Staff

Prior to joining CHDI, she served as Program Manager at The Governor’s Prevention Partnership, where she managed a state funded contract by the Judicial Branch, Court Support Services Division and a federally funded contract by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. She also spent 15 years as a direct service provider at Klingberg Family Centers providing residential treatment, therapeutic after school care, and community-based services. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Psychology from Eastern Connecticut State University.

Currently she directs several statewide initiatives, including: the CT School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI), the Connecting Children and Families to Care (CONNECT) Initiative, and Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education). She co-chairs the statewide Trauma-Informed School Mental Health Task Force and serves on several state-level committees to advance policy and practice on social emotional learning, family and community engagement in schools, health equity/racial justice, and juvenile justice diversion. While she officially joined the CHDI staff in July 2011, Jeana has worked with CHDI since 2008 through her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at The Consultation Center at Yale University. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical/Community Psychology in 2010 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

She serves on several statewide committees related to juvenile justice. She is also a member of the Fellow Network of the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University and Transforming Youth Justice Leadership Development at the Tow Youth Justice Institute, UNH. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master in Non-Profit Management and Philanthropy. Yecenia has over 14 years of experience working in the human service field. She has extensive experience in child-welfare systems including foster care, adoption services, and juvenile justice.

Tasmina has a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She has over two years of experience as a data analyst. She previously worked as a Systems Operations Assistant at the McSilver Institute for Poverty and Policy Research at New York University. In this role, she gained valuable experience in data analysis. She also has experience working for other non-profit organizations as well as the public sector.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and a Masters in Health Psychology from Central Connecticut State University. Michelle previously worked at the UConn Health Center with Dr. Julian Ford on a National Institute of Drug Abuse funded research study entitled Vocational Outcomes for troubled youth with substance abuse problems and high HIV risk.

Prior to joining CHDI, she served as Program Coordinator for the Kohl’s Start Childhood Off Right (SCOR) Program at Connecticut Children’s, working with pediatric providers, community health workers, and families to prevent childhood obesity in low-income Hartford children from birth to age 2.  She also spent 6 years at the Central Connecticut Health District, where she designed and implemented health education programs serving residents of Berlin, Newington, Rocky Hill, and Wethersfield. She holds both a Bachelor of Science and Masters in Public Health from Southern Connecticut State University.

Tiffany is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who received her Masters from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 2007.  She is an experienced clinician, formerly as a Program Director at the Family and Children's Aid Extended Day Treatment program. She also has experience in the IICAPS and FST treatment models. 

She earned a Master’s degree in Higher Education from the American College of Education as well as two degrees in Human Services (BA from Eastern Connecticut State University and an Associate’s degree from Goodwin Community College).

Christine graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology through the LSA Honor’s Program and a Master's in Social Work. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and Certified School Social Work Specialist. Christine has significant training and experience in evidence-based interventions, including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT & TF-CBT), Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC), Motivational Interviewing, Adolescent Screening, Referral, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (A-SBIRT), and the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA). She also obtained leadership training through the TOW Youth Justice Institute’s leadership development program and UCONN Social Work Practice Fellows program. Christine previously worked as the Director of Outpatient Services at The Children’s Center of Hamden​. Her areas of special interest include trauma, substance use, LGBTQ+ issues, and social justice. 

Prior to joining CHDI, Ryan served as Assistant Chief Financial Officer at Adelbrook, Inc. in Cromwell, an organization that serves children with autism and other developmental disabilities. In that role, he worked closely with municipal, state, and federal funding sources. Ryan also spent 11 years in public accounting at Whittlesey & Hadley, where he specialized in planning and performing audits for non-profit organizations.

Ryan graduated from Assumption College with a BA in Accounting. Ryan has also served on Boards of other local non-profit organizations, including the Greater Hartford Jaycees and a local Habitat for Humanity chapter.

Aleece previously served as a senior program officer and as a senior data analyst at CHDI. She has over 20 years of experience working on design, implementation, and quality improvement of programs supporting children and families.

