Robert Franks
Vice President and Director, CCEP
Connecticut Center for Effective Practice
rfranks@uchc.edu
860.679.1531

As the Vice President and Director of the Connecticut Center for Effective Practice (CCEP), Robert (Bob) Franks, Ph.D., leads the Center’s efforts to improve the effectiveness of treatments for children with serious and complex developmental, emotional, behavioral and addictive disorders. Prior to joining CHDI, Dr. Franks, a clinical child psychologist, served on the faculty of the Yale University Child Study Center as the Director of Operations for the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (NCCEV) and at Duke University Medical Center as the Director of the National Resource Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NRC). He has been instrumental in promoting the adoption of evidence-based trauma-focused practices across the nation.

Lisa Honigfeld
Vice President for Health Initiatives
honigfeld@uchc.edu
860.679.1523

As the Vice President for Health Initiatives, Lisa Honigfeld, Ph.D., oversees CHDI’s efforts to strengthen the quality and accessibility of primary and preventive health care for children and families. Prior to joining CHDI, Dr. Honigfeld was the Associate Director for Health Services Research at the Connecticut Center for Primary Care/ProHealth Physicians, where she directed a Practice Based Research Network, which included more than 200 primary care providers in 80 practice sites. She has also applied her strong background in health services research and pediatric primary care to previous work at Connecticut’s AJ Pappanikou Center for Developmental Disabilities, St. Francis Hospital’s Department of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Paulette James
Administrative Assistant
pjames@uchc.edu
860.679.1519

Paulette James joined the staff of CHDI and CCEP in 2007 as administrative assistant. She will work in support of the EPIC program and all initiatives of CCEP. A native of Antigua, Paulette spent seven years at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, and has a total of more than 15 years of administrative experience, which also includes working in the banking industry.

Jason Lang
Program Associate for Mental Health
Connecticut Center for Effective Practice
jalang@uchc.edu
860.679.1550

Jason Lang, Ph.D., is the Coordinator for the Connecticut TF-CBT Learning Collaborative, a statewide effort to disseminate the evidence-based practice of Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for youth exposed to trauma. Dr. Lang is evaluating the implementation of this project and assessing the Learning Collaborative model as a method to effectively disseminate evidence based practices. Prior to joining CCEP, Dr. Lang completed a two-year fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center specializing in the assessment and treatment of children exposed to traumatic events. He received his doctorate from UCLA in Clinical Psychology.

Cindy Langer
Office Manager
langer@uchc.edu
860.679.1538

Cindy Langer provides a wide range of administrative support to the President and other staff members. In her role as Office Manager, she manages all the daily office operations and coordinates logistics for various Institute meetings and events. A Connecticut native, Cindy has over 25 years of administrative experience. Prior to joining CHDI, she worked in the insurance industry.

Judith Meyers
President & CEO
meyers@adp.uchc.edu
860.679.1520

Judith Meyers, Ph.D., a clinical and community psychologist, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CHDI and its parent organization, the Children’s Fund of Connecticut. Dr. Meyers has focused her career on public policy and service system reform for children and their families. She has held positions as Associate Director of the Bush Program in Child Development and Social Policy at the University of Michigan; Senior Policy Advisor to Massachusetts Governor Dukakis; Administrator (Director) of the Iowa Division of Child and Family Services; and senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. She has also been a national consultant working with a number of states and communities on the organization, financing and delivery of services to children. In Connecticut, she has served on the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health and the Lt. Governor’s Mental Health Cabinet. She currently holds faculty appointments at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the Yale University Child Study Center.

Lori Schon
Administrative Assistant
schon@uchc.edu
860-679-1536

Lori was hired in June, 2008 as a part-time administrative assistant. She will work in the Finance and Human Resources areas and will also support the Connecticut Center for Effective Practice Wrap-around initiative. Lori has over 20 years of administrative experience, which includes working in the insurance industry.

Jennifer Schroeder
Program Associate for Mental Health
Connecticut Center for Effective Practice
jschroeder@uchc.edu
860.679.1535

Jennifer Schroeder, Ph.D., serves as the project manager for the outcome and implementation evaluation of Multi-systemic Therapy (MST) services in Connecticut, under the direction of Dr. Bob Franks. She also assists the director in developing projects, conducting evaluations, and providing consultation to CCEP’s partner agencies in order to help improve services to children and youth in the state and to build the capacity of mental health organizations to implement evidence-based practices. Prior to joining CCEP, Dr. Schroeder served as a pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellow at The Consultation Center (TCC) at Yale University on several initiatives including the evaluation of administrative data for child welfare services in Rhode Island, consultation to after-school programs for youth in Connecticut, and facilitation of domestic violence perpetrator interventions.

Paul Suter
Vice President for Finance & Operations
psuter@uchc.edu
860.679.1533

In his role as Vice President for Finance & Operations, Paul Suter manages the accounting and finances of both CHDI and its parent organization, the Children’s Fund of Connecticut. In addition, Mr. Suter oversees contract management and human resources for both organizations. He came to CFC/CHDI in 2004 with 20 years of experience in public accounting, most recently as a partner in Filomeno and Company, P.C., where he was director of the Audit Department and the Not-For-Profit Industry Group. Having earned the designation of Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), he also headed the firm’s Business Valuation practice.

Jeffrey Vanderploeg
Associate Research Scientist
Connecticut Center for Effective Practice
jvanderploeg@uchc.edu
860.679.1542

Jeffrey Vanderploeg, Ph.D., is a part-time associate with CCEP and holds a faculty appointment with The Consultation Center (TCC) at the Yale University School of Medicine. In collaboration with CCEP, Dr. Vanderploeg is involved in research, evaluation, and model development for programs in Connecticut that serve children with emotional and behavioral disorders. His work at TCC involves research and evaluation of prevention and intervention programs that address issues such as child maltreatment and foster care placement, adolescent substance abuse, and the development outcomes of infants and children exposed to parental substance abuse and mental health problems. Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Vanderploeg completed a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine.