency information and status with CARE project, invoicing and deposits of contract payments, ordering CARE training materials, and CARE agency report creation.

Eugene Saville, B.S. (eas20@cornell.edu): Handles administrative, contractual, and policy changes/issues for the project. He also plans for delivery of new training courses and creates online, in-service, and/or blended learning environments, activities and RCCP training course content, including revisions of current programs. Eugene provide general computer and RCCP database support and guidance to RCCP staff and faculty; and develops new interactive learning capacities and maintains the RCCP's web site. Eugene also provides program support for data management and instructional support.

Holly Smith, A.A.S. (hs226@cornell.edu): Is responsible for TCI certifications, including conditionals, class grading, and test creation and modification (including STARS); certification renewals and expirations; NYS, national, and international quarterly reports, professional certification-sending letters and maintaining information; certification rules; and maintaining Agency Injury Reporting, an on-line reporting and notification system, when an injury has been reported.

Jennifer Appleby, M.S.W., has worked as both a clinician and as an administrator for the past 14 years as part of Spurwink services day and residential programming. During this time she also provided CARE training, and served on various agency wide committees serving the clinical needs of children and families, as well as the training and coaching of staff. During her tenure at Spurwink, Jen was also instrumental in creating arts and recreation programming, securing grants to provide materials; renovating a space; and training staff on the use of games, arts and activities as meaningful therapeutic interventions. Jen has recently moved into private practice where she continues to serve children and their families.

Linda Avitan, M.S.W., has worked in Israel with youth at risk for over thirty years, including residential and foster care. She began working with TCI in 2006, and has instructed TCI/S in Israel and in the United States. Serving on the Israel TCI Steering Committee, she has coordinated the program and been involved in policy making and innovations such as trainer peer-group supervision. Linda is certified in Marital and Family Therapy and Mediation, as well as in Parental Consultation for Children with AD/HD, which she utilizes in her private practice.

Craig Bailey, B.S., has worked with youth in residential care and school settings since 1996. He has served youth and families through Hillside Children’s Center, Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES, and Crestwood Children’s Center. Craig is currently a Manager in Organization Development and Learning with Hillside, located in Rochester, NY. He is a primary TCI Trainer and CARE Educator for new employees and helps coordinate the implementation of the TCI system and CARE program model throughout all of the service affiliates of Hillside. Craig has worked as a consultant with the RCCP since 2007 and facilitates TCI Train-the-Trainer and TCI Trainer Updates in the United States and internationally.

Shlomit Branski, M.S.W, has been working with residential care of youth at risk in Israel over 20 years, for the last 10 years, she has been managing the social workers, psychologists, and therapists team. She conducts training groups of staff members at residential care facilities and counseling social workers at various institutes. She studied TCI in 2004 and since then has instructed TCI trainings and serves in the Israeli TCI steering committee as the liaison between the committee and the institutes that use TCI. She joined the TCI Instructor team in 2016.

Lisa Brockhuizen is a school psychologist who has worked for the Wayne Finger Lakes BOCES since January 1991. For most of her career at the WFL BOCES, she worked with the Social Skills Development program supporting children and families.  Her passion has been working with youth with strategies that help them both emotionally and academically through the lens of a trauma-informed framework that includes crisis prevention and management.  In 2017,  Lisa continued her work with the WFL BOCES as a staff developer, including supporting both the BOCES sites and the WFL region with Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training. Through this work, she strives to help other educators create a safe environment and one that promotes growth and development of Social and Emotional Learning.  Currently, she uses her years of experience and expertise in social, emotional learning, and crisis intervention to partner with fellow educators across the WFL BOCES region.  lisa.brockhuizen@wflboces.org

Debra Bunce, Ph.D., is the Director Clinical Practices at Spurwink Services, a large non-profit human services agency serving youth, adults, and families in Portland Maine.  Debra began her career as a childcare worker in residential treatment in 1992. She shifted to graduate school and was awarded her PhD in Child Clinical Psychology in 1999.  She spent the first part of her professional career primarily engaged in psychological testing, individual and family therapy, and clinician training. In 2011, She moved into her current role providing clinical support, guidance, and training to Spuwink’s children’s residential programs and schools all located within a couple hours of Portland. In this role, Debra has also overseen the development and implementation of Spurwink’s clinical model, which is grounded in CARE principles and practices. Debra has been a CARE educator since 2012 and was very pleased to join RCCP’s consultant team in 2017, providing education and technical assistance to new CARE agencies while continuing to develop and improve on CARE practices at Spurwink.

