WHO WE ARE 

MONARCH Team and Notable Contributors 

Dr. Beverly A. Baroni, PhD​

Dr. Beverly A. Baroni, PhD has a doctorate in Educational Policy and Leadership and is a licensed clinical social worker. Her dissertation focused on the identification of facilitating factors and barriers related to the development of a unified service delivery system for special education services as perceived by urban school educators and parents of students with disabilities. Since 2010, Dr. Baroni has served as principal for Clara B. Ford Academy where she feels her dreams of making a difference for our at-risk students is becoming a reality. She was an adjunct professor at Madonna University, Wayne State University, Eastern University, and University of Michigan-teaching graduate students in the schools of Social Work and Education. Her research interest includes development for special education services.

Dr. Angelique Day, PhD ​

Dr. Angelique Day, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington and a faculty fellow of Partners for Our Children. Previously she served as an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work at Wayne State University. She graduated from Western Michigan University with a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences and  was the Director of TIP Wayne State. Prior to her appointment at WSU, Dr. Day worked as the founder and coordinator of Michigan State University’s Foster Youth Alumni Services Program, a college access and retention program for students who have aged out of foster care and are interested in obtaining a post-secondary credential. Dr. Day was also formerly employed with Michigan’s Children, a statewide, private, non-profit children’s advocacy organization, where she provided leadership in developing the agency’s child welfare policy agenda. She also led the Youth Policy Leadership Program, an effort that provided opportunities for youth voice, many of whom were in foster care, in the public policy debate. In addition to her work with young people aging out of foster care, Dr. Day has experience working for the Michigan Department of Human Services as a child protective services worker, as well as extensive experience in research and training, including services in tribal communities across the State. Dr. Day’s professional experience in research, policy development, child welfare practice, and her personal experiences as a former ward of the court, make her uniquely qualified to continue to provide leadership in training, research, and consultation in the field of child welfare.
​
Dr. Shantel Crosby, PhD​
Dr. Shantel Crosby, PhD is a licensed clinical social worker and a Associate Professor in the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. She graduated with her PhD from Wayne State University.  She previously worked as a clinician at a community mental health agency in metro-Detroit, MI, providing home-based, outpatient, and school-based services to children and families.  Throughout her doctoral program, she worked in mixed-method research on the educational well-being of court-involved youth (i.e., youth in the foster care and/or juvenile justice system).  She also served as staff of the Transition to Independence Program (TIP), an organization designed to increase college access and retention rates of foster care youth at Wayne State University.  Her on-going research interests include well-being and adverse childhood experiences among youth who are court-involved or at risk of court-involvement—particularly among youth of color.  She is also interested in examining innovative practices and interventions utilized within child-serving systems to improve youth outcomes.



​Lori Vanderwill, LLMSW
 Dr. Lori Vanderwill, LLMSW, PhD is a licensed clinical social worker and a research scientist at the University of Washington -Seattle School of Social Work. Previous work with a community mental health agency inspired her to engage in trauma-informed research in schools. Over the last 10 years she has participated in mixed-methods research focused on trauma-informed teaching with court-involved youth. Lori demonstrates her commitment to improve educational outcomes of youth through continuous engagement with research in schools. Her research interests include trauma-informed teaching methods, social-emotional learning in education, and support systems for teachers and families.
Dr. Cheryl Somers, PhD​
Dr. Cheryl Somers, PhD is a Professor in Educational Psychology, School Psychology, and Counseling Psychology within the College of Education at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.  Dr. Somers has a Ph.D. in School Psychology with specialization in Counseling Psychology.  She also holds a Master of Arts in School Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Social Science. She is a fully Licensed Psychologist (LP) and fully Certified School Psychologist in Michigan. She trains school and counseling psychologists in Detroit.  Dr. Somers has focused her research career on contextual (e.g., family, peers, media, schools) predictors of social and emotional development, academic achievement, and physical and sexual health, including reducing or avoiding unhealthy risk behaviors, with an emphasis on vulnerable youth.  A primary research agendas for her is examining the role of trauma in school functioning among court-involved female youth and the evaluation of the impact of trauma-informed teaching intervention on academic success.  She is also involved in studying the roles of physical activity, yoga, mindfulness, and other health factors in youths' academic achievement and social success, and the evaluation of the impact of these interventions on academic and social outcomes.​

