LEARNAAC.NET - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Project Facilitator, Center for START Services
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Alyce Benson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 18 years experience working with adults, adolescents, and children with developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health disorders. She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Ms. Benson specializes in working with individuals who present complex behavioral, medical, and psychological issues, and has extensive experience working in numerous community-based settings and with numerous interdisciplinary teams. She has provided seminars at both national and international conferences for NADD and AAMR. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and National Association for the Dually Diagnosed.
Job Titles:
- Project Director II Wrap Around Coach
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Support Assistant
Amy H. Frechette is a self-advocate and provides program support at the Institute on Disability. Amy has a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome and brings her expertise as a self-advocate to her work with the Institute on Disability and NH-ME LEND. She is a strong advocate and statewide leader in the area of autism spectrum disorders, previously serving as a board member for the Autism Society of N.H. and currently as a governor-appointed self-advocate for N.H. Council on ASD, which is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the recommendations made in the report N.H. Commission on ASD. Amy is a 2007 graduate of the N.H. Family and Consumer Leadership Series. Amy has owned and trained her own Autism Service Dogs since 2003; her current dog is a Keeshond, Judah.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Social Worker
- Director of Research and Quality Assurance, Center for START Services
Andrea Caoili is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 15 years of experience in field of mental health. She is the Director of Research and Quality Assurance at the Center for START Services and is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Social Work at UNH. In her work with CSS, Andrea oversees and supports START programs with meeting model fidelity and program certification, and in collaboration with Dr. Beasley, oversees the research and evaluation activities of the Center. Andrea has experience in practicing and training other clinicians in wellness-based, positive interventions for persons with IDD. She is also interested in applied and participatory research in IDD/MH and measurement development.
Job Titles:
- Director of Evaluation and Outcomes, Center for START Services
Job Titles:
- Director of Therapeutic Coaching, Center for START Services
Job Titles:
- CSS Director of Training & Professional Development
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant Professor & NH - ME LEND Program Director
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Support Assistant
Job Titles:
- Communications Associate, Center on Aging and Community Living
Job Titles:
- NH Leadership Series Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Contract and Finance Administrator, Center for START Services
Job Titles:
- Research Associate Professor
Job Titles:
- Research Associate Professor and Director of the Center for START Services
Dr. Joan Beasley is a Research Associate Professor and Director of the Center for START Services at the UNH Institute on Disability. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Heller School at Brandeis University, and a Master's degree in Community Mental Health Counseling from Northeastern University. Dr. Beasley has authored and co-authored numerous publications in the field of MHIDD, and provides training in the US, Canada and Europe. She serves as co-chair of the Mental Health Special Interest Group of AUCD.
Dr. Beasley is the author and co-founder of the START program, first implemented in 1988, and has worked to promote the development of effective services for people with disabilities and their families for more than 35 years. START is a nationally implemented evidence informed model that focuses on evaluation and research of best practices. It was cited as a model program in the 2002 U.S. Surgeon General's Report on mental health disparities for persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities. In 2016 START was identified as best practice by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Research
- Research and Evaluation Specialist
Dr. Kelly Doran is a Research and Evaluation Specialist for the IOD. After graduating from college, Kelly served in AmeriCorps, working in schools and summer camps with at-risk children and adolescents. She has extensive experience in academic research and statistical analysis and has published and presented on numerous projects including studies on predictors and outcomes of adolescent health risk behaviors, predictors and consequences of Intimate Partner Violence, and HIV risk and resilience. She also has many years of experience working in higher education as an instructor (teaching undergraduate courses in adolescent development, child psychology, social statistics, and aging) and as an academic advisor.
Kelly is currently a program evaluator for several projects at the IOD and works collaboratively on data reports and publications. In her role, she hopes to contribute to knowledge about disability through research and evaluation, and to bridge the gap between research and application to solve practical problems and to improve the lives of individuals living with disabilities and their families.
Job Titles:
- NH Wraparound Trainer & Coach
Job Titles:
- Project Director: MTSS - B & RENEW Trainer
Heidi Cloutier, provides training, consultation, and technical assistance in the development and expansion of implementation of school-wide Multi-tiered Systems of Support, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Youth Leadership and RENEW, an intensive support intervention to help at risk youth engage in high school completion and post-secondary options.
Heidi received her MSW from the University of New Hampshire, is a NH Leadership Graduate, and was endorsed by the University of Connecticut's New England Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports Training of Trainers Program. She has extensive experience working with youth and adults in transition planning, person centered planning, educational supports and community mental health. Heidi presents nationally on topics of transition planning, MTSS-B/ PBIS, Autism, RENEW and Coaching practices for sustainability and fidelity.
Heidi consults with various state education and Community mental health agencies and is nationally recognized for her presentations at conferences and exceptional skills in working with teams to solve challenging problems within school-wide improvement and reform efforts. She has co-authored training curriculum, the RENEW manual and several peer reviewed journal articles which have appeared in Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities and the Journal of Rehabilitation.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Director, Center for START Services
Job Titles:
- Research Associate Professor
Job Titles:
- Communications and Marketing Specialist
Kaarin Clausen joined the Institute on Disability in November 2009 and currently serves as a Communications and Marketing Specialist. She is also involved in outreach and coordination of the RENEW Project, as well as with Alternative Peer Groups, part of the Creating Connections Project. Previously, she served as Project Coordinator to the Inclusive Communities Project, and assisted filmmaker Dan Habib for 11 years. Prior to working at the IOD, Kaarin worked in educational publishing for 10 years as an editorial coordinator and freelance permissions editor. She received her master's degree in Counseling Psychology in 2014 and is currently pursuing a certificate in copyediting.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Research Assistant Professor & Project Director
Dr. Karla Armenti joined the Institute in January 2016, bringing with her the New Hampshire Occupational Health Surveillance Program (NH OHSP), funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The NH OHSP, previously housed in the NH Division of Public Health Services, now finds its home in the Institute through a bona fide agent agreement with the State.
