2017 Conference Faculty
Richard C. Blake, Chief Judge, Hoopa Valley Tribe, has been the Chief Judge of the Hoopa Valley Tribe since July of 2002. He is a proud member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. He is also a contractual Judge for the Smith River Rancheria Tribal Court and the Redding Rancheria Tribal Court.
Judge Blake is in his second term as NAICJA 1st Vice President, previously serving two terms as Member at Large for the NAICJA board. He is the Region 2 representative representing courts in California, Nevada and Hawaii.
Judge Blake is the founder of the Northern California Tribal Court Coalition, which currently has a membership of five northern California Tribal Courts including Hoopa, Yurok, Smith River, Trinidad Rancheria and Karuk Tribe.
Judge Blake was also appointed to the Blue Ribbon Commission by retired Chief Justice Ronald George and appointed to co-chair the California Tribal-State Forum by California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Tonier Cain- after surviving a childhood of unspeakable sexual abuse, unrelenting violence, and betrayal by systems that were charged with helping, Ms. Tonier Cain stands before her audiences today, a testimony to the resiliency of the human spirit exemplifying the innate human instinct to survive. Tonier “Neen” Cain lived on the streets for 20 nightmarish years. Years filled with hunger, brutality and a lifestyle when described seems unconscionable. Incarcerated and pregnant in 2004, someone finally took the time to ask, “What happened to you?” instead of “What’s wrong with you?” It is at that moment she began her journey to become a survivor and for the first time in her life began to live with more hope than fear. Her story is featured in the documentary “Behind Closed Doors: Trauma Survivors and the Psychiatric System,” and the subject of the award winning film “Healing Neen.”
As the CEO and founder of Healing Neen Inc., she has been the keynote speaker to audiences ranging from the United Nations, government agencies, teachers, community and civic organizations, mental health agencies, substance abuse programs, corrections facilities, and trauma survivors. As Ms. Cain shares her story, audience members find themselves challenging their professional and personal beliefs. Her experience illustrates the consequences that untreated trauma has on individuals and society at-large, including mental health problems, addiction, homelessness and incarceration. Her story evokes anger, frustration, sadness, and despair. It often triggers past traumas. It motivates, it empowers, and it restores faith in humanity. It reminds us of the tremendous impact one individual can have on the life of another.
Chuck Daugherty – Executive Director - ACT Missouri – Jefferson City, Missouri is the Executive Director for ACT Missouri, Missouri’s statewide training and resource center. He has over 30 years’ experience providing prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery support to at-risk youth, adolescents, and special needs populations in community-based and clinical settings. He has been actively involved in the DEC movement for over 12 years. He is a core DEC Certified trainer for the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, and currently holds the position of Chair for the Missouri Alliance for Drug Endangered Children.
Prior to working at ACT Missouri, Mr. Daugherty worked for Southwest Prevention Center / Southwest Center for the Application of Prevention Technology, (SWPC/SWCAPT). He was primarily responsible for delivering training and technical assistance to Missouri substance abuse prevention providers. Additionally, he provided training and technical assistance to prevention programs throughout the southwestern United States. Mr. Daugherty is a respected prevention specialist with a history of developing innovative and sustainable programming and providing services to communities in all settings, urban, suburban, and rural.
Mr. Daugherty has presented numerous original workshops on various topics in the field of prevention and substance use. An avid semi-professional photographer, he believes that pictures often tell a more complete story than words alone. It is this belief that drove the creation of this photo-story.
Steven DeNovi is a Detective with the Marathon County Sheriff’s Department, has been in law enforcement for 24 years. He worked in Marathon County’s Special Investigations Unit for four years specializing in controlled substances investigations and handling many Drug Endangered Children related cases. Recently Steven has taken on a new assignment in General Investigations which includes investigating Child Neglect, Abuse and Sexual Assaults and Death Investigations.
