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.
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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.
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Dr. Shantel Crosby, PhD
Dr. Shantel Crosby, PhD is a licensed clinical social worker and a Assistant 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 
Lori Vanderwill, LLMSW, PhDc is a licensed clinical social worker and a doctoral student at Wayne State University. She currently works as 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 5 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.
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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.
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