THE STEPHEN GROUP - Key Persons
Ziv's initial experience with the medical industry was gained through his father's company, TEI, which was at the forefront of helping caregivers convert their paper files into the digital health records we take for granted today. The company provided a "one-stop-shop" to physicians who converted their practices to operating in the digital world, including customized hardware, software, training, and ongoing support to their entire staff. Following Ziv's graduation from The University of North Texas, and his proven track record in B2B sales, he was actively recruited by NewMed, a medical hardware manufacturer who's cardiovascular devices would now be described as "plug-and-play." The unique selling point of the NewMed device eco-system was its automated and results-driven patient reporting system. Most recently, Ziv has had the privilege of working on State-level Medicaid and Medicare RFP's for six US states. In spite of his relatively short time in the field, Ziv was chosen as the lead writer and editor for an RFP response addressing the "first in the USA" Closed Loop Referral System. The proposed system is designed to help Medicaid managed care Members and their health providers manage their social determinants of health.
Ziv attributes his personal and business success to an unusually fortunate upbringing by unlikely entrepreneurs, formal and informal international education, intense cross-industry experience through some of the most volatile markets in recent history, a "can do" attitude, endless energy, and a relentless work ethic. Ziv parlayed his early financial earnings into diverse opportunities to work in challenging environments. While earning a law degree, he raised venture capital for a legal web project that employed his fellow students and was utilized by his law professors. Following law school, Ziv designed, promoted, and delivered record-setting sporting and music events in the USA and Canada.
Following his parents' and grandparents' examples, Ziv relishes the opportunity to use his personal and professional connections in order to improve lives. To that end, he supported the US SBA's effort to rebuild homes after the unusually destructive hurricane season of 2017. By the time his service was complete, Ziv disbursed millions of dollars in federally guaranteed loans to citizens of California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, Texas, The US Virgin Islands, and Wisconsin.
Ziv holds a JD from St. Mary's University School of Law and a BA in Literature; Minor in Political Science from the University of North Texas
Amy's professional career spans over 20 years, the entirety of which has been in the healthcare space. Her commercial and Medicaid payor experience, coupled with numerous years in the pharmaceutical industry and a provider organization, affords her a unique perspective of the multi-faceted healthcare industry. Amy spent the first decade …
Sheila Cooper is Stephen Group Senior Consultant who was most recently a client executive with CSG Government Solutions. Leveraging over 18 years of state government experience, her background includes wide-ranging work in Medicaid including experience with Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS), Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA), health insurance exchange, Medicaid managed care, and performance based contracting. As an independent consultant, her current client work includes consulting on Medicaid modularization and managed care IT readiness. Sheila has extensive background in functional requirements development, business and use case analysis, clinical business intelligence, advance planning document (APD) preparation and negotiation, integrated eligibility for health and human services programs, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security, HIPAA electronic data interchange, and project management.
Sheila's most recent work includes assisting several health plans with the implementation of a new line of Medicaid managed care business for SSI children, a complex program that includes both acute care services and long term services and supports. Sheila works with multiple health plans to ensure their organization and infrastructure is operationally ready to efficiently and effectively implement the new program. This includes review and improvement of the current organizational structure, current systems, workflows, and all aspects of the client's implementation planning. Sheila facilitates executive level decision making and is an experienced facilitator, able to assist groups in achieving consensus.
While at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Sheila served as Project Manager for Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA) State-Self Assessment (SS-A) and to-be road map for the 52,000-employee health and human service agency. She worked with over 240 subject matter experts and obtained a far-reaching and in-depth knowledge of the all aspects of Medicaid. Sheila facilitated sessions with HHSC executive management to develop a strategic plan for MITA, producing a proposed project portfolio that was standards based, moved HHS toward inter-operability, and was centered in improving HIT and health information exchange (HIE) for the Medicaid Enterprise.
During her tenure at HHSC, Sheila served as the lead for all MMIS Advance Planning Documents (APD). She developed and delivered over 50 APDs resulting in federal approval for millions of dollars of enhanced funding for the State of Texas. She utilized extensive knowledge of state and federal regulations and the state and federal budgeting process and prepared detailed project documentation and budgets. She worked closely with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regional and central office staff, building close relationships and using negotiation skills to maximize federal funding. Educational background: Sheila received her BA (Psychology) from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and her Masters in Business Administration from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Austin has over a decade of legislative & policy experience, governmental relations. She is a strong communicator, strategic analyst and licensed attorney (TX, MA). She has provided budget and policy consulting to organizations and governmental bodies. Developed and launched impactful initiatives and built successful collaboratives. Managing complex projects with multiple …
Brooke's academic credentials further underline her dedication to continuous learning and growth. She holds an MS in Organizational Leadership and a graduate certificate in Human Resource Management from Southern New Hampshire University. Her educational foundation also includes a BA in Human Services and an undergraduate certificate in Paralegal Studies from Franklin Pierce University. Brooke has honed her leadership skills as a graduate of the Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership at Boston University School of Management and is a graduate of the prestigious Leadership New Hampshire program.
With a career spanning over three decades and a versatile skill set, Brooke Holton is a strategic partner, connector, and problem solver who drives change and growth for organizations and individuals. Her extensive experience and multifaceted skill set enable her to leverage project management, operational expertise, and capacity-building skills to …
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Government Consultant With
Charmeka was also a research analyst with the The McKenzie Group in Washington D.C., where she analyzed Dallas Fort Worth School District performance on the Texas Academic and Achievement Skills examination and researched marketing strategy for Educational Testing Services contract. In the past, she has also served as a school advisory council committee chairperson for Richland South Carolina's School District Two.
Charmeka Bosket Childs is a business and government consultant with The Stephen Group, where she consults with state agencies in the area of Education and Health and Human Services. Charmeka formerly served at the South Carolina Department of Education as the Deputy Superintendent for School Effectiveness where she managed the …
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Senior Consultant
Mr. DeStefano is a subject matter expert consultant for The Stephen Group and he brings extensive experience providing consultation on various issues impacting the implementation of child welfare and other health and human service programs. His range of experience includes development of public / private partnerships, performance based contracting, program …
Charmeka Bosket Childs is a business and government consultant with The Stephen Group, where she consults with state agencies in the area of Education and Health and Human Services. Charmeka formerly served at the South Carolina Department of Education as the Deputy Superintendent for School Effectiveness where she managed the human resource and budgetary resources of the Division of School Effectiveness. During her role, Charmeka created a policy making environment that encouraged the use of cost benefit analysis in policy formation. She guided office leadership in the implementation of academic standards development, educator evaluation, school transformation, public school choice, blended and online learning, educator professional development, and educator licensure. She also improved project management practices and developed and implemented succession planning, as well as overseeing budgetary and human resource planning.