She obtained her Master of Public Policy from the University of Southern California and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Alyssa completed her predoctoral internship at the Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Sacramento, CA. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Idaho State University, where she also obtained her Masters and Bachelor of Science degrees in Psychology. During her time at ISU, her research experiences included evaluating Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) including adaptations for age and diagnosis, examining psychometric properties of a measure of child and adolescent psychosocial strengths, and serving as a research coordinator for an NIH-funded study, titled Sleep Physiology and Risk for Alcohol Problems in Children of Alcoholics. Her interests include assessment and treatment for childhood traumatic stress and increasing access to evidence-based mental health services, particularly among underserved populations.

Alice previously was a Pre-Doctoral Fellow in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration. She developed a training program on early childhood development together with a local Latina childcare provider group as a Pre-Doctoral Fellow. That training program is still ongoing in partnership with the LEND program.

Jason joined CHDI in 2007 and held positions as Program Associate, Associate Director, Director of Dissemination and Implementation, and Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives. His work has encompassed child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health, law enforcement, education, pediatric primary care, and family advocacy organizations to improve children’s behavioral health services and create sustainable system improvements. A specific focus has been on enhancing CHDI's role as an intermediary organization to develop partnerships with state agencies, researchers, and community providers to test, implement and evaluate innovative strategies for disseminating and sustaining EBPs and other system improvements. He has been Principal Investigator of the Early Childhood Trauma Collaborative and ScreenTIME, funded by SAMHSA as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), and previously served on the NCTSN Steering Committee. 

Jason is a licensed clinical psychologist who also holds appointments as an Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at UCONN Health and at the Child Study Center in the Yale School of Medicine. Prior to joining CHDI, Jason completed his pre- and post-doctoral fellowships specializing in child traumatic stress at the Yale Child Study Center. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA in 2005, and is a graduate of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Breakthrough Series College and The NIH-sponsored Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH).  

A list of publications is available at:  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason_Lang2

Brittany joined CHDI in August 2019 as a Postdoctoral Fellow and was hired as Senior Project Coordinator for ScreenTIME in 2020. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Social Intervention at the University of Oxford and her Master of Public Health in Health Policy at the Yale School of Public Health. Her DPhil research focused on the association between child sexual abuse and subsequent mental health and parenting outcomes. Her MPH research focused on the association between adverse childhood experiences and parenting outcomes. Her primary research interests include mental health, trauma screening, child sexual abuse, parenting, and qualitative research methodology.

 A list of Brittany’s publications is available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brittany_Lange

Prior to joining CHDI, she completed a post-doctoral fellow position at UConn Health, where she managed a NIMH grant-funded project which examined the efficacy of three types of talk therapy in anxious and depressed adolescents. A total of ten child and adolescent community mental health centers across Connecticut and Massachusetts collaborated on this project in order to connect with and enroll families in treatment. Jamie holds a Ph.D. and Masters in Community Psychology from Wichita State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Connecticut.

Prior to joining CHDI, Leah served as Administrative Assistant for the University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Social Work’s Institute for Innovation, Texas Center in Austin. In that role, she coordinated a variety of day-to-day operations supporting the dissemination of Wraparound across Texas. She also has worked in the home health, hospice and hospitality industries.

Leah graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a B.A. in Health Administration and Policy with a focus in Public Health.

Jack first worked at CHDI from 2014 to 2016 as a Senior Project Coordinator for the MATCH and Mobile Crisis Performance Improvement Center. After leaving CHDI he held a faculty position at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 2016 to 2019.

Throughout his professional career, Jack has focused his work on communities that experience marginalization through direct practice, research, and scholarly activities.  His primary interests have been in community-based participatory initiatives, health equity, refugee and immigrant communities, and models of integrated care.

 Jack holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in social work from the University of Connecticut and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Massachusetts.

A list of Jack’s publications is available here.

Ashley previously worked as an evaluator on a CDC/OAH-funded adolescent public health initiative run by the City of Hartford Department of Health and Human Services. At CHDI she is responsible for data analysis and reporting aspects related to MATCH-ADTC, as well as cross-model treatment model reporting needs for the ARC, Bounce Back, CBITS, CPP, MATCH-ADTC, and TF-CBT treatment models.

