Maine/New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy. Presenter Biographies

Transcription

1 Maine/New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy Presenter Biographies Cyndi Amato, MSW has worked in the victim advocacy field for the past 19 years. She began her career as an advocate on the 24-hour crisis and support line at Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine (SARSSM). After receiving her Masters in Social Work from the University of New England she was hired as the Executive Director of the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault. In 1999, she furthered her career as the Executive Director of SARSSM and has continued in that capacity since then. In collaboration with local and statewide partners, she helped bring the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) programs to Maine. Current focus of her work at SARSSM includes developing services to meet the needs of underserved populations including the homeless, street-involved youth, and those who are incarcerated. She began practicing yoga in 2001 and recently completed a yoga teacher mentorship at Pure Movement Portland where she now teaches a Baptiste-inspired vinyasa flow class and healing yoga class. She sees the intersection of victim advocacy, social work, and yoga as a way to bring healing and balance to life. Thomas Baran is a Patrol Sergeant with the York Police Department and has been an officer there for 28 years. He is a certified instructor with the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and teaches officers the proper handling and investigation techniques for domestic violence cases. He is the coordinator of the York Police Department s Domestic Violence Proactive Response Team. This team is responsible for making weekly checks on victims to check their well being and to see if the offender is violating bail conditions or protection orders. This program seeks out the offender holding them responsible for obeying all conditions and restrictions set forth by the court. Sgt. Baran was named Community Policing Officer of the Year by the Maine Chiefs of Police Association in 1998 for his involvement in community programs. He has a Bachelors Degree from the University of Southern Maine and lives in Kittery with his wife Linda and their two sons. Rebecca Sargent Brown, LCSW works at Community Counseling Center as a mental health therapist and the outreach coordinator for The Children s Initiative, a federally grant funded program through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Rebecca sits on the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Collaborative Group on Domestic Violence and has recently contributed to two published resources on childhood exposure to domestic violence. She also serves as the Clinical Coordinator for Portland Defending Childhood, a federal grant through the Department of Justice aimed at addressing childhood exposure to violence. In her role at Community Counseling Center, Rebecca provides training and outreach to a variety of agencies and organizations on topics related to childhood traumatic stress and evidenced based treatment interventions for children exposed to violence. In addition, she provides direct clinical services for children and families who enter services based on past exposure to violence and trauma using multiple evidenced based treatment modalities. Rebecca received her Masters Degree in Clinical Social Work from Boston College Graduate School of Social Work and is licensed in the State of Maine.

2 Polly Campbell, RN, BS, BA, is Director of the Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Program, Maine Office of the Attorney General. She has been in this position for over eight years. She is responsible for program oversight including training of Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFE); technical assistance for SAFEs, health care providers who care for patients who have been sexually assaulted, and Sexual Assault Response Teams; promoting community awareness of sexual violence issues; and working with community partners to improve the community response to victims of abuse and violence. She currently sits on the Maine Domestic Violence Homicide Review Panel and Elder Death Anaysis Review Team; and is a member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) Board of Directors. Prior to her tenure at the AG s office she worked in clinical nursing for a decade and has spent the last 25 years working in the fields of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse and neglect first at the Family Crisis Services in Portland as Community Response Coordinator, and later at the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine. In addition to direct service with victims of abuse and violence, she coordinated statewide training and service programs that brought together professionals from various disciplines to better meet the needs of adult and child victims of violence. Deborah Dana, LCSW is part of a group practice in Saco Maine, The Island Institute for Trauma Recovery, specializing in working with complex trauma. She is a certified TAT (Tapas Acupressure Technique) trainer, a certified Internal Family Systems therapist, has trained in Sensorimotor psychotherapy and EMDR, and completed a certificate program in traumatic stress studies at the Trauma Center in Boston. In addition to her clinical work she teaches a trauma theory and practice class in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern Maine. Sue Hall Dreher is the Executive Director of Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine. In her capacity as ED, she provides training and technical expertise to organizations regarding the issue and impact of all forms of sexual violence. Ms. Hall Dreher has her BS in Community Health Education and her Masters in Human Services. She has done additional graduate studies in public health with a focus on prevention. Susan has 30 + years experience in the nonprofit sector. Susan sits on the Board of Directors of the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault where she is the former Executive Chair; and serves on the Board of the Elder Abuse Institute of Maine and on the Board of Licensure for Alcohol & Drug Counselors. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine. Hope Flynn has been a prosecutor in NH for about 12 years now. She started at the Rockingham County Attorney s Office then moved to the Strafford County Attorney s Office where she has been for the last 10 years. She is the Deputy County Attorney and handles all types of felony cases. Denise Giles is a Victim Services Coordinator for Office of Victim Services at the Maine Department of Corrections. She is responsible for planning, coordinating, administering, and evaluating the Department's victim services program including notification of inmate release, restitution, and assistance with harassment complaints. She is responsible for the certification of batterer intervention programs and coordinates Impact of Crime classes at an adult minimum-security facility. She developed a policy for victim/offender dialogue in a correctional setting for the department. Denise oversees the coordination of the sex offender safety planning and containment policies and participates on the domestic homicide review panel. She designed and implemented a staff-training curriculum for victim's rights and services. Denise is a member of the National Victim Assistance Standards Consortium, and is a founding member of the National Association of Victim Service Professionals in Corrections. Maine/New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy Presenter Biographies 2

3 Kayce Hunton is the Client Services Manager at Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine (SASSMM). In that capacity, she has served as a member of the Working Group on Family Violence in Sagadahoc County, and served on the Midcoast Collaborative for Access to Transportation. Ms. Hunton represented SASSMM as a core group committee member to revise the statewide sexual assault advocate training manual titled, Help In Healing: A Training Guide for Advocates. She received her BS in Rehabilitation Services from the University of Maine at Farmington and her MS in Organizational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. Fatuma Hussein is the founder of, and has been the Executive Director of United Somali Women of Maine for the past 9 years. She came to this country as a refugee teenager, attended high school and college, and began work as a community advocate, using all the lessons she had learned in overcoming the challenges of being a refugee teenager in a different culture. These lessons helped her to found the United Somali Women of Maine Women's Center, established in 2001, to promote self-sufficiency and economic empowerment, and to prevent all types of violence and promote a non-sexist, multi-cultural environment that raises up the strengths of refugee and immigrant women and girls by serving as cultural brokers, barrier reducers, skill enhancers, and problem solvers. Suzette Indelicato is the Executive Director for Starting Point: Services for Victims of Domestic & Sexual Violence (SP) in Carroll County, NH. Suzette was trained as a volunteer advocate in 1996 and was hired by SP in 1997 as the Shelter Manager/Community Educator. In 2004, Suzette was named Executive Director. Throughout her time at SP, Suzette has worked with domestic and sexual assault survivors in many different environments, including shelter, court, hospitals, at the local Child Advocacy Center and at local police departments. In addition to providing direct service, Suzette has presented to local, as well as, state wide organizations on a variety of topics. Suzette developed the framework for SP s Healthy Relationship s Prevention Education Curriculum and has worked in schools (Pre-school through 12th grade) throughout Carroll County. Heidi M. Krieger is the Director of Camp to Belong Maine, a program that reunites brothers and sisters who have been separated by foster care or other out-of-home placement. Heidi received her Master s Degree in Adult Education from the University of Southern Maine and until recently worked at USM for over 15 years. She now devotes most of her time to CTB Maine and sits on the Board for CTB International. In addition to several other part-time ventures, she also loves to explore her creative side and has taken classes in everything from basket weaving and beading to pottery and painting. Sandra Matheson has been the Director of the State Office of Victim/Witness Assistance in the New Hampshire's Attorney General's Office, since She developed, implemented and supervises a 24- hour direct services program providing services and support in all of the state's homicide cases from death notification throughout the judicial process. Ms. Matheson serves as Chair of the Attorney General's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Advisory Board, the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Protocol and Conference Committees, was a founder of the Child Fatality and Domestic Violence Review Committees and is a partner of the AmeriCorps Victim Assistance Program. She has actively participated in the passage of crime victims' rights legislation including writing the New Hampshire Victims' Bill of Rights. In April of 1994 she received a National Victim Services Award by President Clinton for "Outstanding Service on Behalf of Victims of Crime." Maine/New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy Presenter Biographies 3

4 Darcie McElwee is a native of Caribou, Maine. She graduated from Bowdoin College in 1995 and the University of Maine, School of Law in For the first four years of her legal career, Darcie served as an Assistant District Attorney for Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties in central Maine. Darcie currently serves as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maine. As the coordinator for Maine s Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Sentry programs, Darcie prosecutes federal firearms, explosives and arson cases and engages in community outreach regarding domestic violence, offender intervention and juvenile and school gun violence. Peter Michaud is the Victim Services Coordinator with New Hampshire Department of Corrections. For 12 years, he has led efforts to inform, involve and promote safety for crime victims and survivors whose offenders are sentenced to prison or probation in New Hampshire. Mr. Michaud has 30 years experience in New Hampshire's juvenile and criminal justice systems. He is a member of the NH Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee. He is a former member of the Board of Directors for the NH Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence, the state s Batterers Intervention Standards Subcommittee, and the Belknap County Citizens Council on Children and Families. He spent 8 years as a domestic/sexual violence crisis line volunteer, and many years in other volunteer community activities. Mr. Michaud has trained nationally as a consultant with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime, the National Institute of Corrections, and the National Organization for Victim Assistance. He may be reached at (603) or pemichaud@nhdoc.state.nh.us. Rebecca Miller began her part-time position as Victim/Witness Advocate in the District Attorney s Office in 1987 under then District Attorney John McElwee. District Attorney McElwee wanted an advocate s who could assist with child physical and sexual abuse cases. District Attorney Neale Adams expanded her role to include working with victim s of crime (regardless of age or circumstance) and collecting restitution. Ms. Miller received training from various agencies including Aroostook Mental Health Center s Sexual Assault Helpline, Dr. Ricci s Colby Conference s, Tri-State Victim Assistance Consortium on Substance Use and Victimization, Maine New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy, Elder Abuse Training and The Hope and Justice Project. She is a member of the Link for Hope Coalition and the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition. Ms. Miller is a life-long resident of Aroostook County. Rashida Mohamed is originally from Sudan. She worked at the International Institute of New Hampshire for two years, and then worked as Shelter Manager for the YWCA for 8 years. Rashida is now is the Victim/Witness Advocate for the Manchester Police Department. Heather Putnam is the Victim Witness Coordinator and Law Enforcement Coordinator for the United States Attorney Office. Her role and responsibilities include education and advocacy for the District of Maine regarding victim witness protection laws; provision of information/education, support and assistance to federal victims and witnesses, and coordination with Maine law enforcement regarding trainings, federal initiatives, and pending federal prosecutions. Prior to her work at the U.S. Attorney s Office, Heather worked for seven years at the Portland Police Department as their Victim Advocate, and spent over ten years working with at-risk and homeless youth in the Greater Portland area. Deborah Shaw Rice has been the Director of Maine's Crime Victims' Compensation Program in the Office of the Attorney General since Her responsibilities include: administrating and supervising the Program; providing training and outreach; coordinating services with other community and governmental agencies; monitoring or drafting legislation, rules, and opinions; and managing Federal grants. Ms. Rice served on the Legislative Commission to Propose an Alternative Payment Process for Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations. She is a member of the Department of Corrections Victims Maine/New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy Presenter Biographies 4