From 2011 to 2012, Charmeka served at the Department of Education as the Deputy Superintendent for Policy and Research. There she served on the Superintendent's staff to support his role as the Executive Secretary to the State Board of Education. She helped oversee the development, revision, and quality of the South Carolina academic standards and provided oversight and technical assistance to districts and schools seeking and implementing grants.
From 2007 to 2011, Charmeka served as the Director of Legislative and Political Analysis for the South Carolina Business and Industry in Columbia. There she was responsible for analyzing the economic impact of legislation under consideration by the South Carolina General Assembly on the state's business climate.
From 2005 to 2007, Charmeka served in the Office of the Governor as Education Policy Advisory to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. In this capacity, Charmeka analyzed economic, systemic, and pedagogical implications of policy alternatives under consideration by the Governor of South Carolina. She also helped implement policy initiatives directed through the executive branch and conducted cost-benefit analysis pursuant to implementing the budgeting for results model in education policy formation for the state of South Carolina. She managed national and state projects involving key education agency directors for the state of South Carolina and co-wrote executive budget education policy sections for two consecutive fiscal years.
Charmeka graduated from Duke Universities' Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, where she received a Masters of Public Policy including coursework in economics, management, statistics, history, and policy analysis. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Duke University, Trinity College.
With a career spanning over three decades and a versatile skill set, Brooke Holton is a strategic partner, connector, and problem solver who drives change and growth for organizations and individuals. Her extensive experience and multifaceted skill set enable her to leverage project management, operational expertise, and capacity-building skills to drive business objectives. At the heart of Brooke's professional journey is her ability to cultivate high-quality relationships with clients, positioning her as a trusted guardian of their interests in managing TSG's projects and relationships.
Her work is comprised of large scale projects include Medicaid and Child Welfare systems highlights of which involve: project management, analysis and restructuring of programs in state agencies in multiple states to include Mississippi, Nebraska and New Hampshire; project management, analysis and restructuring of staffing and engagement models in a national foundation; project management, analysis, strategic planning, expansion of government engagement, and organizational development of a national technology company across multiple states to include Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas; market entry/development, analysis, stakeholder engagement, RFP response development, network building and implementation in a number of states including Florida, Georgia, Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia and West Virginia for a national Medicaid managed care organization.
Brooke also brings to TSG a rich background in social service and non-profit organization service delivery. During her tenure as Vice President of Operations in the nonprofit sector with a health and human services organization Brooke managed organizational strategies, operations, programming, finance, contracts, development, external relationships, and partnerships for a nonprofit whose multiple home and community based programs were delivered by 500 volunteers and 80 employees in 24 locations.
Brooke's impact extends into the public sector, where she has accumulated over 20 years of experience in state and municipal government. Her contributions in diverse roles spanning Public Safety, Judicial, and Human Resource Management highlight her versatility. Her contributions in these roles ranged from managing stakeholder engagement to policy evaluation, legal research, training, and program development.
Donna Morstad is a Senior Consultant at The Stephen Group. Donna has dedicated more than 20 years to working on Health and Human Services issues in Texas state government, including 14 years at the Texas Legislative Budget Board and 7 years within the Health and Human Services Enterprise. Over the …
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Medicaid Director
- Member of the National Association of Medicaid Directors
- Senior Consultant at the Stephen Group, LLC
Lorraine is a Senior Consultant with The Stephen Group where she brings a number of years of experience in top management in child welfare, foster care and Medicaid Managed Care. For the past 25 years, Lorraine has worked directly with the foster care community. She first began her calling protecting abused and neglected children working as a Child Protective Specialist in the units of investigations, intensive family preservation, and legal conservatorship. She continued her social work commitment employed as a Child Placing Agency group home case manager and CPA Administrator with social duties serving as Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer and Child Welfare Board President.
From May 2007 to 2020, Lorraine brought her experience and knowledge of child welfare and foster care to Medicaid services where she was hired by Centene Corp's Superior HealthPlan providing executive level and primary leadership to two Medicaid Managed Healthcare Programs for foster care children in Texas and Florida. In this role, she has supervised the inception and integration of new policies and procedures, work processes, financial reporting, and data systems supporting child welfare specific metrics. She has also served in the Program Policy and Government Relations sector for Superior and also as a foster care subject matter expert to support Centene's national complex healthcare business.
Most recently, Lorraine successfully served as Superior HealthPlan's Executive Director for the Texas STAR Health Program, establishing herself as a subject matter expert and respected leader for optimizing statewide clinical and non-clinical operations. She led the successful implementation of many new initiatives while optimizing operational performance to ensure the fulfillment of organizational, state, and contractual agreements.
Leading an interagency legislative mandate, which helped over 70% of children to receive medical care within three days of entering the Texas foster care system statewide.
Frank Spinelli is a Senior Consultant at The Stephen Group, LLC. Frank is a former Medicaid director with a proven record of innovative and successful leadership of long term services and support programs in the public and private sector. Prior to joining The Stephen Group, Frank worked for Xerox, Government Healthcare Solutions as the Vice President of Long-Term Care and Care and Quality solutions. In that role he was responsible for the development and implementation of Xerox's long-term services and supports strategy and care management programs. Frank has almost four decades of experience working with long-term care and chronic care populations and in providing long-term services and supports across the life cycle; including the Rhode Island's PASRR program, Pharmacy programs, LTSS and IDDD programs. Under his leadership, Rhode Island designed and implemented its first PACE program, three new home and community based waivers, a Traumatic Brain Injury Resource Center, an Aged and Disability Resource Center, a nursing home transition/diversion program as well as the Connect Care Program - Rhode Island's first person-centered medical home program.