Dr. Armenti has more than 30 years of experience in occupational safety and health with a focus on policy and public health. She has taught environmental and occupational health courses in the UNH Master of Public Health Program for over 15 years. In her work as Project Director of the NH OHSP and in teaching students, she stresses the social, political, and economic context within which occupational and environmental health function.
Dr. Armenti is a leader in occupational health surveillance and participates on several national topic-specific NIOSH workgroups. Her work is presented at national public health conferences, including the American Public Health Association and the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists. She is an active member of the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC), tasked with providing advice on standards of scientific excellence, current needs in the field of occupational safety and health, and the applicability and dissemination of research findings.
Job Titles:
- Project Director: NH Wraparound Coach and Trainer
Kate Doucet joined the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability in 2018 and provides training and coaching for NH Wraparound Coordinators.
Kate came to the behavioral health field after years of working in women's reproductive health and seeing a great need for access to high quality behavioral health services. After completing an internship at Concord Hospital Family Health Center and her master's at Plymouth State, Kate worked briefly with youth and families as a community-based therapist, in NH's community mental health system. Kate worked for two years as a NH Wraparound Coordinator, before transitioning into her coaching role with the IOD.
Job Titles:
- Teacher
- Disability Policy and Training Specialist
Kathy Bates is a teacher, advocate, and writer. She believes in everyone's right to full citizenship and envisions a future where disability is seen as just another form of diversity.
After receiving her BA degree in Elementary Education from St. Andrews University in North Carolina, she began her teaching career. Kathy has worked extensively with both children and adults with disabilities. The opportunity to challenge herself and use her lifetime of experience with disability came when she was offered the chance to co-teach a graduate level class at UNH called Contemporary Issues and Developmental Disabilities. Personally understanding the need for excellent support within the community for people with disabilities, she was also excited to co-teach, Supporting People into Community Life, a class for Direct Support Professionals at Great Bay Community College. In 2014, Kathy completed the LEND program (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental disabilities). The purpose of the course is to improve health outcomes for children with developmental disabilities by training leaders in the field of maternal and child health.
Ms. Bates started her own business called Wings and Wheels Consulting Services. She has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences and workshops around New England. Kathy is a respected advocate for people with disabilities in the areas of employment, self-directed care, education, and rights. She was a keynote speaker at the NH Transition Community of Practice 2014 Summit. Kathy really enjoys presenting. She loves to use her life experiences and sense of humor to educate and engage the audience.
Kathy has Cerebral Palsy.
Kathy Francoeur provides training, consultation, and technical assistance in the development and expansion of implementation of school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Kathy also provides training and technical assistance to schools in the development of RENEW (Resilience, Empowerment, and Natural Supports for Education and Work), an intensive support intervention to help at risk youth engage in high school completion and post-secondary options. Kathy has collaborated with several NH schools in training faculty to serve as RENEW facilitators for youth, as well as build a sustainable system within the school to support and monitor the RENEW model. Kathy presents nationally, training schools and districts on the RENEW model, and as part of the Who Cares About Kelsey? film project, in which she and filmmaker Dan Habib share the benefits and process of RENEW with audiences.
Kathy was part of the NH Responds initiative as a Research Associate and High School facilitator, assisting schools to develop systemic change and a three-tiered approach to interventions.
Prior to joining the IOD in 2010, she served as Crisis Intervention Coordinator for Somersworth High School and Middle School for over 10 years. Her experience included overseeing RENEW in the high school as a three-tiered intervention to support high school students with social and behavioral issues and served as an internal coach on both the Universal and Targeted Team for the middle school and the coach for the Targeted Team at the high school.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Support Assistant
Job Titles:
- Director of the Institute on Disability
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant Professor
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator, Center for START Services
Job Titles:
- Research Associate Professor
Michelle provides legal and policy analysis for a variety of projects at the Institute on Disability. Prior to joining the IOD in 2010, Michelle was a health and long-term care policy analyst with the Institute for Health, Law, and Ethics at the Franklin Pierce Law Center (now UNH School of Law) for eleven years. She employs legal and policy analysis to research, report, comment on, and propose recommendations relative to the impacts of federal and state law and policy on the integration and provision of quality health and social services to the people of New Hampshire. A primary focus of her work has been to enhance the home- and community-based long term care infrastructure for children and adults in New Hampshire. Additionally, from 2006 to 2009, Michelle was a member of New Hampshire's team in the national Health Information and Privacy Collaborative, assessing state law and policy on issues related to electronic health information use, disclosure, and privacy. Areas of particular focus include: Medicaid law and policy; managed care issues affecting people with disabilities; and legal and financial planning for individuals with disabilities and their families.
Job Titles:
- NH Wraparound Trainer & Coach
Job Titles:
- Communications and Marketing Specialist
Romy Eberle joined the Institute on Disability in October of 2019. As Marketing and Communications Specialist, Romy drives the development, implementation, and analysis of the IOD's digital and analog communications. Her career has progressed from engaging youth of all abilities, ages, and backgrounds through outdoor education and tripping; to helping magazine publishers overcome communication challenges through sales and consulting; to amplifying the brand awareness of an equity-focused non-profit through marketing and communications. The common thread has always been her enthusiasm to engage new audiences, leverage and learn innovative tools, and support a mission-driven team. In addition to her work with the IOD, Romy is also an accomplished freelance mixed-media illustrator and amateur pool player.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Associate Professor