Sharon Butcher, M.A., is the Director of Education at the Waterford Country School, a non-profit human service agency located in southeastern Connecticut. Her professional career began as a childcare worker in the residential treatment program at WCS before becoming a Special Education Teacher and advancing into her current role. Sharon became a professionally certified TCI trainer in 2004 and joined the RCCP in 2010 as a TCI and CARE Instructor. She implements both the TCI and CARE models with great success in her school programs and serves as a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Waterford Country School providing support and guidance in the implementation of TCI and CARE across all of the Agency programs.

Brad Calder has been supporting children and young people in a range of capacities and settings throughout the Australian out of home care sector. This includes Intensive Therapeutic Care, Disability and Semi-Independent Living programs.  Over the past decade, Brad’s experience includes front-line youth worker supporting children and youth with complex needs before progressing into to a variety of managerial roles including a crisis afterhours emergency specialist. Brad has also spent time supporting children in the UK within high needs educational school settings.  Currently Brad works as a part of the Allambi Care Learning and Development team as a trainer and facilitator. In this role Brad delivers training across a number of tailored and structured programs for a range of staff, carers and volunteers. Brad regular facilitates the Nationally recognised; Diploma of Community services qualification, specialist trauma training, risk management training, and various internal trainings for Allambi Care staff across NSW and Victoria.  Brad has qualifications in Human Services, Community Services, Training and Assessment and Mental Health. Brad is passionate about providing quality therapeutic trauma informed care training for staff working with children, youth, and families.  Recently Brad has joined the TACT training team and facilitates Train the Trainer courses and updates of TCI around Australia.

Stacey Charchuk, B.A (Criminology); CYCW(cert) works at Oak Hill Ranch, a campus based residential program for adolescents near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She began at Oak Hill in 1996 serving within the role of a Child and Youth Care Worker, Supervisor, and presently as the Executive Assistant Director. Stacey has been an associate Therapeutic Crisis Intervention trainer since 2007 and acquired her professional trainer status in the Fall of 2015. Stacey joined the RCCP team as a Casual Instructor in 2016. She has also been a CARE Educator (Children And Residential Experiences) at Oak Hill Ranch since 2010.

Ellysha Clark has worked in the out of home care sector in a range of capacities since 2008. With over 10 years of experience in the sector, Ellysha is passionate about the impact TCI can have on a young person. Ellysha is experienced using TCI in a range of programs including residential, disabilities, crisis response and family restoration work. In her current role as Training and Development Coordinator, Ellysha is passionate about upskilling staff to therapeutically manage crisis and ensuring they are supported to feel confident and competent to do so. Throughout her career, Ellysha has obtained qualifications in project management, community services, mental health, training in assessing and is a registered foster carer.

Yeshaya Corrick, B.E.D., has 17 years of professional experience in various therapeutic settings as a childcare worker and coordinator. He is one of the leading team which brought the TCI system to Israel in 2003 and is a member of the national steering committee for TCI. He currently works as a supervisor, mentoring and training educational staff and families, mainly in schools and facilities, which specialize in emotional and behavioral disorders.

Kelly Dempsey, M.S., is an Extension Associate with the BCTR. She has supported youth and their families living with complex trauma, intellectual and developmental diagnosis, and mental health conditions in residential care, school, and community settings since 2002. Kelly has held positions such as recreation worker, therapeutic foster parent, supervisor, and training coordinator while employed with Spurwink, an organization that provides behavioral health and education services for children, adults and families throughout Maine. Kelly has been a TCI trainer since 2007 and a CARE educator since 2013. Kelly became a professionally certified TCI trainer in 2012 and was a consultant with the Residential Child Care Project from 2013 until 2019, when she was hired as a full-time faculty. Kelly provides training and technical assistance to agencies implementing TCI and CARE.