Notable Contributors

Laura Sanders, PhD has been a faculty instructor for the University of Michigan School of Social Work graduate program since 1996. She is specialized in trauma- and attachment-informed interventions and provides private therapy, consultation, training, supervision and expert witness testimony in the areas of sexual abuse and other trauma, attachment and adoption, and issues of gender and sexuality.  She integrates evidence-based and best practices with relational, creative and sensory interventions, focused play and animal assisted activities, to meet the diverse individual and family needs of her clients. Advocacy and community activism are fundamental to her role as a clinical social worker and are integrated into all aspects of her work.  She is presently a co-founder of an all-volunteer advocacy organization, the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (WICIR), which has been responding to the crisis of families facing increased immigration enforcement for the past eight years. 
http://laura-sanders.com/
http://ssw.umich.edu/faculty/profiles/leo/lsanders

Connie Black-Pond MA, LMSW, LPC is a Co-Founder of the Southwest Michigan Children’s Trauma Assessment Center and recently retired from her role as Clinical Director. She has over 30 years of experience working with children and families and is a recognized trauma expert in Michigan. As a developer trained TF-CBT supervisor, and with permission from TF-CBT developers, Connie has also facilitated and provided TF-CBT consultation with over 30 cohorts of therapists in Michigan, including those in Michigan's DHHS Trauma Initiative and the MSU/WMU Field Instructor project. Connie participated in the development of the Children’s Trauma Assessment Center’s School Intervention Project (2003-2007) and has participated in multiple NCTSN product development efforts including the ‘Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators’ and ‘Complex Trauma: Facts for Educators’. She is presently an Independent Affiliate of the NCTSN and Co-Chairs the Birth Parent Trauma subcommittee.  
http://www.nctsn.org/products/child-trauma-toolkit-educators-2008
http://www.nctsn.org/products/complex-trauma-facts-for-educators
​
John Micsak, MA, CTC is a trauma consultant with at-risk children. From 33+ years of front line resiliency work, trauma informed care and body/mind science relevant to stressed and traumatized youth, John’s Healing the Inside Child is a revolutionary approach dedicated to educating clinicians, legal professionals, teachers and parents about effective intervention protocol relevant to the brain regions sequentially from bottom (survival/lower brain region) to top (higher cortical brain region). His hope is to end society’s reliance on the punitive measures, isolation and the incarceration of children and adolescents by promoting effective treatment utilizing the latest research in neuroscience. John’s theory is based on the fact that children cannot become logical or understand cause and effect thinking until their body and mind systems experience balance through restorative relationships and appropriate sensory experiences. 

Cheryl Williams Hecksel, LMSW  is faculty of Michigan Sate University's (MSU) School of Social Work.  Cheryl is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been with the School of Social Work since 2006.  Prior to joining the faculty at MSU, she has spent more than 25 years in clinical and administrative roles in public and private child welfare and mental health agencies.  She is involved in MSU’s work with the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute. She is also the coordinator of the School’s Evidence Based Trauma Treatment Certificate.  Her work includes consultation with child serving agencies around developing capacity to provide trauma informed services.  She provides frequent professional continuing education related to ethics, supervision and child trauma.
 
Dr. Doreen Yvonne Head, PhD, OTRL is the Program Director of the Master of Occupational Therapy Program and faculty in the program at Wayne State University. Dr. Head received her PhD in Sociology from Wayne State University. Her clinical career as an occupational therapist spans over 30 years in long and short term mental health settings. Her various research interests include community based practice including trauma therapy, teen pregnancy and workforce development with people with mental health disorders and driving performance in a driving simulator.

Dr. Pamela Lemerand, PhD is an Associate Professor and the College Supports Program Co-Director at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Health Sciences. Dr. Lemerand's educational background includes a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Michigan, Master’s of Arts in Human Development and Bachelor’s of Science in Occupational Therapy from Wayne State University. Her teaching interests includes pediatrics, mental health, social policy and meaning of occupation.  https://www.emich.edu/chhs/hs/ot/faculty/lemerand.php

Special THANKS

Special thanks to all of the staff at Clare B. Ford Academy. Without them our work would not be possible!
Dr. Beverly Baroni is the owner of all intellectual property rights of the MONARCH model in all formats and media. For access to the MONARCH curriculum and/or implementation consultation or support, please contact [email protected] and reference all material appropriately.