While Medicaid Director, Frank led the efforts to create the RI Global Waiver which rolled all of Medicaid including its HCBS programs and a number of state operated programs into a single waiver which focused on rebalancing the long-term care system, care management, providing a medical home and value purchasing. Under the Global Wavier, Rhode Island added a preventative level of care that enable providing LTSS services to non-nursing level of care participants and introduced a new shared living service that enable individuals to live in their own or caregiver homes. A 2011 Lewin Report on the Global Waiver identified: ‘The actions taken to re-balance the LTC system appear to have generated significant savings according to our estimates.'
Frank also has experience in developing long-term services value based purchasing programs. While at Xerox he worked with the Payment Methodology Group to implement nursing home reimbursement changes in DC, New Hampshire and California. While with Rhode Island Medicaid in 2006, he developed one of the few home care value purchasing programs that reimburse home care agencies enhance rates for certain items such as shift differential, staff education and continuity of care. A report from the AARP Public Policy Institute entitled: Paying for Quality Care: State and Local Strategies for Improving Wages and Benefits for Personal Care Assistants highlighted the rate enhancements as an example for other states.
Over the years Frank has been involved with the implementation and design of Medicaid Management Information Systems that not only focused on payments but data analytics as well. In Wyoming, he helped designed a program that used Medicare MDS data to identify Medicare beneficiaries that still clinically qualified for Medicare nursing home care. He also led an effort to determine the unmet needs of nursing home residents and lead a dental initiative to evaluate dental care of nursing home residents. While at Xerox he evaluated case management systems, caregiver Aps, predictive analytics, visit verification and home monitoring systems and companies in support of developing partnerships and acquisitions.
Frank is an alumnus member of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD); a former member of the Governor's Council on Behavioral Health, the Governor's Brain InjuryCommission, CMS's System Technical Assistance Group (STAG, the New England States Consortium System Organization (NESCSO) and a current member of National Association of PASRR Professionals and CMS's PASRR Technical Assistance Center.
Michael is a senior consultant with The Stephen Group where he specializes in Heath and Human Services information technology and innovation. Michael has had a wide variety of jobs and industries during his 35-year business career, and has recently served as a consulting in a number of state human service projects involving technological improvements and high end data analytics. Michael has used his broad and deep background in business and information technology to help him understand the total needs of the organization, and to inform his dealings with stakeholders both inside and outside his organization. Michael has also developed tools for Medicaid and human service agency heads and non-profits that uses technology to offer improvements and solid data analytics that result in systemic changes to management and oversight.
Michael earned his BA, in Philosophy at the University of Maine in 1980, and received his MBA from the Claremont Graduate School in 1985.
Jason Melancon is a senior consultant at The Stephen Group, specializing in organizational development, Information Technology, and change management. Jason has worked with a variety of health and human service and child welfare nonprofits, specializing in database system support to operations and outcome reporting and strategic planning. Earlier in his career Jason held various IT project management roles up through VP of Information Systems. He taught courses in Analysis and Design and Systems Theory at Sonoma State University in California, delivered training in Project Management software and methods to various Federal agencies, and has been a speaker and a facilitator for a wide variety of professional organizations.
Jason has a BA from the State University of New York Regents Program - Science and Technology.
Sharon R. Williams is an industry leader in both the health and health related social care) industries. Her broad experience provides a unique perspective on effective engagement across these two diverse ecosystems to maximize integrated care initiatives and improve quality of care and quality of life for consumers. Her work embodies the tenets of the updated Triple Aim-improve population health, enhance the consumer experience, lower cost of care and eliminate healthcare disparities.
Sharon has held progressively responsible health plan leadership positions, including CEO of CareSource Michigan, Vice President of Government Programs & Privacy Officer for OmniCare Health Plan and Vice President of Medicaid Business Development at Coventry (where she oversaw Medicaid health plan start ups) and Amerigroup. She has considerable insight into government program administration, specializing in Medicaid & Medicare. Sharon has been actively engaged with prominent industry organizations such as America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) and the Association of Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP). Sharon's passion for quality healthcare access to all consumers has catalyzed health policy reform across many states and at the national level.
Sharon's areas of expertise include healthcare administration, business development and start up, compliance administration, community and stakeholder relationship management, strategic planning, public policy advocacy, interpretation & implementation, proposal writing, quality and process improvement, and government relations management.
Sharon is a committed community activist and has served on Detroit area boards such as the Detroit Area Agency on Aging, YouthVille Detroit, the Guidance Center, City of Detroit Community Service Commission, Metro Parent Magazine Editorial Board and the Ennis Center for Children. She is also a guest writer for Detroit's Urban Aging newspaper. Sharon is a graduate of Michigan State University, (an avid Spartan sports fan) and has earned AHIP's Certified Managed Care accreditation.
JoAnne is a Senior Consultant with The Stephen Group, where she brings an intersectional lens and more than 20 years of experience in child welfare. JoAnne spent her career working directly with abused and neglected children and their families. She has provided direct services to youth in foster care and …
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Expert With
Rory Rickert is a Subject Matter Expert for The Stephen Group. Rory was CEO of Integrated Healthcare Service Incorporated (IHS). There he assisted healthcare clients in winning over $100 billion in awards since the inception of the firm's government business development practice. The company's pharmacy practice assisted commercial healthcare clients in a number of key areas that include: enhanced sales of existing products and services, expansion to new markets, strategic positioning and specialized contract negotiation. The pharmacy practice at IHS dovetailed with government business when the issues dealt with government healthcare matters related to pharmacy. IHS was acquired by QuarterLine in late 2011. Rory is also currently Principal and National Practice Leader for QuarterLine's Commercial Pharmacy Consulting Practice. He has more than 30 years progressive experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
He started as a clinical pharmacist at the Minneapolis Children's Medical Center and advanced to Corporate Vice President for AdvancePCS. There he was responsible for the oversight of corporate accounts and government marketplace for the nation's largest independent health and wellness company. Rory led strategic planning and market positioning of AdvancePCS while it was owned by RiteAid, a major retail pharmacy company. He was also Corporate Director for Home Nutritional Services, a national provider of home infusion therapy.