Rachelle Dunahee, began her career with neurodiverse youth in the education setting in 2005. After ten years in the classroom, she transitioned her work into a Severe and Profound Neurodiverse Residential Treatment program as the Program Manager. She developed a program and team that would specifically serve these youth that lived in out of home care. In 2016, her agency began implementing TCI and CARE, and she became a TCI Trainer and CARE Educator. Rachelle was also the Chair of CARE Implementation committee and served on the agency's TCI Implementation committee. With TCI and CARE as the driving model for caring for youth, Rachelle and her team utilized developmental relationships to create a trauma-informed program with family involvement, developmentally appropriate and competence centered practice, and an ecologically thriving therapeutic milieu as top priorities. In 2022, Rachelle achieved Professional Certification as a TCI trainer, and in 2023 she officially joined the RCCP as a TCI Instructor with hopes/plans to join the CARE team as well. 

John Gibson, Doc. P.W., is owner of Secure Attachment Matters, Ireland. He is qualified in Social Work and worked in 4 different residential child care settings for a total of 25 years. He consults to residential child care organizations, principally in relation to development of models of care. He provides direct support to high risk foster placements. In 2015 he contributed a book chapter to the International Foster Care Organisation “Ensuring the Rights of the Child, and Family-Centred Services”, Conference Proceedings publication. In 2016 he co-authored, with Colby Pearce, an article for ‘Foster’ the journal of the Irish Foster Care Association. The article reports on the Ireland based pilot of the Triple A Model of Therapeutic Care, developed and authored by Australian Clinical Psychologist, Colby Pearce. John was among the first workers to train in TCI in Ireland and Britain. He joined the RCCP as an Instructor in 2001. He holds post graduate qualifications in Social Learning Theory (Child Care) and in Social Work Management and Leadership. He is trained in the Child Attachment Interview at the Anna Freud Centre (London).

Alexandria Gravenall, B. H.S., has been working in the community sector for 11 years and in the out of home care sector for 10 years, in both the fostering and residential services. Transitiioned into a training position in 2020 years ago and currently assist with providing training to services across Queensland, Australia. Alex is interested in the areas of youth mental health, and domestic and family violence.

Jack C. Holden, Ph.D., has been an instructor and project consultant with Cornell University’s RCCP for over 30 years. Dr. Holden earned a Ph.D. in Education, specializing in Adult Learning and has presented workshops and research nationally and internationally and has authored, Developing Competent Crisis Intervention Training, and co-authored a chapter, Preventive Responses to Disruptive and High-Risk Behaviours, in the book International Perspectives on Inclusive Education. Dr. Holden has co-authored several training manuals including Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools, (TCIS) and published in the Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, and Journal of National Staff Development and Training Association.

Ben Jones is a Training and Development Coordinator with TACT. Ben is the Central point of contact for the RCCP in Australia and Coordinates all TCI Train the Trainer courses. Ben has a passion and commitment for supporting youth, families, staff and carers. Ben has vast experience supporting a diverse range of needs, having worked in a variety of roles in the out-of-home-care sector including; direct residential care, disability care, supporting vulnerable families as well as case management roles. Since 2015, Ben’s focus has been in Learning & Development; Ben became a TCI Instructor in 2017 and through TACT assists RCCP scheduling TCI throughout Australia. Outside of these roles, Ben is a dedicated foster carer.

Frank Kuhn, Ph.D., is a Senior Extension Associate with the BCTR. A clinical psychologist, Frank has worked in clinical, educational, and administrative positions with child welfare organizations and universities for over 40 years. He has served as medical school faculty and has provided consultation and training to agencies across the U.S, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Dr. Kuhn coordinates CARE implementation throughout North America and Europe. He currently serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Services. Research interests include implementation and evaluation of program models in human service organizations and facilitation of positive organizational change.

Dalit Eshed Levy, M.A., is a clinical psychologist, life coach and private therapist. Dalit works with children and staff in child and youth residential facilities and has been a TCI instructor since 2003. Dalit is currently in charge of TCI implementation in the Youth Protection Authority and a senior consultant to the Israeli steering committee for TCI. She provides TxT courses and direct training throughout Israel.

Paul Jason Lunn has worked with children and young adults with learning difficulties, autism and complex needs for 17 years as a support worker, senior support worker and team leader in residential care for Hesley Group in the UK. Paul is now a Learning and Development Lead for Hesley Group and is responsible for ensuring the group are compliant with Restraint Reduction Network standards in the delivery of TCI within the group. Paul oversees the group’s induction programme and several of the services within the group.

