A BIG Thank YOU!
by The TCOM CONVERSATION BLOG TEAM
Are you one of the TCOM Conversations Blog Followers?
Today, we would like to pause to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to every single individual who has poured their time, energy, and passion into this platform. The TCOM Conversations blog wouldn’t be what it is today without the collective efforts of our dedicated contributors.
To our Collaborators:
A special Thank You, for sharing your insights, experiences, and knowledge. Your words have not only informed our readers but have sparked vital conversations in our community. Your willingness to share, whether it be technical expertise, thought-provoking ideas, or personal experiences, is genuinely commendable. Every perspective is a new window into a world we might not otherwise see. Your unique viewpoints have broadened our horizons and enriched our blog. We’re truly grateful for your contributions, and we hope to continue showcasing diverse voices and ideas.
And To Our Community and Commenters:
Your engagement, whether through comments, shares, or feedback, has been invaluable. Thank you for keeping the conversations alive, challenging our thoughts, and pushing us to explore deeper.
As we look back on our journey, it’s evident that it’s the collective effort of so many that has propelled TCOM Conversations to where it stands today. Together, we’ve created a space where dialogue is encouraged, learning is continuous, and growth is inevitable.
Lastly, if you’ve ever read, shared, liked, or simply mentioned our blog to someone – thank you. Every bit of support, big or small, has played a role in shaping this platform.
Here’s to many more conversations, insights, and shared moments of discovery. May the TCOM Conversations blog continue to be a beacon of knowledge and community for all.
Warmly,
The TCOM Conversations Editorial Team
How to Survive a Large Family Including a Mental Illness and Remain Together:
An Exploration of Our Lived Experience
First and foremost, I’m a proud mom of five, my children’s ages range from 43 to 24. I’ve been happily married to my husband for 28 years and we have an amazing blended family filled with diversity and unconditional love. I’m a retired Special Education teacher of 20 plus years and am looking forward to continuing to work with those who need help. I’m a strong advocate for any cause that I believe in! I grew up on Long Island, New York and now reside in Upstate New York. I love the beach, biking, gardening and hanging out with my kids and grand kiddos! My motto: Love never gives up!
English and Spanish CANS Reports benefit families thanks to a Collaboration between Santa Cruz County and Community Data Roundtable
Community Data Roundtable (CDR) is a non-profit software company that created and currently operates the DataPool™
Empathy, Insight, Transformation: A Trainer's Journey with CANS-NY and TCOM
Ruth Mikulski. As a Senior Trainer at the Sidney Albert Training and Research Institute (SATRI), Ruth’s passion for this work is felt on every level. Ruth has worn many hats in the 15+ years that she has been supporting youth and families. She started out as a paraprofessional in public schools and quickly became a teacher at a residential school. Ruth worked residential for many years and when an opportunity came up to help youth move away from group home settings, she signed up for foster care classes! Fostering youth of all ages, abilities and identities, led Ruth to adopt her sons, both with Autism/Fragile X, and led to her supporting/training foster parents to be set up for success. Ruth was the director of a residential school for adults with disabilities overseeing their employment and education departments. All of these experiences, over all of these areas, give Ruth a unique perspective when supporting staff. Ruth received a double Masters in Education with a focus on Learning Disabilities and Emotional/Behavior Disorders. Ruth is a certified trainer in American Red Cross Community First Aid and CPR, Therapeutic Crisis Intervention, and safeTALK. She even completed her 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training, through the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. Since 2019, Ruth has been with Northern Rivers Family of Services. She is part of an extraordinary team training folks all over New York state.
Expanding The Hoofprints of How Horses Transform Human Lives: The Equine-Assisted Collaborative for Health (EACH)
Dr. Kimberly I. Tumlin’s purpose is to advance the science of asset-based resilience in people who interact with horses. Her research at the University of Kentucky builds on the growing evidence that the development of strengths outcomes contributes to healing. Nationally, services using horses for human health lack a single approach for measuring impact. To bridge this gap, Dr. Tumlin is working with the Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management conceptual framework and equine-assisted organizations to understand how, when, and why psychosocial, learning, and physical activity approaches help in various populations. In addition, as the Director of Research for the Equestrian Athlete Initiative at the UK Sports Medicine Research Institute, she combines her lifelong equestrianism to research concussion injury, the mental health of athletes, and worker well-being.
Reflections on Kentucky’s Statewide Implementation and Use of the CANS for Clinical Decision-Making for Youth
Lizzie Minton currently works as a Child Welfare Clinical Consultant for Kentucky’s Department for Community-Based Services. Since 2016, Lizzie’s work has focused on the implementation and integration of standardized screening and assessment for children in out-of-home care, including the use of the CANS for youth and their families. Lizzie is a certified CANS Trainer and provides ongoing training and technical support to all behavioral health providers in Kentucky who use the KY-CANS. Previously, Lizzie was a therapist for children in foster care and residential treatment. Lizzie is pursuing her Doctorate in Social Work at the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work and Family Science.
