RTC Staff
Brian Abery, Ph.D.
Project Director; Data Analyst Brian is a Research Associate and adjunct faculty member in the School Psychology Program. He has been a Principal Investigator and Director of numerous federal projects funded through OSERS, NIDRR, and private foundations to promote self-determination, social inclusion, and person-centered planning for persons with disabilities. Brian has published journal articles, technical reports, and products on self-determination, person-centered planning, and residential services, as well as presented at numerous national and international conferences. He is co-author of the book Self-determination: Theory, research, and practice (2002) and lead author of several curricula to support self-determination of children, youth, and adults with ID/DD. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (abery001@umn.edu) Angela Novak Amado, Ph.D. Research Associate Angela has more than 30 years experience in ID/DD, including direct support, university teaching, nationwide research, agency administration, and state government. She is internationally recognized for her work on community inclusion, and has authored several books, including Friendships and Community Connections Between People with and without Developmental Disabilities. She designs and conducts projects in community-building, person-centered planning, and person-centered agency design, and has worked throughout the US, Canada, and in other countries. Angela is a former President of the Community Services Division and member of the Board of Directors of the AAMR. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (amado003@umn.edu) David Braddock, Ph.D. Subcontract Director David Braddock Executive Director of the University’s Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities. He holds the Coleman-Turner Chair in Cognitive Disability in the Department of Psychiatry. David is nationally recognized for his contributions in the fields of cognitive disability research and policy. He has published more than 200 books, book chapters, articles and technical reports in the areas of demography and financing of services; 2) health promotion and disease prevention; and 3) public policy. David has received career research awards from The Arc of the United States (1987), the American Association on Mental Retardation (1998), and the University Scholar Award from the President of the University of Illinois (1998). He received The Arc of the United States' Franklin Smith Award for Distinguished National Service to the Field of Mental Retardation in 2000. Organization: University of Colorado; Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities E-mail: (braddock@cu.edu) Connie Burkhart Graphic Designer Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (burkh021@tc.umn.edu) Kristin Dean Web Developer; Media Coordinator Kristin has a master's degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Indiana University and has more than 12 years of experience in working with people with disabilities in a variety of settings. In her position with the University of Minnesota, she is using those skills to develop multimedia, web based interactive learning exercises for the College of Direct Support and the College of Frontline Supervision. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (deanx032@umn.edu) Jennifer Hall-Lande Research Assistant Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (hall0440@umn.edu) Rick Hemp, M.A. Senior Researcher and Project Director Rick Hemp manages the Coleman Institute's The State of the States in Developmental Disabilities project at the University of Colorado. Rick contributes to an ongoing program of technical assistance for public officials and for advocacy and provider organizations. The technical assistance has included special analyses of long-term care data on services and expenditures for a substantial majority of states. Rick has written or co-written more than 20 books, journal articles, and book chapters and more than 30 monographs and special reports on accreditation, managed care, and public financing of developmental disabilities services. Organization: University of Colorado; Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities E-mail: (rick.hemp@cu.edu) Amy Hewitt, M.S.W., Ph.D. Training and Project Director Amy has an extensive background and work history in ID/DD. She has worked in various positions over the past 20 years including as a residential Program Director and Director of Training. She is currently the Director of Interdisciplinary Training and a Research Associate at the RTC/CL, directing several federal and state research, evaluation and demonstration projects in the area of direct support staff workforce development and community services. She is a founder and immediate Past Co-Chair of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals and is the Social Work Division President and a Board member for AAMR. She publishes and presents often on a variety of disability issues. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (hewit005@umn.edu) Michael Kennedy Project Advisor Michael Kennedy has coordinated self-advocacy efforts at the Center on Human Policy since 1983, was a co-founder of the New York State Self-Advocacy Association, and serves as coordinator of the Grass Roots Organizing Project. He has published numerous articles and chapters on self-advocacy and on his experiences growing up at New York developmental centers. He has presented at conferences throughout the United States and has given invited testimony at US Senate hearings. Organization: Syracuse University; Center on Human Policy E-mail: () K. Charlie Lakin, Ph.D. Center and Project Director Charlie has more than 30 years experience in services to individuals with ID/DD as a teacher, researcher, consultant and advocate. He has directed numerous research and training projects and has (co)authored over 200 publications based on that work. He frequently consults with state, federal and international agencies in matters of policy, research and evaluation. Among recognitions afforded Charlie are appointments by President Clinton to the President's Committee on Mental Retardation, the American Association on Mental Retardation's Dybwad Humanitarian Award and the University of Minnesota's Outstanding Community Service Award. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (lakin001@umn.edu) Sheryl A. Larson, Ph.D. Research Director, Research Associate Sheryl A. Larson, Ph.D. Sherri has 25 years of experience in services to persons with ID/DD as a residential counselor, behavior analyst, program evaluator, consultant, personal advocate and researcher. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development in Educational Psychology. She is the Research Director and a Principal Investigator at the Research and Training Center on Community Living (U of MN) where she has worked for the last 18 years, directing projects involving survey and intervention research, secondary analysis of large data sets and research synthesis on residential services, personnel issues, disability statistics and community integration for persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities and has authored or coauthored more than 100 publications on those topics. Ms. Larson directs a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) field initiated project to create a national technical assistance model to support frontline supervisors. She worked with a team from the Research and Training Center to complete a National Validation of Competencies for Direct Support Professionals and for Frontline Supervisors, and has worked with colleagues from the University of Minnesota to develop statewide workforce plans and to provide technical assistance on workforce issues to state agencies, providers and families in several states. She has made presentations at national, state, regional and local conferences including workshops on staff recruitment and retention for thousands of managers and supervisors in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. She is an American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) Fellow, President of the AAMR Community Services Division, a consulting editor of Mental Retardation and Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability and has participated in NIDRR and CDC grant review panels. She received a Presidential Award from AAMR for workforce research. She currently serves on the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities as the higher education representative and is on the Board of Directors of Arc Minnesota. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (larso072@umn.edu) Marijo McBride, M.Ed. Trainer Marijo has made more than 75 presentations on a local, national, and international level, authored or co-authored over 30 book chapters, training manuals, or articles related to the field of DD, designed and coordinated innovative projects such as Parent Case Management; Parent Case Management for People of Color; Self-Determination and Community Integration of Youth and Young Adults; Person-centered planning programs in Minnesota, Canada, and South Carolina; and Developmental Disabilities Rotation for pediatric residents. She has facilitated over 100 Person-Centered Plans and trained over 500 persons in the Person-Centered Planning process. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (mcbri001@umn.edu) Nancy McCulloh Project Coordinator Nancy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education and a Master of Science degree in Information Media - Human Resource Development and Training at St. Cloud State University. She has over thirty years of experience providing quality services to people with disabilities in both community residential and vocational settings, this includes over twenty years developing skills in business management, personnel supervision, and human resource training and development. She is member of ARRM, ASTD, ISPI, NADSP and shares her talents as a board member for Friendship Ventures, an organization devoted to meeting recreational and leisure needs for individuals with disabilities through camping and travel experiences. She is a parent and strong advocate of a son with developmental disabilities. As a Project Coordinator for the Institute on Community Integration's Research and Training Center for Community Living she is responsible for developing curriculum for computer and web based training projects. She is responsible for editing the National Alliance of Direct Support Professional's (NADSP) publication, Frontline Initiative. Other project activities include providing technical assistance and training on topics such as: Direct Support Professional (DSP) and Frontline Supervisor (FLS) Workforce Development, Building Working Partnerships with the families of individuals with disabilities, and Using Technology as an effective training tool for DSPs and FLS. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (mccul037@umn.edu) Derek Nord Research Assistant Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (nord0364@umn.edu) Connie Lyle O'Brien, M.S.W. Project Director and Researcher Connie has over 25 years experience including direct service work with people who experience a variety of disabilities; public speaking and teaching; design and evaluation of comprehensive systems of community-based support for people with severe disabilities. She is a recognized expert and leader in design and evaluation of individual program plans, Citizen Advocacy, personal futures planning; and citizen monitoring of service quality. Connie is an experienced as a coordinator, team leader, trainer, and supervisor of normalization and PASS training. She has written numerous articles, reports, and monographs about individualized supports and service system change and is an Associate Editor of Mental Retardation. Organization: Responsive Systems Associates E-mail: (connielyleobrien@mac.com) John O'Brien, M.S.W. Project Director and Researcher John has had extensive involvement in planning, providing, and evaluating human services over the past 30 years. He has written many articles and given many presentations on individualized supports, service system change and person-centered planning. He is co-founder of Responsive Systems Associates, a consulting network established in 1978. John is highly sought nationally and internationally for his ability to facilitate groups dealing with complex social change. He is one of the recognized developers of person-centered approaches to individual and organizational planning. He is an Associate Editor of Mental Retardation, and on the Advisory Boards of the Georgia Advocacy Office and Georgia PASS. Organization: Responsive Systems Associates E-mail: (rsa315@cs.com) Susan N. O'Nell Project Coordinator Susan has 17 years experience in services to people with developmental disabilities as a direct support professional, foster care provider, trainer, curriculum development specialist, multimedia developer, writer, quality analyst, and consultant. Susan has worked at the Institute on Community Integration since 1995, and has served as a project coordinator, project evaluator, and technical assistance consultant on several projects related to the recruitment, retention, and training of direct support professionals and quality service outcomes for people with developmental disabilities. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (onell001@umn.edu) Richard Oni, Ph.D. Project Advisor Richard is the Director and Co-Founder of Progressive Individual Resources, Inc. Richard has had a plethora of opportunities to work with persons with disabilities, and is a member of several organizations and was appointed to the State Children’s Mental Health Services in Special Education committee and the Cultural Advisory Council on State Children’s Mental Health Services. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (troni@orbis.net) Nathan Perry Information Technology Professional Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (perry211@umn.edu) Cliff Poetz Project Advisor Cliff has 30 years of experience in the self-advocacy movement and is nationally regarded for his commitment and experience. Cliff is a self-advocate who co-founded People First – Minnesota. He has served on the Governor’s Council on Disability and as member of the Board of Directors of Arc-Hennepin/Carver, Arc Minnesota and currently the Arc of the U.S. He is Co-Chair of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals. The AAMR Minnesota award for self-advocacy is named for Cliff. Cliff was recipient of the Kennedy International Award for Self-Empowerment. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (poetz001@umn.edu) Mary C. Rizzolo Project Coordinator Mary C. Rizzolo (Mary Kay) is the Associate Director of the Institute on Disability and Human Development (IDHD), the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the State of Illinois. Ms. Rizzolo received her BA and MA in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University, respectively. She is currently completing her doctoral degree in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she is researching the determinants of state utilization of nursing homes and state-operated institutions for persons with developmental disabilities. Ms. Rizzolo has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and monographs on financial and programmatic trends in the states and the nation; state commitments for family support, supported living, and supported employment; and assistive technology for persons with cognitive disabilities. Over the past decade Ms. Rizzolo has served as a professional research assistant at The Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, as a policy analyst for The State of the States in Developmental Disabilities Project, as a research assistant in the Kiley Evaluation Project in Illinois, and as a Mental Retardation Habilitation Coordinator at a large ICF/MR in North Carolina, where she managed a residential unit for individuals with dual diagnosis. Organization: Institute on Disability and Human Development (IDHD) E-mail: (mrizzo3@uic.edu) Pat Salmi Research Assistant Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (salm0054@umn.edu) John Sauer, M.S.W., M.Ed. Project Coordinator; Data Analyst John’s work focuses on workforce development. He has organized and developed a statewide taskforce in Minnesota to address direct support workforce issues. He helped create and support a pre-service direct support training program and a specialization track for frontline supervisors in Minnesota's community and technical colleges. He has also authored and co-authored several training curricula, journal and newsletter articles and book chapters related to workforce development for supervisors and DSPs. Prior to coming to the RTC/CL, John had 25 years of experience working in human services as a social worker, policy/program developer, post-secondary educator, human resource development specialist, service provider administrator, and organizational change consultant. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (sauer006@umn.edu) Jerry Smith, B.S. Project Coordinator Jerry Smith is the RTC/CL’s media producer, specializing in documentary and educational video and electronic media projects that support community inclusion. Prior to joining the RTC/CL, Jerry worked for nine years as Communications Director with a disability rights organization. In addition to his award-winning video productions (see Section 6. Dissemination Activities), Jerry developed the “Tools for Change” video-based curriculum series for self-advocates and their allies and co-developed the “Common Vision” training program, a workshop on community organizing, disability history, self-advocacy skill building, and leadership development for self-advocates. He researched and wrote the text for “Parallels in Time,” an interactive CD-ROM on historical perceptions of disability distributed nationally by the Minnesota Council on DD. He has been active in public relations and social marketing workshops, writing and editing curriculum in support of persons with disabilities, web-delivery of video programs, still photography and digital editing of over 3,000 disability-specific images for web-based educational projects, and the production of over 50 video programs. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (smith495@umn.edu) John Smith, M.S.W. Project Director John is a Project Coordinator and researcher for RTC/CL. He has a strong professional and personal interest in programs and initiatives directed to the development of the capacities related to self-determination and self-advocacy among persons with disabilities, and also the social inclusion of persons with disabilities. Among his responsibilities is providing TA and support to People First of Minnesota, a state-wide self-advocacy network developed and coordinated by persons who have ID/DD. John has also managed several research and program evaluation projects related to the development of self-determination and self-advocacy. John is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program with an emphasis in Evaluation Studies. John is has long been active in a wide variety of community organizations and activities, including as a Board Member for the Minnesota Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, a course instructor for Minneapolis Community Education, and a trip leader for Wilderness Inquiry, Inc. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (smith144@umn.edu) Roger J. Stancliffe, Ph.D. Project Director; Data Analyst Roger J. Stancliffe PhD is Associate Professor Disability Studies at the University of Sydney Faculty of Health Sciences. He is the Editor of the Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability and serves on the Editorial Boards of four other international research journals on developmental disability. Previously he worked as a researcher at the Centre for Developmental Disability Studies in Sydney at the University of Minnesota’s Research and Training Center on Community Living. He has co-written or co-edited several books and over 75 articles and chapters in academic and professional journals or books. His most recent book is Costs and Outcomes of Community Services for People with Intellectual Disabilities (2005). His research interests include choice, self-determination, community living, evaluating outcomes, deinstitutionalization and cost effect-effectiveness of services. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (roger.stancliffe@bigpond.com) Steven J. Taylor, Ph.D. Subcontract and Project Director Steve is Professor and Director of the Center on Human Policy. He has been the Principal Investigator of numerous federal, state and foundation grants and contracts totaling over $6M in the past 10 years. His research interests include social policy, qualitative research methods, sociology of disability, advocacy, and community integration. He is the author of numerous published articles and books, including Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods, The Social Meaning of Mental Retardation, Life in the Community, Community Integration for People with Severe Disabilities, and In Search of the Promised Land: The Collected Papers of Burton Blatt. He is currently Editor of the journal Mental Retardation. He was the recipient of the 1997 Research Award from the American Association of Mental Retardation Organization: Syracuse University; Center on Human Policy E-mail: (staylo01@mailbox.syr.edu) Pamela Walker, Ph.D. Project Director Pam Walker has been associated with the Center on Human Policy since 1985, and is involved with information preparation and dissemination, research, and training activities. She has authored numerous research reports, articles, and book chapters on community living and inclusive recreation and has received an award from the American Camping Association for one of those papers. Her dissertation focused on the community participation and social networks of people with disabilities, and an article based on this was published in JASH, and was the recipient of the Thomas G. Haring Award for Research from TASH in 1999. Pam is currently co-editing Toward Meaningful Daytimes, a book on inclusive daytime supports for people with developmental disabilities. Organization: Syracuse University; Center on Human Policy E-mail: () Amanda Webster Office Assistant Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (webs0078@umn.edu) John Westerman Web Developer John is a web developer/computer professional who develops, maintains and supports a number of web-based projects for the RTC/CL. He has worked as a computer consultant and also as a Program Manager for a social service agency. He began his association with the RTC/CL as a member of the Metro Area Training Consortium, which designed and delivered the Direct Support Professional Training Program. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (weste050@umn.edu) Matt Ziegler, M.Ed. Project Coordinator Matt has a wide array of experiences and 18 years of involvement in working with individuals with disabilities including: person centered planning, normalization, self determination and self actualization, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Autism, cultural diversity, special education advocacy and law. Matt has worked professionally in residential services as a direct service provider as well as supervisor, day training and habilitation services as a program manager and as a parent advocate with a large non profit parent advocacy group. Matt currently works on projects related to Person Centered Planning, self determination and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Organization: Research and Training Center on Community Living E-mail: (ziegl010@umn.edu) |