Veronica Marin, BSocWk, MCouns, is the Manager of Program Advancement and Implementation for the CARE model at Life Without Barriers (LWB), a national social purpose organisation in Australia. In this role, Veronica leads the growth and development of the CARE model in Australia, and is a CARE consultant supporting agencies adopting CARE in Australia. Veronica has been a CARE Educator and TCI Trainer since 2016 and has recently become an Instructor with the RCCP in both CARE and TCI. Veronica has over 20 years’ experience working with children and families in diverse settings, including schools, disability services, child and family therapy, and residential care.

William Martin, MHSA, has been working with children and families with special needs for over 30 years. He was the Executive Director of Waterford Country School, a nonprofit human service agency providing a multitude of services including residential treatment, emergency shelters, therapeutic boarding, foster care, special education, and outpatient services. Bill is a CARE implementer and a TCI instructor and is deeply involved in, and committed to TCI, TCIF, TCIS and the CARE and CARE program models. Bill has a Master’s degree in Human Service Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work.

Belinda Mayfield, BSocWk, PhD, is a Practice Consultant at Life Without Barriers, a role which supports practice quality at a program and system level. Belinda has over 40 years experience in the child protection and out of home care field. Belinda has a particular interest in evidence informed practice, which was the focus of her doctoral study and bridging the ‘know-do gap’. Belinda was initially responsible for leading the implementation of CARE in Life Without Barriers which commenced in October 2015 and has trained as a CARE Educator and TCI trainer, and now supports other agencies in Australia as a CARE consultant.

Evan Melanson, MS. Ed., is an Extension Support Specialist with the BTCR. Evan has been working with youth in various roles since 2007. While employed with St. Colman’s Home, he worked in direct care, education, and administration. Evan has been a TCI trainer since 2014. He has a passion for working with all youth but especially youth on the Autism Spectrum and other developmental disabilities.

Eddie Mendez has worked with children, young people and families since 1990 in both the government and non-government sector. Over this time, Eddie has worked in a variety of settings including custodial roles, Residential program, Foster Care, Learning and Development and as a CARE & TCI Practitioner. Eddie’s work has primarily been based in Western Sydney, Australia however now also provides support to programs at a national level. In addition to his direct work, Eddie has also been involved in the facilitation, design and development of many training work-shops for staff and carers. Eddie has been involved with the TCI program since 2000-2001 becom-ing a TCI Instructor in 2013 and delivers the TCI Train-the-trainer program across Australia.

Andrea J. Mooney, M.Ed., JD, is an original author of TCI. She has been involved with the program since its inception, and now teaches the one-day “Legal Issues” update. Andrea has been a special education teacher, an Attorney for the Child, and a trainer/consultant for various projects, including a school violence prevention project. She was a clinical professor at Cornell University Law School, where she taught legal writing, externships, and child advocacy. She continues to represent children in family court at the trial and appellate levels.

Kate Myers, LICSW, has worked with children and families in a multitude of therapeutic settings for over twenty-years. She was the Chief of Residential and Treatment Services at an organization serving boys with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges resulting from complex trauma. Kate is a certified TCI and CARE Instructor and supported the implementation of CARE at her organization.  Along with this experience, Kate spent several years as a juvenile court clinician and a therapist in a community mental health practice. Kate has her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and her Master’s Degree in Social Work. She is on track to complete her doctoral degree, May 2022, in Organizational Leadership Psychology.

Shawn O’Grady, MSW RSW has been a Therapeutic Crisis Intervention instructor since 2001, initially certified as a Trainer in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Shawn brings a great deal of expertise in designing and overseeing treatment programs for children and families, as he draws from his experience in child and family treatment programs within the mental health field over the past 25 years. Shawn is currently working as an individual and family therapist, trainer and instructor in Calgary, Alberta and surrounding area. He has trained extensively with Dr. Bruce Perry and the Child Trauma Academy in the Neurosequential Model (NM) in the area of early childhood trauma and the ways that can impact children and even adults later in life. Shawn has a specialty in parental capacity and family systems, with a particular focus with families struggling as a result of domestic violence, parent/child conflict, high-risk child behaviour, and complex needs children. He has considerable skill and expertise in the area of crisis intervention and in family counseling, and he draws heavily on his understanding of other treatment and assistance programs to create plans that will help families. Shawn received both his Bachelors and Masters of Social Work with a Clinical Specialization from the University of Calgary and is a registered social worker with the Alberta College of Social Workers.

Lucinda O’Mahony, M.Sc. has worked with children and families for over thirty years. She worked as a care staff, manager, external supervisor and monitor in various residential care, education, homeless and addiction services in both London and Dublin. Lucinda is owner and director of Connexion Consultancy which provides training and consultancy to the social care, health, education and justice sectors across Ireland and the UK. Lucinda is an accredited psychotherapist and has a private practice in Dublin. Lucinda has also trained in child and adolescent play therapy, body psychotherapy and working with gender and sexual diversity (GSD). Lucinda has been a TCI trainer since 1998 and became Professionally Certified in 2004.

Courtney Patterson, BSocWkis a Practice Consultant at Life Without Barriers, focusing on supporting agencies adopting the CARE model in Australia. Courtney has also recently become a TCI Instructor with the RCCP. Courtney has worked in the out of home care sector in Australia since 2009 across multiple settings including early intervention with families, foster care, residential care and child and family therapy.  In her previous role at Life Without Barriers, Courtney supported the implementation of CARE and TCI nationally. Courtney is currently completing her Masters in Mental Health (Art Therapy) and further studies through a Professional Certificate in Autistic Wellbeing, led by a strong passion for supporting neurodivergent families and children within the community.

Nick Pidgeon, is Director of NJP Consultancy and Training Ltd. based in Bridge of Allan, Scotland. He has many years’ experience in social work and over 20 years experience as an independent consultant. He has provided training and consultancy throughout Britain and Ireland and in the USA, Canada, Australia, and Russia. Since 1993 he has been a consultant to the RCCP.

Michele A. Pierro, M.S., holds an M.S. in Educational Psychology, Secondary Education, and certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Administration. For the past 40+ years Michele has worked in a variety of educational settings, including Middle and High schools, programs for Gifted and Talented and in a maximum-security facility for juvenile offenders. She has been a faculty member at Columbia Greene Community College, Supervisor of Teaching Fellows at Pace University, a Principal and Director of Special Education at a BOCES in upstate NY, Director of School Safety and Positive Behavior Supports in D75 in NYC and Director of Security Resources for the NYCDOE, providing technical assistance to schools on the NYS Persistently Dangerous List. She serves as a rating officer and consultant with the NYCDOE and UFT. Michele joined the RCCP in August 2012.

Marques Richardson has over twelve years of experience working with children in residential child care. He is a lead TCI trainer at Astor Services for Children and Families. In addition to this role, he also serves as the staff development coordinator and is a CARE educator. He has been training TCI since 2012. Marques became a Professional TCI Trainer December of 2016.

Dominic Roth Dominic's first experience in community services was with refugee support, volunteering in Switzerland in the late 'noughties'. Moving back to Australia in 2014 he stumbled across residential youth work and was exposed to TCI. Since then, TCI has been an integral part of his practice in out-of-home-care direct service, leadership and program support roles. Dominic loves talking practice and supporting people caring for children and their families. He gets great satisfaction hearing from practitioners and leaders using frameworks for practice to support kids to experience success. Dominic has completed a Bachelor of Psychological Science, Master of Social Work, Diploma of Community Services Work and has trained as a mental health clinician. He also works as a Crisis Support Officer with Lifeline Community Recovery. It's important to him to make the theory and frameworks guiding practice 'real', and support understanding of the connections between research, theory and our capacity to help children experience positive outcomes and enjoy their lives. Dominic enjoys learning new things and getting lost in the bush on a mountain bike.

Anton Smith, Executive Director, MSW, RSW. Anton is currently the Executive Director for Oak Hill Ranch, a campus based therapeutic residential program, located near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has worked at Oak Hill for fifteen (15) years and in the area Child and Youth Care for over 30 years in variety children’s services domains. In addition, he is a Children And Residential Care (CARE) Consultant and an Instructor for Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) with the Residential Child Care Project (RCCP) at Cornell University. Anton has completed a Masters in Social Work (2005) through Dalhousie University in Child and Family Practice and a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Victoria. Anton has presented at international, national and regional conferences on topics related to Child and Youth Care. He has published two peer-reviewed articles in the areas of residential treatment and restraint reduction.