Dr. Nicola Erb - Breckenridge Police Department, Colorado - Assistant Chief of Police, spent a lengthy career committed to the improvement of the quality of life for children, families and teens; especially those where substance abuse is an influencing factor. Nicola serves as the Assistant Chief of Police in Breckenridge, Colorado. During her 29-year career she has had the opportunity to work for a variety of department structures including university policing, large municipal policing and mountain resort policing; all of which have a distinct focus on community based service. Due to the convenience of shift work, Dr. Erb was also able to deeply engage in consulting services for federal, state and local entities in order to increase community based collaborations aimed at improving the quality of life during a large part of her career. Nicola has served on numerous drug task forces, three of which were new to their community and has provided state and national training on a wide variety of drug related issues, most notably the National Jewish Health Methamphetamine Exposure Studies, where she was an epidemiologist on the studies. Dr. Erb completed her doctoral studies in Human and Organizational Development on the topic of Drug Endangered Children and has been a part of the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children since its inception. She served locally as a D.A.R.E. officer and has a deep passion for youth and drug prevention issues, thus taking on numerous projects involving families, teens and children. Serving in the state of Colorado, Assistant Chief Erb has witnessed the impacts to the youth population with the legalization of marijuana, intertwined with the vulnerability of the teen brain. Nicola actively seeks research published in this topical field and actively speaks and presents on the area of teens and the impact of marijuana.
Liz Ghilardi, MSW, LCSWreceived her BA at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Social Welfare and her MSW at Washington University, George Warren Brown School of Social Work in St. Louis, MO. Ms. Ghilardi is currently the Forensic Interview Program Supervisor for Child Advocacy and Protection Services within Children’s Hospital & Health Systems. She has been employed at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin since l990. She has been with the Child Advocacy Center, working as a forensic interviewer, since l992. She has completed over 2000 interviews of children regarding allegations of child maltreatment and witness to violence. Ms. Ghilardi provides training for professionals, para-professionals & foster parents on issues of child sexual abuse, interviewing children, sexualized behavior and mandated reporting. She has also testified in court as an expert witness regarding child sexual abuse and interviewing. She currently supervises 10 forensic interviewers in the Children’s Hospital & Health System throughout the state of Wisconsin as well as continues to interview children and conduct training.
Ms. Ghilardi has been a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and a member of the Wisconsin chapter of that organization (WIPSAC) since 1995.
Cindy Giese, Special Agent in Charge, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation – Wausau, Acting National DEC President and Wisconsin DEC Leader, has been a law enforcement officer in Wisconsin for over 30 years and is currently the Special Agent in Charge(SAIC) of the Wisconsin Department of Justice-Division of Criminal Investigation-Wausau Office (WIDOJ-DCI). SAIC Giese supervises all Special Agents assigned to the Wausau region and oversees criminal investigations conducted by the WI DOJ-DCI in the Wausau region. In addition, SAIC Giese is the Statewide Coordinator of the Wisconsin Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (DEC) program.
Cindy provides DEC training throughout Wisconsin and across the nation and has become a nationally recognized expert in initiating DEC programs and working with DEC programs in Indian Country. Cindy is a CORE DEC certified trainer. In January of 2017 Cindy accepted the responsibilities of Interim President of the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children. The National Alliance continues to grow and additional states are developing alliances to improve the collaboration between professionals and agencies working to assist drug endangered children.
Tim Grove, Chief Clinical Officer, Saint A, serves as the senior leader responsible for the trauma informed care initiatives across all agency programs. Tim received his bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Wartburg College and his Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Tim has more than 20 years of professional experience in a variety of direct care and administrative positions including, in-home services, foster care, treatment foster care, residential treatment, child welfare, community based services, quality improvement and staff development. He was responsible for the implementation of SaintA’s trauma informed care philosophy and practices, including spearheading the implementation of Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neuro-sequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) across all agency programs and creating the trauma informed care training curriculum which centers around the “Seven Essential Ingredients (7ei)” definition of how best to understand and implement trauma informed care.
Tim is a Mentor with the Child Trauma Academy, a Master Trainer in ACE Interface, and a former CPI and Mandt instructor. Tim has trained more than 20,000 people in trauma informed practices across the country. These groups include child welfare staff, foster parents, judges and other legal system attorneys, Boys and Girls Clubs, churches, business leaders, doctors and nurses and many other groups.
Dr. Jim Harris is the owner of Opportunities Consulting Services and the Associate Director of the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University. He has worked with children and families throughout his career as an early interventionist, parent educator, educational consultant, and behavioral health therapist. Dr. Harris has presented at a variety of conferences from the local to the international levels on such topics as behavioral intervention, parenting, positive behavior support, trauma-informed care, organizational change, and many more. He is the creator of “10 Things You Need to Know About Kids”, an audio program that helps parents and teachers be more effective in their work with children. He has also worked with a variety of public and private entities including the Fred Rogers Company, United States Department of Education, the Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children, and many more. For more information about Dr. Harris visit www.ocshelps.com.
Christa Jensenis a licensed Social Worker and the Access and Initial Assessment Supervisor for Marathon County Department of Social Services. Christa has worked in the field of Child Protection for 10 years in Wisconsin and Minnesota completing Child Abuse Assessments as well as providing ongoing case management services to these families. Christa has been in a supervisory role at MCDSS for 2 ½ years.
Bryan Kastelicis a Special Agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, and is assigned as the Task Force Commander of the Native American Drug & Gang Initiative. SA Kastelic has served with DCI for the past seven years during which time he was also assigned to the Milwaukee High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area / DEA Task Force 63. SA Kastelic is a Team Leader on the DCI Tactical Team and instructor on firearms, defense and arrest tactics, less lethal and Taser systems. Prior to joining DCI, SA Kastelic served 10 years with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department as a Narcotics Investigator, Emergency Response Unit member, patrol officer and Unified Tactical Instructor. SA Kastelic also served 10 years in the United States Army (Infantry) (Active & WI National Guard).
William Kellibrew,IV lives each day with his passion in his hand. He is a global advocate for human, civil, children and victims’ rights, focused on a values-driven approach to address trauma and violence. Kellibrew knows the impact that trauma and violence has on individuals and families all too well.
On July 2, 1984, at age 10, Kellibrew witnessed the murders of his mother, Jacqueline and 12-year-old-brother, Anthony, by his mom’s ex-boyfriend in their family living room. The killer took his own life that day, but not before making William beg for his life at gunpoint.
His pathway to hope, healing, rebuilding, recovery and resilience can be credited to the many mentors, professionals in the mental health system, teachers, friends, professors, supporters and family members who did not give up on him including his grandmother who raised him and his siblings following the murders.
In 2011, the White House recognized Kellibrew as a ‘Champion of Change.’ In 2013, he received the Voice Award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for his work across the country as a peer/consumer leader. In 2014, he accepted the Capitol Probe Award at the District of Columbia Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and in 2015 he received the U.S. Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus Eva Murillo Unsung Hero Award.
Kellibrew’s resilience has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, Newsweek, Washington Post and various news and media publications and outlets throughout the world.
Dr. Barbara Knox is the Medical Director of the University of Wisconsin Child Protection Program at the American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.
Dr. Knox completed her residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She then completed a fellowship in Child Abuse Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center before joining the faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin, where she is currently an Associate Professor and Chief of the Division of Child Abuse Pediatrics. Dr. Knox is board certified in General Pediatrics and Child Abuse Pediatrics.
Dr. Knox is Chair of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatric Section on Child Abuse and Neglect and is a member of the Ray E. Helfer Society of Child Abuse Physicians. She is the Past Chair of the Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board that administers the Wisconsin Children’s Trust Fund. She is also a team member serving on the Department of Justice’s Statewide Child Fatality review team that advises state agencies and the Legislature on law, policy and practice modification in an on-going effort to reduce preventable childhood deaths. She co-directs a statewide Medical Peer Review project in Wisconsin. She currently serves as a Member-at-Large for the Ray E. Helfer Society Executive Committee.
Areas of research interest for Dr. Knox include child physical/psychological torture as a form of child abuse and sexual torture as a form of child abuse.
Dr. Knox has published on many topics, including child torture as a form of child abuse, burns of abuse, abusive head trauma, and is currently an editor for the book The Investigation, Diagnosis and Prosecution of Child Torture. She also reviews current child abuse medical research journal articles for The Quarterly Update.
As part of her practice she cares for children who have been or are suspected of being victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, medical child abuse, and neglect.
Suzie Kuerschner – FASD Consultant & Child Development Specialist, Rhododendron, OR is a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Consultant, a Child Development Specialist, and a child and family program developer. Ms. Kuerschner's intensive training and experience over 40 years includes program development, assessment, Early Intervention, parent training, special education, and the design of learning environments for schools, state, tribal and county programs, clinics, and public and private agencies.