Rory is a nationally recognized speaker and industry expert in managed care, drug utilization and cost control, distribution channels and rebates, marketing, sales and delivery models in the pharmaceutical industry. He has been deposed as an expert witness in many cases including: Hall v. Medical Security Card, Co.,Superior Court of Arizona, Association Benefit Services, Inc., v. AdvancePCS, a Delaware corporation, Caremark Rx Inc. a Delaware corporation and CaremarkPCS, a Delaware corporation, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and State of Hawaii v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc. et al., (Merck) in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit State of Hawaii.
He has published papers for the Department of Defense Pharmacy and Senior Leadership, including: Proposed Pilot to Centralize the Administration of Specialty Drugs to DoD Beneficiaries (May 2007), Commercial Centralized Refill Capability Supporting Military Treatment Facilities (February 2007) and Enhancing TRICARE Referral Authorization and Notification Processes Through Interactive Automated Voice Services.
John K Cooper is a subject matter expert with The Stephen Group. Mr. Cooper was appointed Assistant Secretary of the State of Florida, Department of Children and Families in 2011. In that role, he was charged with directing statewide operations through the oversight of six Regional Directors, the Florida Abuse …
John Stephen is the founder and managing partner of The Stephen Group. Prior to founding The Stephen Group, John served as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services from 2003 to 2007. In that capacity, John oversaw the state's largest department, which included Medicaid, the divisions of children youth and families, behavioral health, developmental disabilities, public health, juvenile justice, and financial assistance. John led the DHHS through a period of major innovation and reorganization, including improving Medicaid and child welfare operations and engaging families on assistance in work activities. John also developed and implemented a nationally recognized Health Care Reform programs that focused Medicaid on prevention, wellness and rebalancing long term care. John initiated disease management and care coordination programs that transitioned New Hampshire Medicaid away from treating the sick to keeping people healthy. Through all of John's efforts, Medicaid long term care home and community placements increased 23%, replacing more expensive nursing home placements, which dropped 11%. Moreover, during each of the four years John was Commissioner, New Hampshire ranked first nationally in the Kids Count survey. During that same period, the enrollment of low income, uninsured children into the State's Medicaid and SCHIP program increased by 7500. John also oversaw the state's welfare program, Special Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program. In this role, John was also able to transform welfare in New Hampshire, reducing the rolls by 20 percent and dramatically increasing work participation rates by bringing accountability to the program. John also assisted the State of New Hampshire in drafting legislation transitioning the Medicaid Fee-For- Service program to capitated, full risk, managed care for all Medicaid populations and services.
During his management consulting career, John has led efforts in numerous states to transform various aspects of Health and Human Services to provide better quality and access for beneficiaries. John recently led the TSG team in reviewing and analyzing the entire operations of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), Medicaid, Long Term Care, Behavioral Health, and Developmental Disabilities programs. After delivering its Assessment Report and Recommendations to a Legislative Task Force, John and the TSG team developed an implementation plan for the legislature to effectively monitor several Medicaid transformation projects in that state.
John also led the TSG team that conducted an end-to- end assessment of the Child Protective Services organization, process, and technology in the State of Texas. This assessment concentrated of all aspects of child welfare, including protective services, family based services, children's Medicaid and foster care services. The TSG team developed a comprehensive analysis including and assessment of contracts management, including IV E contracts, organizational design and continuous quality improvement. John has assisted the Commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services in implementing aspects of the TSG plan that has become part of the Texas Child Protective Services Transformation. Overall goals of transformation are to reduce turnover, decrease time to permanency, and decrease time to close investigations, and enhance child safety and well-being.
John led a similar child welfare consulting project Florida for the Florida Department of Children and Families, where he assisted the Secretary in developing the state's future strategic vision, business case and implementation plan for its child welfare transformation project. John worked directly with the Secretary in identifying issues in the Florida Abuse Hotline and the Child Protective Investigators that needed reform. John worked with the Secretary's staff to prepare a business case and support for RFP for $100 million of technology work to support the Child Welfare Transformation as well as the maintenance and operations to support the state's child welfare information system.
Additionally, John led the TSG team in assessing and recommending improvements to the South Carolina Medicaid program for Governor Nikki Haley in her first term. These recommendations led to recent Medicaid reform initiatives in South Carolina that involved an integrated health care strategy targeted to costly dual eligible population.
In the past, John has also worked extensively on other state health and human services projects in the states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Florida, Illinois, and Maine. John served as technical advisor to the State of Illinois in interviewing candidates for the head of Medicaid, Health and Finance and Child Welfare agencies. John served as a consultant to Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn's Taxpayer Action Board and in the capacity drafted the Board's report on Medicaid and Human Services system recommendations. John was also asked by the State of Illinois Senate Special Committee on Medicaid Reform to provide key testimony in December of 2010 that led to Illinois passing legislation that has resulted in the state rebalancing long term care away from high cost nursing home care. John, acting as the TSG lead, completed a Medicaid cost efficiency study for the Illinois Policy Institute, which led to a series of recommendations incorporated by the Illinois legislature.
John was an Assistant Attorney General, former Assistant Commissioner of the NH Department of Safety, and a prosecutor at the county level for over 10 years. He is a respected author, and attorney. John received his BA in 1984 from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, and his JD in 1987 from the Detroit College of Law.
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Senior Consultant With
Will Oliver is a Senior Consultant at The Stephen Group and has more than 25 years of achievements in consulting and management. He is deeply experienced in managing resources and helping organizations reduce their costs and improve performance. He helps lead the firm's Government Solutions practice - managing major assignments for state government agencies. Will led a project to assist the State of Indiana Family and Social Services Department to re-invent Medicaid eligibility processing. After considering current costs and options, Will led the project to help write the RFP and manage vendor selection for the U.S.' largest benefits eligibility privatization. Will led a team supporting Pennsylvania Office of Income Maintenance. He worked with Agency leadership to organize many separate improvement initiatives into a comprehensive process improvement program. In the process, he led teams to document current processes and create better ones. Working with Missouris Family Support Division, he led a change program that launched a major multi-year program to improve Medicaid eligibility determination. Also, in Missouri, Will worked with the Governors office to evaluate current state operations in order to develop cost savings initiatives the state is implementing to save $150 million annually.
During his career, Will has worked with various hospitals, payors, and other players in the medical community.