Prior to joining CHDI, Katie served as a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale School of Medicine. She has a PhD. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, and an MA in Community Counseling from Northeastern Illinois University. Her research has focused broadly on mental health in the context of family relationships across the lifespan. She is a Licensed Psychologist with clinical specialties in perinatal maternal mental health and integrated behavioral health. Katie has clinical experience in community mental health centers and medical settings.

Kellie joined CHDI in 2015 as a Senior Associate. Kellie holds a doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining CHDI, Kellie worked on the evaluation team for a federally-funded demonstration project on the effectiveness of supportive housing for families involved in the child welfare system. She also helped lead a study on the characteristics of Connecticut youth who were involved with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Her broad interests are in quantitative research and improving policies and programs for children and their families. 

Lori is an active member of CHDI's Sunshine Committee, which promotes staff well-being and engagement. She has also worked to improve CHDI's hiring practices in coordination with CHDI's Committee on Anti-Racism and Equity (CARE). She has over twenty years of claims management experience, which includes working in the insurance industry.

She also worked for many years for a general contractor and as an Administrative Fiscal Assistant at the UCONN Health Center.

Heather previously worked as a data analyst for the CBITS and TF-CBT initiatives at CHDI from 2015 to 2017. Heather has also previously worked as a data analyst in the aerospace industry and as an evaluator for various drug free community coalitions in Connecticut. She holds a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Psychology from Central Connecticut State University. 

Julie began her career in Washington, DC working in politics and government, including for the Clinton Administration at the White House Domestic Policy Council. Later, Julie promoted women's sports opportunities through the WNBA's Washington Mystics and went on to lead a media outreach team for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign to help reduce youth drug use nationwide.

She received a BA in Human Development and Family Studies, and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Connecticut. Kayla also has eight years of experience in early childhood education.

Vanderploeg received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Bowling Green State University, completed Predoctoral and Postdoctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine, and was a research faculty member at Yale before joining CHDI in 2009. He initially began as a Program Associate before being promoted to Associate Director of Mental Health in 2011, and Vice President for Mental Health Initiatives in 2014.  

During his career at CHDI, he played a central role in developing effective systems, practices, and policies for the prevention and treatment of mental health conditions among children and adolescents and their families. He was the lead author of the Connecticut Children’s Behavioral Health Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for addressing the behavioral health needs of youth, which has remained a significant guiding framework for state-wide reform. He was also the co-developer of the Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative (SBDI) model and was instrumental in creating a quality improvement system for the state’s mobile crisis system.

In addition to his role as CHDI President and CEO, Vanderploeg serves on the Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board, co-chairs the Quality, Access and Policy Subcommittee of the CT Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council, and is a member of several other committees and councils in children’s behavioral health policy development. He holds faculty appointments in Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut Health Center School of Medicine.

Kara has several years of research experience in clinical and academic settings. Prior to joining CHDI, she worked as a clinical research coordinator at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the Department of Anesthesiology. Her academic research background has focused on the behavioral, cognitive and neurological development of children and adolescents. Kara earned a bachelor of science degree in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience from Virginia Tech and a master's degree in Psychological Science with a concentration in Developmental Psychology from the University of Connecticut.

She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Her doctoral research focused on classroom teachers’ well-being, social-emotional competencies, and their use of punitive and non-punitive types of behavior management approaches with their students. Her primary research interests include social emotional learning interventions, school mental health, school-based program implementation, and promoting social and emotional well-being and positive behavioral outcomes for students.

Prior to joining CHDI, Beth served as Grants and Contracts Manager at The Salvation Army's Southern New England Divisional Headquarters in Hartford where she prepared and submitted funding relationship documents including applications, agreements, and reports to numerous funders including United Way, foundations, corporations, and local, state and federal entities. Additionally, she served as chair of the United Way of Connecticut's FEMA/Emergency Food and Shelter Program State Set-Aside Committee which provides funding for food, shelter, rent, and utilities assistance to Connecticut nonprofits.

Beth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Brandeis University, a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Tufts University, and a Master's Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy where she was awarded induction into the Nu Lambda Mu International Honor Society.