She has developed numerous Early Childhood Education Centers, Early Intervention, Interagency and Family Resource programs within the context of state, county, tribal and community schools and treatment settings; integrating federal, state, county and tribal services. Her experience includes development and delivery of community-based prenatal prevention programs using a Mentoring Mother's Model. She has worked with Juvenile Justice and Adult Corrections in cognitively retailoring strategies and services within those settings, and provided court and judicial assistance in designing appropriate sentencing for individuals with an F.A.S.D. She also developed a demonstration model interagency school-based program for adolescents and young adults involved in Juvenile Justice and Corrections which is sustainable and replicated. She has also been involved in developing the Red Lodge Transitions program for incarcerated adults transitioning back into community settings.
Ms. Kuerschner continues to be involved in providing both training and technical assistance to national and regional Headstart Programs developing environments and strategies for children with behavioral and processing difficulties associated with an F.A.S.D.
Trevin Martinis a graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Trevin has been employed with the Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections for the past six years in the capacity of Correctional Officer, Youth Counselor Advanced, Correctional Sergeant and has now been a Probation and Parole Agent for the past two years in the Lac du Flambeau office Unit #603 for WI Dept. of Corrections- Community Corrections. Trevin represents WI Community Corrections as a member on the Vilas County Drug Endangered task force.
Judge Kim McGinnis, Pueblo of Pojoaque Chief Judge, received a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from the University of Michigan and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular neurogenetics at Massachusetts General Hospital. She graduated from Boston University School of Law in 2004 and worked primarily as a criminal defense attorney until 2011, when she moved to Taos, New Mexico. The Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Council appointed her associate judge in 2013 and chief judge in 2015. Judge McGinnis presides over Pojoaque’s Path to Wellness Court, a tribal healing to wellness court. She is also the programmatic director of the recently implemented sober housing program, which coordinates with the Path to Wellness to provide structured, highly supervised transitional housing for people struggling with addiction.
Eric Nation, National DEC, Director of Training and Development, began his career in law enforcement in 1995 where he has held numerous positions. From 1996-2002, Nation was assigned to an undercover narcotics unit and from 2007-2012 was assigned as the Commander of the M.I.N.E. Taskforce – Eastside.
Nation helped start and develop the Jasper County Drug Endangered Children Alliance, is a member of the National DEC Criminal Justice Working Group. Nation is a Certified Core DEC Instructor that has been involved in the training of thousands of professional across United States as a Trainer for the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children.
Nation’s efforts towards Drug Endangered Children in Jasper County earned him the 2009 “On going Victims Service Award,”, the 2011 National Drug Endangered Children Collaborative Leadership Award, participant in the Defending Childhood Initiative and Working Group Meeting on Law Enforcement and Children’s Exposure to Violence – United States Attorney General Eric Holder – Washington D.C., and participated in in the development of IACP’s Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Children Exposed to Violence project tools and deliverables as a Children Exposed to Violence Advisory Working Group member in Alexandria, VA.
Sgt. Corey Norlander has been with the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department for 25 years. During that time, he has served for eight years in patrol, four years as a school resource officer, 12 years as a detective, and currently as a supervisor in the Detective Division. During his time as a detective and working with multi-disciplinary investigations, he has learned the importance of recognizing the effects of trauma on crime victims.
Dawn Perez, MSW, Certified Social Worker- Child Welfare Manager for Marathon County Department of Social Services. She began working with children and families after earning her Bachelors in Criminal Justice. Her lifelong goal to see kids grow up in safe homes motivated her to become a social worker and go on to earn her Master’s degree in Social Work. Now as the Child Welfare Manager, she works closely with Social Work Supervisors and their staffs to assesses, monitor, and manage the safety of children and the community. This requires close partnership with professionals locally and throughout the state.
Courtney Pero – Sergeant - Plano, Texas Police Department is a 22-year veteran of the Plano (TX) Police Department. During his law enforcement career, Sergeant Pero has served in the Patrol Division, the Criminal Investigations/Narcotics Division and on the Emergency Services Tactical Intelligence Unit. While assigned to the Narcotics Division, he conducted criminal investigations into fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses and was later appointed as the operations supervisor in the Narcotics Division. In this role, Sergeant Pero supervised the day-to-day operations of the division, which is comprised of both undercover and non-undercover investigators as well as federal task force officers assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Currently, Sergeant Pero supervises a platoon of officers in the Patrol Services Division and also manages the department’s field training program for recruit officers.