Prior to joining The Stephen Group, Will served as COO of BridgeHRO (HR outsourcing services), Vice President of 3i Venture Capital, Client Partner of Granitar Systems (web development), Director of Gemini Consulting (process improvement consulting for hospitals), senior manager of KMPG (consulting to BCBS of MA), and with Bain & Company, where he was a founding member of Bains well known healthcare cost reduction practice.
Will holds a Masters in Management from MITs Sloan School of Management, and a BBA in Accounting from the University of Alaska.
Lorraine is the only individual in the nation who has directed two specialized managed health contracts for child welfare programs, including having front line experience serving the foster care community. She has a real passion for finding collaborative solutions to ensure the success of programs supporting high-risk children and families. She currently serves on the Texas CASA Board of Directors and supports the Texas CASA Public Policy Committee and Texas CASA Program Services & Operation Standards Committee. She served on the Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care as an Organizational Leadership Committee Member and is a Former Child Protective Services Child Death Citizen Review Committee Member.
Lorraine is a Senior Consultant with The Stephen Group where she brings a number of years of experience in top management in child welfare, foster care and Medicaid Managed Care. For the past 25 years, Lorraine has worked directly with the foster care community. She first began her calling protecting …
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Senior Consultant With
Donna Morstad is a Senior Consultant at The Stephen Group. Donna has dedicated more than 20 years to working on Health and Human Services issues in Texas state government, including 14 years at the Texas Legislative Budget Board and 7 years within the Health and Human Services Enterprise. Over the last year since transitioning to an independent consultant, she has worked in the health and human services arena for a variety of private sector clients. She has subject matter expertise in Medicaid, hospital finance, long-term care, early childhood intervention, prescription drug payment, behavioral health, maternal and newborn health, and child welfare. As a Senior Analyst at the Legislative Budget Board, she authored 25 published legislative reports with recommendations to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Texas state government programs and operations. Donna has extensive policy research and fiscal analysis experience, including planning, design, data collection, qualitative methods, quantitative analysis, and report writing. Her experience also includes facilitating stakeholder input through focus groups, surveys, and key informant interviews. She has testified before Texas state budget and policy committees and briefed legislative leadership on the fiscal and policy implications of health and human services legislation. Donna holds a BA in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College and a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin.
Michael is a senior consultant with The Stephen Group where he specializes in Heath and Human Services information technology and innovation. Michael has had a wide variety of jobs and industries during his 35-year business career, and has recently served as a consulting in a number of state human service …
Richard Kellogg is a subject matter expert at The Stephen Group. Since joining The Stephen Group Richard has served as co-lead for the comprehensive "South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Strategic Vision/Plan for Rebalancing Long Term Care" Project, including Medicaid and Medicare models of integration, and participated in several projects on behalf of medical and behavioral health plans and private equity groups.
John Stephen is the founder and managing partner of The Stephen Group. Prior to founding The Stephen Group, John served as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services from 2003 to 2007. In that capacity, John oversaw the state's largest department, which included Medicaid, the divisions of children youth and families, behavioral health, developmental disabilities, public health, juvenile justice, and financial assistance. John led the DHHS through a period of major innovation and reorganization, including improving Medicaid and child welfare operations and engaging families on assistance in work activities. John also developed and implemented a nationally recognized Health Care Reform programs that focused Medicaid on prevention, wellness and rebalancing long term care. John initiated disease management and care coordination programs that transitioned New Hampshire Medicaid away from treating the sick to keeping people healthy. Through all of John's efforts, Medicaid long term care home and community placements increased 23%, replacing more expensive nursing home placements, which dropped 11%. Moreover, during each of the four years John was Commissioner, New Hampshire ranked first nationally in the Kids Count survey. During that same period, the enrollment of low income, uninsured children into the State's Medicaid and SCHIP program increased by 7500. John also oversaw the state's welfare program, Special Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program. In this role, John was also able to transform welfare in New Hampshire, reducing the rolls by 20 percent and dramatically increasing work participation rates by bringing accountability to the program. John also assisted the State of New Hampshire in drafting legislation transitioning the Medicaid Fee-For- Service program to capitated, full risk, managed care for all Medicaid populations and services.
During his management consulting career, John has led efforts in numerous states to transform various aspects of Health and Human Services to provide better quality and access for beneficiaries. John recently led the TSG team in reviewing and analyzing the entire operations of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), Medicaid, Long Term Care, Behavioral Health, and Developmental Disabilities programs. After delivering its Assessment Report and Recommendations to a Legislative Task Force, John and the TSG team developed an implementation plan for the legislature to effectively monitor several Medicaid transformation projects in that state.
John also led the TSG team that conducted an end-to- end assessment of the Child Protective Services organization, process, and technology in the State of Texas. This assessment concentrated of all aspects of child welfare, including protective services, family based services, children's Medicaid and foster care services. The TSG team developed a comprehensive analysis including and assessment of contracts management, including IV E contracts, organizational design and continuous quality improvement. John has assisted the Commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services in implementing aspects of the TSG plan that has become part of the Texas Child Protective Services Transformation. Overall goals of transformation are to reduce turnover, decrease time to permanency, and decrease time to close investigations, and enhance child safety and well-being.
John led a similar child welfare consulting project Florida for the Florida Department of Children and Families, where he assisted the Secretary in developing the state's future strategic vision, business case and implementation plan for its child welfare transformation project. John worked directly with the Secretary in identifying issues in the Florida Abuse Hotline and the Child Protective Investigators that needed reform. John worked with the Secretary's staff to prepare a business case and support for RFP for $100 million of technology work to support the Child Welfare Transformation as well as the maintenance and operations to support the state's child welfare information system.
Richard has served in the health and human services positions of Commissioner, Deputy, or Director in the states of Virginia, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Washington beginning in 1994 through 2011. Richard's scope of responsibility has included medical and pharmacy services, mental health and substance abuse service systems, psychiatric hospitals and …
Mr. DeStefano is a subject matter expert consultant for The Stephen Group and he brings extensive experience providing consultation on various issues impacting the implementation of child welfare and other health and human service programs. His range of experience includes development of public / private partnerships, performance based contracting, program evaluation; development and use of software and database applications; SACWIS review, assessment and requirements; maximization of federal revenues; federal compliance with program standards; external evaluation and reporting; random moment sampling; rate setting; cost reporting; project management; work process analysis; and the development and implementation of program policies and procedures. His primary areas of work have focused on program analysis and practice integration, external program evaluation, workflow development, rate setting, Title IV-E cost reimbursement, and assessment of community based services in child welfare. As a certified Six Sigma Green Belt, he is experienced with the use of multiple process improvement tools and strategies. Mr. DeStefano holds a B.A. in Psychology from Purdue University and a M.