Stella Smith is a registered psychologist, teacher and has a Masters in Education. Stella has worked in a range of roles specialising in behaviour consultancy, systemic behaviour therapy, counselling and mental health across the metropolitan Perth, regional and remote regions of Western Australia. She is a trained facilitator in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI and TCI-S), Circle of Security (COS), Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention and Youth Mental Health First Aid. Stella is an active member for the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH WA). In 2019, Stella received the Anika Foundation Scholarship to support research into adolescent depression and suicide and completed a study tour of the application of Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) systems in schools internationally. Stella is passionate about trauma-informed practice, attachment, training and coaching with adults to best support young people in our schools.

Zelma Smith-Pressley, LMSW, Child Welfare Consultant and Trainer, has over 45 years of experience in the field of child welfare including training, consultation, curriculum development, supervision, and direct service delivery. Her work experience includes training in kinship care, recruitment, preparation and selection of foster and adoptive parents, residential treatment programs, child abuse and neglect and meeting planning. She is the principal developer of a national educational group support program for kinship families. Formerly, she was chairperson for the National Association of Black Social Workers’ National Kinship Task Force Committee and a past member of the National Kinship Advisory Committee at the Child Welfare League of America. She is a TCI instructor on the Residential Child Care Project.

Angela Stanton-Greenwood, MA, MEd, CQSW has worked with individuals with complex needs for over forty years as a practitioner with Barnardos in residential care and education and now as Director of Quality Assurance and Workforce Development in the Hesley Group England. She is a TCI and Proact SCIP R UK instructor and Positive Behaviour Support Coach. Angela is supporting CARE implementation and administers CARE and TCI through The Listening Post in Europe.

Laurence Stanton-Greenwood, BA hons in Education and Training, Qualified Social Worker with Qualified Teacher status has worked with a population of people with complex needs both in Social Care and Education for 40 years as a practitioner and manager. Laurence supports TCI through The Listening Post in Europe. He became a TCI Instructor in 2012.

Misha Thomas, M.Div., has been a TCI trainer since 1995; works internationally as an organizational training consultant, speaker, and group facilitator. Misha was a founding co-contributor and faculty/consultant for The Sanctuary Institute between 2005-2015. Jobs throughout his tenure in residential care include teacher/counselor, child behavior specialist, program manager, training director, and textbook question writer for The Princeton Review. Publications include contributions in Therapeutic Communities and a textbook article in Danish professional development book, Engelsk: Paedogogisk Assistant, “Caring for Children with Special Needs,” edited by Anne Brunstrom.

Fiona Waites, Dip CommServ(CaseMgmt), CertIV TrngAssmnt is a Learning and Development professional, specialising in supporting staff and carers engaging with traumatised children, at risk families and mental health. She has worked with youth in a variety of out-of-home care and homeless shelter settings since early 2002. She has studied in the areas of psychology, adult learning and development with additional training in facilitation and community service management. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Fiona provides consultation and support across the country and works specifically within a leading provider of out of home care, housing services and aged care in Queensland. Fiona has particular interest in brain function, trauma, mental health and facilitation. She also has a passion for leadership, and is involved in running programs developing this within staff and chaplains professionally, and with young adults and adolescents within the community.

Bret Wilcock, Brett Wilcock is a proud identified First Nations descendant of the Arabana People of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, South Australia. Brett has been in the child protection field for over 23 years; most of which has been in Residential Care. Brett started off as a youth worker for BoysTown (campus model Residential Care) before taking on various positions in OoHC, such as Team Leader and Service Coordinator, Program Manager and Practice Training. Brett holds a degree in Psychological Science and loves all things to do with the human brain and understanding childhood trauma. Brett is an active member of Reconciliation Action Plan group "The Coolamon group" who advocate for cultural safety amongst young people and staff. Brett's greatest passion is facilitating training, coaching leaders and supporting programs to provide the best level of care for children we serve. Brett began facilitating training in 2009 with TCI and The Three Pillars of Transforming Care. In 2012, Brett became a CARE Educator which plays a major part of Brett’s career in driving positive change from an individual and organisational level. Brett enjoys spending time with his three beautiful girls, and loves playing guitar, video games and mountain biking.

College of Human Ecology, Cornell University

©2021 Residential Child Care Project, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York USA