Sergeant Pero holds both a Master Peace Officer License and an instructor certificate from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. He is a graduate of the School of Police Supervision at The Institute for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA) and is a certified instructor in the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Leadership in Police Organizations (LPO) program.
Sergeant Pero is a certified Core DEC trainer for the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (National DEC) and a member of the National DEC State Leaders network. He has been active with the Texas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (Texas DEC) since its inception in 2004 and was involved in the creation of the Texas DEC protocols for law enforcement, child welfare and medical personnel.
Sergeant Pero was awarded the 2015 National DEC Collaborative Leadership Award, which was presented by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), US Department of Justice. In addition, he has been awarded the Agent of Change award by the Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse and has also been recognized by the Drug Enforcement Administration and United States Department of Justice for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Drug Law Enforcement.
Sergeant Pero is one of the founding members of the Collin County (TX) Substance Abuse Coalition, which is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of law enforcement, treatment professionals, healthcare professionals, school personnel, and counselors who share a common focus on substance abuse awareness. He has presented training across the country on a variety of topics to professionals from various disciplines.
Dr. Hillary Petska, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a board-certified child abuse pediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Child Advocacy Center where she evaluates children in foster care and children with suspected maltreatment. She also provides expert child abuse consultations and court testimony in cases of suspected child maltreatment. In addition to working as a clinician, she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She teaches medical students, residents, fellows, and the community about injuries, child maltreatment, and medical conditions that may be mistaken for abuse or neglect. Research interests include child abuse prevention, improved detection of child maltreatment, drug exposure in children, and public health.
Stacee Read, National DEC, Director of Network Development, has spent over 16 years working in the child welfare field, gaining insight and experience on a variety of key child welfare issues. Before working for National DEC, Stacee held the Associate Ombudsman position with the Office of Colorado’s Child Protection Ombudsman. There she was involved in program development and review, complaint resolution, and investigations of and recommendations for child welfare practice and policy.
Prior to that, Stacee was the Child Protection Safety Specialist for the Colorado Department of Human Services where she oversaw child safety in child welfare across the state of Colorado. She was also responsible for overseeing and reviewing institutional abuse and neglect investigations and facilitating the Institutional Abuse Review Team. Stacee reviewed fatalities and assisted with the facilitation of the Fatality Review Team. She provided technical assistance and training to county child welfare departments and became a valuable point person for substance abuse issues in child welfare. Her depth of experience in child welfare issues made her a key member on a number of committees and workgroups such as the Substance Exposed Newborns Steering Committee, the Rural Law Enforcement Meth Initiative, the CDHS Child Fatality Review Team, and the CDHS Prone Restraint Workgroup. Stacee also worked for many years as a Child Abuse and Neglect Investigator specializing in complex investigation including fatalities, serious bodily injuries, substance abuse, and mental health.
Stacee starting working for National DEC as a consultant in November 2011 and then was hired as the Director of DEC Network Development in May 2013. She is responsible for the development and oversight of State and Tribal DEC Alliances, and she provides technical assistance to National DEC network. Stacee is also an integral member of the training team and has participated in curriculum, online training, and publication development. Additionally, she has trained thousands of professionals on topics involving child welfare issues, collaboration and multidisciplinary teams, evidence/information collection, local alliance development, and other specific drug issues.
Stacee received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Illinois focusing on Mental Health and Administration in 2002 and her Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Iowa with an emphasis on abnormal psychology and dependency behaviors in 1997. Stacee is an adjunct professor at Metro State University in Denver, Colorado where she teaches in the Master’s Social Work Program.
Amy Ronshausen is the Deputy Director of both Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. and Save Our Society From Drugs (S.O.S.), national nonprofit organizations that works to defeat drug legalization attempts, promote sound drug policies, and prevent drug use, abuse and addiction. Mrs. Ronshausen also serves the Executive Director for the Florida Coalition Alliance, representing over 30 community anti-drug coalitions.