Prior to beginning his consulting career Mr. DeStefano served in various direct service and management capacities for community-based not-for-profit human service organizations.
Rory Rickert is a Subject Matter Expert for The Stephen Group. Rory was CEO of Integrated Healthcare Service Incorporated (IHS). There he assisted healthcare clients in winning over $100 billion in awards since the inception of the firm's government business development practice. The company's pharmacy practice assisted commercial healthcare clients …
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Industry Leader
JoAnne is a Senior Consultant with The Stephen Group, where she brings an intersectional lens and more than 20 years of experience in child welfare. JoAnne spent her career working directly with abused and neglected children and their families. She has provided direct services to youth in foster care and youth who elect to extend services beyond foster care as well as consultation and mentorship to new field staff, university social work interns and served on many child welfare workgroups over the past two decades.
JoAnne is skilled at developing programming, building communication, and cultivating connections between diverse stakeholder groups including state agencies, nonprofit service providers, and the private sector. She has experience in developing program evaluation and data analysis, and planning and executing regional and statewide events. Her work has involved improving behavioral health services delivery and improving health for clients.
JoAnne's expertise includes writing as well as serving as a subject matter expert in the development of policy and standard operating procedures. She has deep experience in project management, progress monitoring, stakeholder outreach, and analyzing data to improve work processes and optimize operational performance. JoAnne has developed extensive knowledge of child welfare, evidence-based practices and treatments, special education, behavioral health, ICWA, child development, substance use disorder, trauma-informed care, Medicaid services, home-based therapeutic services, care coordination, TANF, WIC, SNAP, housing services, Juvenile Justice, Family First Prevention Act and other Federal Laws that impact service delivery in child welfare and juvenile justice.
JoAnne earned her BA in Cultural Anthropology from The University of California, Berkeley, and MSW from The University of New Hampshire. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.
Amy's professional career spans over 20 years, the entirety of which has been in the healthcare space. Her commercial and Medicaid payor experience, coupled with numerous years in the pharmaceutical industry and a provider organization, affords her a unique perspective of the multi-faceted healthcare industry.
Amy spent the first decade of her career launching new pharmaceutical products, cultivating new business opportunities and working with and educating providers across a wide array of specialties. In 2011, Amy decided to follow her passion and began working for a hospice organization, as an Account Executive covering the NH market. Amy's role was to cultivate new business in the hospice/palliative care market and educate the medical community and public regarding end-of-life care. After several years of working in hospice, Amy developed a deep appreciation for the important role insurers play in the overall wellbeing of patients and their families and was asked to join a large commercial healthcare insurer in the spring of 2013. Amy spent the next 6 years as the lead Contract Manager for many of the largest health systems, ASCs, professional and BH providers, in the New England market. While managing contracts, Amy also took on various roles such as the NH lead on the company's Enterprise Facility Reimbursement Strategy Team, the Enterprise Opioid Management Workgroup, the NH liaison for the Corporate Behavioral Health workgroup and the NH Provider Relations/Contracting liaison for NH Medicaid RFP workgroup.
Most recently, Amy worked as the Director of Provider Network Management for one of NH's Medicaid MCOs and successfully built and maintained a strong provider network and saw the plan through inception, implementation and stabilization as one of the first three employees at a new healthplan. In her tenure with the MCO, Amy was charged with creating a new ten-person team and the strategic planning of hospital and physician network development and management. She and her team were also responsible for the creation and execution of provider contracts that complied with both state and federal regulations, as well as internal standards. In addition, Amy oversaw the team responsible for developing, executing and driving results of value-based provider contracts centered around quality and efficiency. Amy worked with state partners to drive state initiatives, provide strategic ideas and rapidly address any network concerns.
Amy received both a Bachelor of Arts in French and a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Maine and she recently completed the Leadership Greater Manchester (LGM) program.
Sharon R. Williams is an industry leader in both the health and health related social care) industries. Her broad experience provides a unique perspective on effective engagement across these two diverse ecosystems to maximize integrated care initiatives and improve quality of care and quality of life for consumers. Her work embodies the tenets of the updated Triple Aim-improve population health, enhance the consumer experience, lower cost of care and eliminate healthcare disparities.
Sharon has held progressively responsible health plan leadership positions, including CEO of CareSource Michigan, Vice President of Government Programs & Privacy Officer for OmniCare Health Plan and Vice President of Medicaid Business Development at Coventry (where she oversaw Medicaid health plan start ups) and Amerigroup. She has considerable insight into government program administration, specializing in Medicaid & Medicare. Sharon has been actively engaged with prominent industry organizations such as America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) and the Association of Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP). Sharon's passion for quality healthcare access to all consumers has catalyzed health policy reform across many states and at the national level.
Sharon's areas of expertise include healthcare administration, business development and start up, compliance administration, community and stakeholder relationship management, strategic planning, public policy advocacy, interpretation & implementation, proposal writing, quality and process improvement, and government relations management.
Sharon is a committed community activist and has served on Detroit area boards such as the Detroit Area Agency on Aging, YouthVille Detroit, the Guidance Center, City of Detroit Community Service Commission, Metro Parent Magazine Editorial Board and the Ennis Center for Children. She is also a guest writer for Detroit's Urban Aging newspaper. Sharon is a graduate of Michigan State University, (an avid Spartan sports fan) and has earned AHIP's Certified Managed Care accreditation.
Mr. Cooper was responsible for a budget totaling approximately $1.7 billion representing operational costs and contracted services. He oversaw over 7,000 staff that deliver client services in the following program areas; ACCESS (TANF, food stamps, Medicaid eligibility), Child Protective Investigations, Adult Protective Services, Refugee Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, and Child Care Licensing.
