NASCOD Board of Directors

320 High Street NE Warren OH 44484 330-394-9090 ext 127 Fax 330-394-5910 don_d@contacttrumbull.org Don Dickens - President Don Dickens is the Director of CONTACT, Trumbull County's 24-hour Information/Crisis/Suicide Hotline (a program of Community Solutions Association). He has been the director for the past 15 years. He holds an earned BA Degree from Tabor College (Hillsboro, Kansas) and a Masters Degree from Bethel Theological Seminary (St. Paul, Minnesota). He is the coordinator of the Trumbull County Suicide Prevention Coalition and Chairperson of the Tri-County Family Violence Coalition. Don is also the All-Hazards Behavioral Health Coordinator for the county. Don provides trainings on a variety of different subjects (suicide, stress management, change and transition, listening skills, grief, alcohol and drug awareness, relationships, etc.) for businesses, schools, organizations and churches throughout Northeast Ohio and at regional and national conferences. PO Box 2376 Westfield NJ 07091 908-301-1899 david@contactwecare.org David Owens - Vice President David Owens stepped into his role as Executive Director of CONTACT We Care in June of 2004 after three years as a volunteer telephone worker. His volunteer service with CONTACT was prompted by his previous experience as a trustee of the Westfield Foundation, which has funded CONTACT. Until joining the CONTACT staff, David had operated his own public relations consulting business for the previous 10 years and prior to that held executive positions with Burson-Marsteller, an international public relations firm, and Japan Society, an arts and public affairs agency. In addition to his service with the Westfield Foundation, he also sits on the board of the Westfield Area Y. He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University , where he has been an alumni director, and holds an M.A. in Japanese from the University of Michigan. Karen Easter - Secretary PO Box 333 Moorestown NJ 08057 856-234-5484 Fax 856-778-3880 ttobey@contactburlco.org Theresa Tobey - Treasurer Theresa Tobey is the Executive Director at CONTACT of Burlington County in Moorestown, NJ. Her agency is operational as a designated 2-1-1 call center and provides 24/7 Crisis Intervention Helplines, 24/7 Information & Referral and 24/7 Rape Care/Sexual Assault Services. Her center is actively involved in the social service community and their local COAD (Communities Organizations Active in Disaster). Ms. Tobey is a member of the county Human Services Advisory Council and chairs the county's CEAS system (Comprehensive Emergency Assistance System). She is a trainer of many years and presents workshops on listening skills, crisis intervention, difficult callers and suicide. 1515 Dexter Ave N - Ste 300 Seattle WA 98109 206-461-3210 ext 623 Fax 206-461-8368 dkuch@crisisclinic.org Don Kuch - Advocacy Committee Chair Don Kuch is Clinical Director of Seattle’s Crisis Clinic, the second oldest crisis line in the U.S. His agency operates a 24-hour Crisis Line, a Teen Link line and a Community Information Line that serves as the region’s designated 2-1-1 call center. Crisis Clinic is also an integral component of the areas public mental health Regional Support Network and of the disaster response systems of Public Health and the Office of Emergency Management. Don holds BS and MA degrees in psychology and has earned national certification in the field of forensic psychology. He has nearly two decades of experience providing clinical services and leadership in a variety of mental healthcare settings. In addition to his work at Crisis Clinic, Don is a member of the Board of Directors of Seattle University’s Psychotherapy Cooperative and supervisor of its intake team. He also actively participates in the King County Mental Healthcare Providers Association and in various King County Mental Health Chemical Abuse and Dependency Services Division workgroups. MHMRA HelpLine Director 7011 SW Freeway Houston TX 77074 713-970-8240 jennifer.battle@mhmraharris.org Jennifer Battle - Membership Chair Jennifer is the Director of the HelpLine at the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority (MHMRA) of Harris County in Houston, Texas. The MHMRA HelpLine is the largest mental health hotline in the State of Texas. Jennifer has been the Director there for 4 years. Before that she was the Director of Development at Crisis Intervention of Houston, Inc. and the Director of Volunteer Services at Bay Area Women’s Center in Baytown, Texas. She has a Masters in Social Work from the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston where she has been teaching the Managing Human Service Organizations course for the past 7 years. She also teaches a grant writing course at UH for students in the American Humanics Program, a program which prepares undergraduate students for leadership positions in nonprofit organizations. She is an alumnus of this program as well. In addition to her position on the Board of NASCOD she is also on the Board of the Houston Association of Volunteer Administrators (HAVA). 12647 Olive Blvd, Suite 200 Creve Coeur MO 63141 314-628-6242 rludwigs@bhrworldwide.org www.behavioralhealthlink.com Renee Ludwigs - Listserve Chair Renee Ludwigs is the Call Center Director for Behavioral Health Response (BHR), a private, not-for-profit corporation providing mental health crisis services to Employee Assistance Programs and to the residents of St. Louis and surrounding Missouri counties. BHR further delivers professional call center services including over the phone counseling, information and referral services to Work/Life programs, and an employee feedback program designed to provide anonymous confidential feedback from frontline employees to the boards of directors within public companies. Ms. Ludwigs has a diverse educational background including a degree in business from Emporia State University and a Master’s in Counseling from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. She is credentialed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). As the Call Center Director, she is responsible for the supervision of all managers and team supervisors in the call center. Not only does she manage the day-to-day operations of a 24/7 call center, she is also integral in the continuous training and professional growth of the supervisors and frontline employees she oversees. Renee is a certified trainer for the ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) program and conducts multiple ASIST trainings throughout the year. 3840 Hulen St Fort Worth TX 76107 (O) 817-569-4426 (F) 817-569-4462 artie.williams@mhmrtc.org Artie Williams Artie Williams, LCSW is the Director of Mental Health Intensive Services at the Mental Health Mental Retardation center of Tarrant County, Texas. Her position includes directing the ICARE Call Center (MHMRTC’s crisis line), Mobile Crisis Outreach Team and Homeless Services. She has worked for the agency for almost four years. Before joining MHMR of Tarrant County, Ms. Williams served as the Director of Emergency Shelter Services for The Family Place, a domestic violence shelter in Dallas, Texas. She has also taught Crisis Intervention, Introduction to Social Work and the Pharmacology of Addiction at the Tarrant County College. She received both her Bachelor’s and Master degrees from the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington where she also taught graduate level courses on Aging in America, and Race, Ethnicity and Women. Currently, Ms. Williams serves on the Board of Directors for the Mental Health Association of Tarrant County and the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition. She is also on the Steering Committee for the Southeast Weed and Seed project.