Previously Mrs. Ronshausen worked for Operation PAR, starting off as a call specialist in their access center and then working as a juvenile certified GAIN assessor. Mrs. Ronshausen also worked as a juvenile counselor for PAR’s Adolescent Recovery Intervention Services and the Juvenile Enhancement Treatment Services, trained in Motivational Enhancement and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Prior to coming to S.O.S., Mrs. Ronshausen spent three years as a program specialist with Pinellas County Adult Drug Court, working under four judges. While in drug court, Mrs. Ronshausen linked defendants with treatment providers and monitored their progress through the criminal justice system. In 2007 Mrs. Ronshausen was awarded Best Team Practices for her work in Adult Drug Court.
She is a LiveFree! Key Leader Council member and chairs the Capacity and Resource Assessment workgroup. She also chairs the Marijuana Task Force as part of the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance and serves on the Pinellas County Prescription Drug Advisory Board.
Outside of drug policy issues, Mrs. Ronshausen actively supports Autism Speaks, Operation Christmas Child and Metropolitan Ministries and is a member of Pasadena Presbyterian Church.
Mrs. Ronshausen received her Bachelors of Arts Degree from University of South Florida and has completed more than half of the requirements needed to become a Certified Addictions Professional (CAP).
Dr. Halleh Seddighzadeh is an international counter-trafficking advisor and traumatologist specializing in the psychological treatment of torture, specifically in survivors of human trafficking, war refugees, genocide, victims of terrorism, gender based violence, radicalized youth and most recently survivors of cults and spiritual abuse. She has worked extensively with survivors of trafficking and torture in the Middle East in acute/post-conflict zones and refugee camps doing disaster relief, resiliency, and capacity-building, psychological first aid, and investigative research. She is the Founder of ARMAN (Asylee, Refugee Migrant Assistance Network) a multidisciplinary, multicultural, forensic mental health organization supported by a network of international trauma experts, subject matter experts, medical and academic researchers and practitioners who have extensive experience treating and working with individuals who have suffered the most extreme forms of torture and trauma around the world. She frequently provides consultation and training to law enforcement agencies, service providers, faith-based organization, prosecutors, investigators, medical practitioners and the business sector internationally and domestically on trauma-informed counter-trafficking best practice and community based counter violent extremism protocols.
Melanie Smithis the Community Strong Drug Endangered Children’s Project Coordinator for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana. Through a program funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, this program is developing a community assessment, a multidisciplinary team to address the substance abuse issues in the community, and a Tribal Action Plan to deal with substance abuse issues. They are providing education to the public about how to identify a drug endangered child, and how to develop and encourage collaboration between disciplines. They are working together with the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children to develop this Alliance for their area.
Melanie is a graduate of Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana. She previously worked as a support living instructor and a program advocate/case manager at a group home/work center that empowers adults with varying disabilities that alter brain function and impacts IQ measurements. She also worked as a prevention specialist for the Flathead Reservation & Lake County Coalition for Kids. Since 2014, she has worked for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes’ Social Services Department as a parent advocate supervising visits between parent and child. In addition, for more than 20 years, she has worked for her family-owned construction business as a foreman, bookkeeper, manager, and laborer.
Russell Smith, J.D. – Director - SECURE Strike Force Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit - Utah Attorney General’s Office, graduated from the University of Utah School of Law and was admitted to the bar in 1996. Mr. Smith did defense work for five years in Salt Lake City before being recruited to Nevada where he began his career as a prosecutor in 2001. He served as a prosecutor in Churchill County, NV; Chief Deputy District Attorney for Humboldt County; and was elected District Attorney of Humboldt County. After serving as District Attorney for many years, Mr. Smith was recruited by the Nevada Attorney General to be the Director of the Insurance Fraud and Workers’ Compensation Fraud Units in 2011 and was promoted to Chief of the Fraud Unit in May 2012.
In 2013, Mr. Smith created the Human Trafficking Unit in the Nevada Attorney General’s Office to begin prosecuting this crime under the newly passed human trafficking law and to educate agencies and communities throughout the state about human trafficking. Mr. Smith worked closely with many stakeholders, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, United States Citizen and Immigration Service, county prosecutors, Department of Public Safety, and community coalitions. He also promoted the development of the Safe Childhood initiative to provide services for those who were Human Trafficked. From 2015-2016, he worked in the United States Territory of American Samoa to bolster their prosecution efforts in human trafficking and fraud.
In 2016, Mr. Smith returned to the mainland, to the Utah Attorney General’s office, and became the Section Director of the SECURE Strike Force which prosecutes Human Trafficking throughout the state.