From July 2007 to Sept 2011, John provided executive direction and supervision for all Departmental programs, service delivery, administrative services, operations, and financial management for 16 counties in the Central Florida area. He was responsible for over 2,000 employees with an annual operating budget of $450,000,000. He also had oversight of 5 judicial circuits and primary operational interface for 6 Community-Based Care lead agencies. In addition, Mr. Cooper:
Managed more than $250,000,000 in contracted services for dependency case management, mental health, alcohol and drug prevention & treatment, and other social services
Developed Region and Circuit business plans using the Balanced Scorecard
Implemented an interactive web-based performance dashboard
Had oversight of the largest Emergency Repatriation Center in U.S. history
Helped the agency he served maintain a #1 ranking in Region performance for four consecutive years
From August 2006 to July 2007, Mr. Cooper provided overall direction for all department delivering human services in a five county District. He was responsible for over 400 employees with an annual operating budget of almost $90 million. Some of Mr. Cooper's accomplishments included:
Statewide Project Officer for a national demonstration project administered by the Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare
Team Leader for an innovative prevention project
In partnership with the Community-Based Care lead agency - assisted with the redesigning and re-starting of the system of care
From May 2004 to August 2006, Mr. Cooper was responsible for operations in all program areas; Family Safety, ACCESS, Adult Services, and Child Care Licensing. He engaged community stakeholders and providers to ensure quality service.
Jan 2002 to May 2004, Mr. Cooper was responsible for all Hotline Operations including the Call Center, Information, technology, telecommunications, headquarters Investigative Support Unit, and direct supervision of five managers, 17 unit supervisors, and over 200 staff. Duties included; maintaining a low abandonment rate, reviewing unit and call center performance, developing and implementing policy, establishing staffing levels to correlate with the call volume, and quality improvement.
Mr. Cooper was also a Military Police Officer with the United States Army Fort Ord, California from Jan 1983 - Jan 1985, and has experience in criminal and accident investigations, evidence gathering, report writing, law enforcement procedures, and community relations. He received a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 1988. He serves on Boards of Community Child Welfare agencies in the Orange County Florida area and currently resides with his family in Orlando Florida.
John K Cooper is a subject matter expert with The Stephen Group. Mr. Cooper was appointed Assistant Secretary of the State of Florida, Department of Children and Families in 2011. In that role, he was charged with directing statewide operations through the oversight of six Regional Directors, the Florida Abuse Hotline, and the Department's headquarters program offices.
Mr. Cooper was responsible for a budget totaling approximately $1.7 billion representing operational costs and contracted services. He oversaw over 7,000 staff that deliver client services in the following program areas; ACCESS (TANF, food stamps, Medicaid eligibility), Child Protective Investigations, Adult Protective Services, Refugee Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, and Child Care Licensing.
From July 2007 to Sept 2011, John provided executive direction and supervision for all Departmental programs, service delivery, administrative services, operations, and financial management for 16 counties in the Central Florida area. He was responsible for over 2,000 employees with an annual operating budget of $450,000,000. He also had oversight of 5 judicial circuits and primary operational interface for 6 Community-Based Care lead agencies.
Managed more than $250,000,000 in contracted services for dependency case management, mental health, alcohol and drug prevention & treatment, and other social services
Sheila Cooper is Stephen Group Senior Consultant who was most recently a client executive with CSG Government Solutions. Leveraging over 18 years of state government experience, her background includes wide-ranging work in Medicaid including experience with Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS), Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA), health insurance exchange, Medicaid managed care, and performance based contracting. As an independent consultant, her current client work includes consulting on Medicaid modularization and managed care IT readiness. Sheila has extensive background in functional requirements development, business and use case analysis, clinical business intelligence, advance planning document (APD) preparation and negotiation, integrated eligibility for health and human services programs, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security, HIPAA electronic data interchange, and project management.
Sheila's most recent work includes assisting several health plans with the implementation of a new line of Medicaid managed care business for SSI children, a complex program that includes both acute care services and long term services and supports. Sheila works with multiple health plans to ensure their organization and infrastructure is operationally ready to efficiently and effectively implement the new program. This includes review and improvement of the current organizational structure, current systems, workflows, and all aspects of the client's implementation planning. Sheila facilitates executive level decision making and is an experienced facilitator, able to assist groups in achieving consensus.
While at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Sheila served as Project Manager for Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA) State-Self Assessment (SS-A) and to-be road map for the 52,000-employee health and human service agency. She worked with over 240 subject matter experts and obtained a far-reaching and in-depth knowledge of the all aspects of Medicaid. Sheila facilitated sessions with HHSC executive management to develop a strategic plan for MITA, producing a proposed project portfolio that was standards based, moved HHS toward inter-operability, and was centered in improving HIT and health information exchange (HIE) for the Medicaid Enterprise.
During her tenure at HHSC, Sheila served as the lead for all MMIS Advance Planning Documents (APD). She developed and delivered over 50 APDs resulting in federal approval for millions of dollars of enhanced funding for the State of Texas. She utilized extensive knowledge of state and federal regulations and the state and federal budgeting process and prepared detailed project documentation and budgets. She worked closely with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regional and central office staff, building close relationships and using negotiation skills to maximize federal funding. Educational background: Sheila received her BA (Psychology) from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and her Masters in Business Administration from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Austin has over a decade of legislative & policy experience, governmental relations. She is a strong communicator, strategic analyst and licensed attorney (TX, MA). She has provided budget and policy consulting to organizations and governmental bodies. Developed and launched impactful initiatives and built successful collaboratives. Managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders that leverage in-depth knowledge of local, state, and federal budget and legal/regulatory processes and policy frameworks. Austin has also evaluated program effectiveness and efficiency and developed options to improve outcomes.
Prior to consulting work, Austin spent six years with the Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB) . During her tenure she managed budget team monitoring and analyzing the federal budget and its impact on state fiscal implications. Consulted with stakeholders to identify and recommend policy and budgetary actions to the Legislature to maximize federal funding, including CARES Act, to the state. Analyzed and reported on federal legislation, regulation, and policy changes with state fiscal implications. Developed and presented testimony on various federal congressional actions to appropriations and policy committees. Austin also performed high level research and analysis work on higher education, K-12, workforce, and criminal justice issues. Collected, analyzed, and interpreted data from various sources and reported on the implications and results of the information reviewed. Made presentations and recommendations to legislative body and staff on policy matters. Independently and effectively created timely, relevant, accurate, and valid work products, including policy reports. Identified alternatives and made recommendations supported with evidence. Knowledge of legislative process and related issues/history/trends.