“The Golden Rule” Can Be a Compass for Navigating Family Engagement
Santana Jones (she/her) is an Associate Policy Analyst at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky. Her work focuses on quality improvement and system reform efforts in child welfare jurisdictions. Jones has a specific expertise in applying safety science to improve the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of organizations. Jones has over 9 years of child welfare experience. Before coming to the Center, Jones served as Systems Transformation Manager within South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS). During her time with SCDSS, Jones worked in foster care, intake, and within past four years with child fatalities.
Embracing The Mess: Collaboration Is Really A Verb
Joshua Nellist, MS Ed. is an educator and instructional designer whose work specializes in the development of mathematical computing software. Mr. Nellist has formal training in special education in the K-12 school setting and spent several years teaching at a school for children with behavioral health needs. For nearly a decade Mr. Nellist worked at a voluntary foster care agency in western New York. While there, he supported 39 counties in implementing the CANS-NY within the scope of New York’s Health Homes Serving Children (HHSC) program. Mr. Nellist served as the region lead for the CANS-NY Institute, which is a statewide technical assistance collaborative supported by the state Department of Health. His careered evolved once more; Mr. Nellist served as a Senior Policy Analyst with a focus on Instructional Design at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky. He spent four years working with the workforce development (WFD) team, distance learning team amongst many other sub-teams and projects. In this role he helped support the TCOM implementations around the world. Mr. Nellist has since moved on from the University of Kentucky but he continues to be an advocate for and contributor to the TCOM work and community at large.
Bridging TCOM with the World Collaborative: Perhaps Laughter is the Ultimate Prescription
Kenneth McGill, EdS LMFT- Ken spent the last two decades serving New Jersey Children’s System of Care (CSOC) in several key administrative roles, including the last 12 years at Rutgers University-Behavioral Research Training Institute (BRTI). While at BRTI he was the lead curriculum developer, trainer and provider of technical assistance on Wraparound/Child Family Team and all of the TCOM Tools (CANS, CAT, FANS). Ken was the 2013 recipient of the Praed Foundation’s Outcomes Champion (CANS) Award for his work in children’s systems of care and outcomes management. He has more than 20 years of experience in marriage & family therapy, education & research and was the longest serving President of the New Jersey Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (NJAMFT). Ken received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from William Paterson University. He is currently a Solution-Focused Care Senior Scientist at Opeeka in Folsom, California, where he continues to support Transformational Care in every human service sector throughout the United States and beyond.
Conversations with the TCOM trainers: The Importance of Identifying a Caregiver on the tools
Cassandra Cooper (she/her), MA, LCPC, is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky. She works with Illinois and other states and jurisdictions providing training and facilitating Learning Collaboratives to systems implementing the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) and Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM). Prior to joining the TCOM team, Ms. Cooper was a Field Implementation Support Specialist, Trauma Informed Practice Specialist and Learning Collaborative Facilitator at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, where she served as a primary facilitator on the implementation of a family- centered, trauma- informed and strength-based model of practice. Ms. Cooper utilizes her experience as a licensed clinical professional counselor, an educator and her knowledge of TCOM in coaching and supporting individuals and jurisdictions on the practice applications of the CANS, ANSA and other TCOM tools.
Conversations with the TCOM trainers: The Importance of Identifying a Caregiver on the tools
Lynn Steiner (she/her), MSW, IL-MD, is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky. In this role, she is mainly responsible for providing coaching and training to people who are certifying on the TCOM tools (e.g., the CANS, CAT, ANSA, FAST). Ms. Steiner has over 15 years of experience with the TCOM philosophy and tools. She believes that providing resources and practice go a long way towards providing a quality assessment. She was involved in similar work previously at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago and at Northwestern University’s Mental Health Services and Policy Program. Ms. Steiner has a master’s in social work degree from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois.
World Autism Awareness Month: Changing Lives One Person at a Time
Amanda (“Mandy”) Ralston (she/her) has been certified as a behavior analyst since 2002, first as a BCaBA, and then as a BCBA. During her career she has founded two companies that provided applied behavior analysis services to hundreds of families, schools, and individuals with autism or other developmental or intellectual disabilities. She has ushered dozens of aspirational behavior analysts into the field as a mycorrhizal influencer, in pursuit of greater impact of change for constituents. Mandy has served as a Subject Matter Expert to a number of international workgroups and panels related to Behavior Analysis, Ethics, and Practice. And is happy to engage in copious amounts of verbal behavior about verbal behavior, and all resulting relational frames. She continues to mad-happily create unique solutions by synthesizing her own history of reinforcement and punishment with evidence-based practices, Clinical and Business Intelligence, and Technology in an effort to further support clinicians, funders, businesses, and founders in changing the world for QoL, Outcomes, neuro/diversity, equity, and inclusion. An early proselytizer of Verbal Behavior, Ralston uses her considerable imitation repertoire and joint control to engage in behavior resulting in a wide variety of reinforcement.*. Her behavior continues to be shaped by its impact on a world where autism exists, and the field of behavior analysis.