5 Advisory Group and the Maine Victim Witness Advocates Association, and she is immediate Past President of the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards for which she has been a board member since After graduating from the University of Maine School of Law, Ms. Rice worked as a Legal Services attorney representing victims of domestic abuse and co-drafted Maine's first protective order statute. Jill Rockey has been with the New Hampshire State Police since 1994 and a detective since Trooper Rockey has investigated numerous cases of homicide, domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. From December, 2006 through September, 2008 Trooper Rockey was assigned to the Sex Offender Registry. She assisted the registry in coming into compliance with New Hampshire s Sexual Predator s Act and worked towards meeting the requirements of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Jen LaChance Sibley received a bachelor s degree in Political Science from the University of Maine. She started working for Family Crisis Services in 2001 as an outreach advocate. The past six years, Jen has taken over as the outreach team coordinator. In this position, she oversees three outreach offices including: Portland, Midcoast and Bridgton, the incarcerated women s position and the enhanced police intervention collaboration program. Jen also served on the Attorney General s Anti-Stalking Taskforce that has made recommendations for better services and laws for stalking victims. Jen has presented on the topics of domestic violence and stalking to many community groups, local agencies and social service providers statewide. Dr. Romy Spitz received her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. She is currently a consultant to Maine s Department of Health and Human Services with expertise in deafness, language development, and non-traditional communication and Adjunct Professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern Maine specializing in the neuropsychology of language and communication. Catherine St. John is the Shelter Coordinator for the Maliseet Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Program and has been in her current position four years. She provides legal advocacy, individualized support; in person and through the program s 24 hour hotline as well as other accompaniment services for victims of domestic and sexual violence. Cathy is a Tribal Member of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, (HBMI) a Federally Recognized tribe located in Houlton, Maine. Being a part of the small community that makes up HBMI is an important asset to working with women in the community who have experienced violence. In her personal experience, Cathy has witnessed many family and other community members encounter domestic and sexual violence and has seen firsthand how it impacts their lives and has a ripple effect in the community. With native women at an increased risk to experience violence, her work as an advocate is an essential program and a well-known cornerstone in the Maliseet community. The Tribe is presently comprised of 1265 members and is lead by Tribal Chief Brenda Commander. Being a smaller band of the larger Maliseet Nation of New Brunswick, Canada, the Houlton Band calls the Meduxnekeag River home. The Maliseets are river people who have traditionally been hunters and gatherers in the St. John River basin, of which the Meduxnekeag is a tributary. Francine Garland Stark has worked to end domestic abuse and violence since 1985, beginning as a volunteer on a domestic violence hotline, joining the staff of Spruce Run Association in Penobscot County as the Administrative Coordinator in During 23 years with that agency, Francine provided advocacy for people affected by domestic abuse and violence in addition to her responsibilities as a Maine/New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy Presenter Biographies 5

6 program administrator and public educator. She has articulated the problem of domestic abuse and violence through curriculum development and collaborative projects to educate individuals, to inform policy development, and to promote culture change to foster safe, healthy, and joyful families. As Executive Director of Hope and Justice Project in Aroostook County, she coordinates the services of three shelters for victims of domestic violence and three transitional housing sites that are located throughout the County as well as the project s 24-hour hotline, legal services, advocacy, support groups, school-based prevention education, community education, and professional training programs. In 2010, Francine was honored to receive the Maryann Hartman Maine Woman of Achievement Award from the Women in the Curriculum and Women s Studies Program of the University of Maine. Holly Stover works for the Department of Health and Human Services, in the Office of the Commissioner and is serving as the interim Office Director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs. In her role, Holly provides leadership and represents domestic and sexual violence for the Commissioner s Office. She serves on the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse and the Maine Homicide Review Panel. Holly holds a Bachelor s Degree from Nasson College, has attended the Muskie School of Public Service, and completed the State and Local Executive Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Allison Vachon is an Investigator at the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office in the Criminal Justice Bureau. She is a member of the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force as well as the Attorney General's Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect. Among the numerous cases she investigates are child exploitation, economic crimes, sexual assault and public integrity. She is also the Internet Crimes Unit Investigator within the Attorney General's Office and was part of the investigative team for the Attorney General's Diocese Task Force. Her past law enforcement experience includes police officer with the Concord Police Department. Maine/New Hampshire Victim Assistance Academy Presenter Biographies 6