Prior to the LBB, Austin worked with the Texas House of Representatives as a Session Policy Analyst where she covered Higher Education and Juvenile Justice & Family Issues committees during the Texas legislative session. Liaised with legislation authors' offices, other legislative staff, and external stakeholders to analyze legislation and provide comprehensive perspective on potential impact of legislation for publication in Floor Reports.
Before moving to Texas, Austin worked with the Boston Private Industry Council where she was the lead coordinator for city-wide, multi-stakeholder Boston Opportunity Youth Collaborative, aimed at designing and strengthening education and career pathways for 16-24 year old's. Convened multiple partners to advocate for and evaluate policy changes to support youth and young adults. Managed agenda development, progress monitoring, and stakeholder outreach. Presented work product and updates on project goals. Analyzed data on out of school youth in Boston and managed creation and submission of two successful national grant applications, securing over $200 thousand in funding.
Taylor provides organizational management consulting services to public and private child welfare agencies. He focuses on seeking justice for children and families involved with child welfare systems. Taylor spent five years with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services where he served as Deputy Commissioner for Strategy & Policy/General Counsel, …
Richard has served in the health and human services positions of Commissioner, Deputy, or Director in the states of Virginia, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Washington beginning in 1994 through 2011. Richard's scope of responsibility has included medical and pharmacy services, mental health and substance abuse service systems, psychiatric hospitals and developmental residential programs, developmental/intellectual disabilities community based services and support systems, and long-term care services systems. Prior to beginning his career in state government Richard was a successful CEO of local government and private sector organizations charged with managing and delivering comprehensive mental health, substance abuse, developmental/intellectual disabilities and long term care services inclusive of community based and inpatient modalities.
Richard provided leadership to the successful resolution of several Department of Justice lawsuits involving CRIPA/ADA/Olmstead within state psychiatric hospitals and developmental residential centers as well as EPSDT litigation while serving as a state government Commissioner/Director. He is an expert witness in matters directly related to the protection and treatment of state psychiatric hospital patients and residents of state developmental centers and community based systems.
Richard helped lead the development of a comprehensive plan addressing CMS waiver concerns and on-going Department of Justice litigation for Tennessee's system of care for people with developmental/intellectual disabilities. While working in New Hampshire Richard helped guide the state through a transformative Medicaid Waiver process that rebalanced long term care, transformed the state's long term care system to a community based first option, and improved the state's Medicaid medical services program and mental health systems.
Most recently Richard served the $8 billion dollar Washington State Department of Social and Health Services as Director of Integrated Health Services, reporting directly to the Secretary. In this capacity Richard was responsible for advising on all aspects of national health reform and was a member of the Governor's Sub-Cabinet on Health Care Reform. Richard earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Vermont and engaged in advanced study at Dartmouth and Harvard. He has taught at the university level and been integrally involved with related subject matters at the University of Virginia and the University of Washington.
Will Oliver is a Senior Consultant at The Stephen Group and has more than 25 years of achievements in consulting and management. He is deeply experienced in managing resources and helping organizations reduce their costs and improve performance. He helps lead the firm's Government Solutions practice - managing major assignments for state government agencies. Will led a project to assist the State of Indiana Family and Social Services Department to re-invent Medicaid eligibility processing. After considering current costs and options, Will led the project to help write the RFP and manage vendor selection for the U.S.' largest benefits eligibility privatization. Will led a team supporting Pennsylvania Office of Income Maintenance. He worked with Agency leadership to organize many separate improvement initiatives into a comprehensive process improvement program. In the process, he led teams to document current processes and create better ones. Working with Missouris Family Support Division, he led a change program that launched a major multi-year program to improve Medicaid eligibility determination. Also, in Missouri, Will worked with the Governors office to evaluate current state operations in order to develop cost savings initiatives the state is implementing to save $150 million annually.
During his career, Will has worked with various hospitals, payors, and other players in the medical community.
Prior to joining The Stephen Group, Will served as COO of BridgeHRO (HR outsourcing services), Vice President of 3i Venture Capital, Client Partner of Granitar Systems (web development), Director of Gemini Consulting (process improvement consulting for hospitals), senior manager of KMPG (consulting to BCBS of MA), and with Bain & Company, where he was a founding member of Bains well known healthcare cost reduction practice.
Will holds a Masters in Management from MITs Sloan School of Management, and a BBA in Accounting from the University of Alaska.
Taylor provides organizational management consulting services to public and private child welfare agencies. He focuses on seeking justice for children and families involved with child welfare systems. Taylor spent five years with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services where he served as Deputy Commissioner for Strategy & Policy/General Counsel, February 2021−October 2021; Acting Interim Commissioner, January 2020-November 2020; Child Protection Services Chief of Staff, September 2017-January 2021.
While at the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, Taylor spearheaded an successful and innovative initiative centered around judicial engagement to prevent family separation. Prior to this initiative, Mississippi's foster care population peaked with more than 6,100 children in state custody. By the end of 2019, this population had been reduced to approximately 4,000 children. Mississippi's reduction (more than 30% in two and a half years) significantly outpaced that of the national foster care population, which decreased by approximately 3% between 2017 and 2019. And, Mississippi did not experience corresponding increases in recurrence of maltreatment or reentry into foster care. This initiative focused on enhanced judicial education on outcomes, trauma and the MDCPS Practice Model and has received national attention by Casey Family Programs.
Prior to the Department of Child Protection Services, Taylor served as a Senior Law Clerk at the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Taylor holds a J.D. from the Mississippi College School of Law and a B.A. from Millsaps College in Public Management. He is admitted to the Mississippi and Florida Bar Associations.
Ziv's initial experience with the medical industry was gained through his father's company, TEI, which was at the forefront of helping caregivers convert their paper files into the digital health records we take for granted today. The company provided a "one-stop-shop" to physicians who converted their practices to operating in …