In the Car When It Happened: A Brief Reflection on the Inaugural QI Partnership Live Event
Natasha Bermudez, M.S.Ed (she/her) is a Mental Health specialist that engages and supports executive level staff, the educational leadership teams, and teaching staff within the educational facilities around the state. Her work focuses on quality improvement of educational facilities, enhancing the professional development of staff, and ensuring that all children that enter the psychiatric hospitals receive an educational experience and curriculum that is equal to or greater than the educational experience that they are entitled to and expect from their designated home school district. Bermudez has worked in the child serving industry for nearly two decades. She has expertise in counseling psychology and adolescent education, she earned an M.S.Ed in school counseling in the mid 2000’s. Prior to working as a high school guidance counselor, Bermudez was employed for many years by a non-profit agency as a home and community-based behavioral health individualized care coordinator. She provided children and families with support, intensive therapeutic based guidance, linkage, and rehabilitative advisement that was rooted in evidence-based practices and interventions.
Café con TCOM: Spanish-speaking collaborative at the 2022 TCOM Conference
Ari Acosta Hernandez (she/ella) is a bilingual mental health and equity specialist and one of our TCOM trainers at the IPH Center. She focuses on training professionals in the TCOM tools in English and Spanish, as well as provides support on instructional designing and TCOM implementations. Ari is a clinical psychologist by training and a former psychology assistant professor in Venezuela with many years of experience in mental health, gender studies, and human rights education. She’s passionate about bringing her knowledge and expertise into innovative projects to help others.
Bridging Transitions for Success: CANS to ANSA, an Emerging Practice
Kenneth McGill, EdS LMFT- Ken spent the last two decades serving New Jersey Children’s System of Care (CSOC) in several key administrative roles, including the last 12 years at Rutgers University-Behavioral Research Training Institute (BRTI). While at BRTI he was the lead curriculum developer, trainer and provider of technical assistance on Wraparound/Child Family Team and all of the TCOM Tools (CANS, CAT, FANS). Ken was the 2013 recipient of the Praed Foundation’s Outcomes Champion (CANS) Award for his work in children’s systems of care and outcomes management. He has more than 20 years of experience in marriage & family therapy, education & research and was the longest serving President of the New Jersey Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (NJAMFT). Ken received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from William Paterson University. He is currently a Solution-Focused Care Senior Scientist at Opeeka in Folsom, California, where he continues to support Transformational Care in every human service sector throughout the United States and beyond.
“Want people to buy it? Sell it” The Pacific Clinics' Strategy for Implementing TCOM
Dr. Scott Fairhurst, the Vice President, Outcomes & Evaluation, Analytics & Training at Pacific Clinics, a large Community Based Mental Health provider in California, where he is focused on increasing the evidence-based work of the leaders, supervisors, and direct-service employees.
Placing People at the Center of Quality Reviews in Child Welfare Work: A Person-Centered and Psychologically Safe Systems Approach to Improvement
Dr. Tiffany Lindsey, LPC-MHSP (she/her) is an assistant professor at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky. Her work focuses on quality improvement and system reform efforts in child welfare jurisdictions. Lindsey has specific expertise in applying safety science to improve the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of organizations. Lindsey is co-author of two tools within the Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM) framework — the Safe Systems Improvement Tool (SSIT) and TeamFirst: A Field Guide for Safe, Reliable, and Effective Child Welfare Teams. With the support of Casey Family Programs, Lindsey supports the National Partnership for Child Safety — a member-led, member-owned quality improvement collaborative of 33 public child welfare agencies. Lindsey also has a strong clinical background working with vulnerable populations.
What’s going on in California? How to seamlessly integrate CANS within the Child and Family Team (CFT) Process
Kendra McCray, BSc. is an Associate Policy Analyst at the Center for Innovation in Population Health at the University of Kentucky. She trains professionals on Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) and other Transformational Collaborative Outcomes Management (TCOM) tools, as well as supports TCOM implementations. Prior to joining the TCOM team, Mrs. McCray was a Program Coordinator with the South Carolina Department of Social Services, where she served as a facilitator on the implementation of the Family Advocacy and Support Tool (FAST). Mrs. McCray believes that the well-being, safety, and permanency of all families, caregivers, and children are the most important part of her career, and she is dedicated to ensuring jurisdictions across the globe are equipped with the tools to ensure that happens.