Mr. Smith is the Past President of the Nevada District Attorney’s Association (2009) and the Nevada Coalition Against Sexual Violence (2006-2008). He is a Past Commission Member of the Nevada Crime Commission. He is also the recipient of the Kristine Nagy-Johnson Award - For Dedicated Efforts in the Field of Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention, Education & Treatment (2008).
Jennifer Steinmetzis a graduate from the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology of Law, Criminology and Deviance with minors in Family Violence Prevention and Family Social Sciences. She is a Certified Social Worker in Wisconsin and is currently employed as a Corrections Field Supervisor for Unit #606 in Wausau for WI Dept. of Corrections- Community Corrections. Prior to her current position she was a Probation & Parole Agent in Antigo, WI and prior to that was a Social Worker for Oneida Co. Dept. of Social Services completing Initial Assessments for child abuse and neglect cases. As a Probation & Parole Agent, Jennifer represented WI Community Corrections as a member on the Langlade County Drug Endangered Children task force. Jennifer is also the legal guardian of two previous drug endangered children.
Sue Weber-Brown – Police Officer (Ret) - Executive Director – Drug Endangered Children Training and Advocacy Center – California, is a 26-year law enforcement professional retired from the Butte County District Attorney's Office. Ms. Webber-Brown was assigned to the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force (BINTF) for 19 years as a Detective/Agent and was responsible for the investigation of major narcotic cases and child endangerment.
Ms. Webber-Brown is responsible for the development and successful "Drug Endangered Children" (D.E.C.) Program, the first of its kind in the United States. She was appointed by the Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning to an Ad hoc Study Group on drug endangered children and co-wrote a training guide disseminated statewide. She is a board member of the California D.E.C. Alliance, past board member of the National D.E.C. Alliance and has published numerous articles.
Sue is accomplished in the practical aspects of interviewing and interrogation, having participated in more than 2300 investigations. Sue has rescued over 3000 children from hazardous homes where drugs were used, sold, or manufactured. Sue is a recognized expert in the California and Arizona courts and has testified before Congress in the field of child endangerment due to drugs.
Currently, Sue is a private consultant working as the Executive Director of the Drug Endangered Children Training and Advocacy Center which was established in 2010 under a state grant (California Emergency Management Agency) to train all multi-jurisdictional drug task forces (MJDTF) within the state.
Timothy Whitcomb is the Sheriff for the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office in Western New York. He is currently serving his 28th year in Law Enforcement, where he spent 7 years working major crimes in the Criminal Investigation Bureau. It was in this role that he was recognized as the Blue and Gold Officer of the Year in October 2000.
Sheriff Whitcomb possesses a Master’s degree in Counseling Education for St. Bonaventure University and is a certified police instructor in the areas of Interview and Interrogation, Basic and Advanced Juvenile Officer Training, the Investigation of Sex Crimes, and the Law Enforcement Response to School Violence. Sheriff Whitcomb is a graduate of the 206th Session of the FBI’s National Academy and his specialized training includes Crisis Negotiation with the Los Angeles Police Department, Death Scene Management with the FBI, a Sex Offense Seminar with the New York State Police, and he has been certified as a SWAT Team fitness specialist.
Sheriff Whitcomb has been an adjunct professor for both Saint Bonaventure University and Jamestown Community College. He currently serves as President for the New York State Sheriff’s Association, and is a Past President of the State of New York Police Juvenile Officer Association.
Mark Yarbrough was elected to five terms as the Lamb County District Attorney. He served for 20 years, prosecuting everything from death penalty cases to DWIs. During his tenure, in 2002, he was awarded the M.A.D.D. regional prosecutor of the year. He served on the board of directors for the Texas District & County Attorney’s Association, and is a member of the National District Attorney’s Association. He also is one of the founding fellows of the Texas Prosecutor’s Society. Mark graduated from Abilene Christian University in 1984. Following that, he worked as a loan officer for Dallas Federal Savings. In 1987, Mark went back to law school at Texas Tech School of Law where he graduated in 1989. At the end of 2012, Mark retired as District Attorney and travels the country giving motivational speeches regarding Burnout. He has also written and been published on the subject of Burnout. Mark’s interests include golf, basketball, karaoke, and tropical vacations.
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