The National Center on Child Trafficking is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as a Treatment Service and Adaptation Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”
—Edward Everett Hale, American minister and abolitionist
"It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. Never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant."
- Desmond Tutu
NCCT Focus Areas
About NCCT
The National Centers on Child Trafficking (NCCT) is a collaboration of professionals with expertise in child trauma and human trafficking. We use a science-driven approach to guide the development, adaptation, implementation and evaluation of trauma-informed interventions and resources addressing sex and labor trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation to improve the lives of impacted children and families and support the professionals who serve them.
The NCCT is within the Mark Chaffin Center for Healthy Development in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University and draws on the resources and infrastructure of the University to advance its mission. The Justice Resource Institute is a lead partner organization, joined by an advisory board, strong team of consultants, and partners with relevant expertise in key areas and lived experiences of trafficking and healing.
The NCCT is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as a Treatment Service and Adaptation Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).
Meet the Team
Kelly Kinnish, PhD, Director
Kelly Kinnish, PhD, is the Director of the National Center on Child Trafficking. She has over 30 years experience working with maltreated and at-risk children and families in clinical, research, and administrative capacities with specific interest and expertise in child trauma and trafficking. She was the Director of Clinical Services at the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy for 14 years and Director of Project Intersect and the Envision Project, federally funded programs focused on improving the well-being of commercially sexually exploited and trafficked children. She is active in both state and national task forces and working groups addressing this complex public health concern with particular focus on effective interventions and collaborative systems response, including serving as Chair of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Child Trafficking Workgroup. She is a Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) National Trainer and has focused especially on applications of this evidence-based treatment with commercially sexually exploited and trafficked children.
Elizabeth (Elise) Hopper, PhD, Co-Director
Elizabeth Hopper, PhD, is the Co-Director of the National Center on Child Trafficking (NCCT). She is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialization in traumatic stress and human trafficking. In addition to her work with the NCCT, Dr. Hopper is Project Director of the Metropolitan Boston Complex Trauma Treatment Initiative, a mobile service network delivering evidence-based trauma interventions to high-risk and underserved complex trauma-exposed children and youth and families, and Co-Chair of the Mental Health Council for HEAL Trafficking, a national network of health and public health professionals. She was previously the Director of Project REACH, a national direct services and T/TA program that provided mental health services to survivors of human trafficking and Director of the New England Coalition Against Trafficking (NECAT), a regional network of cross-discipline professionals engaged in anti-trafficking work. Dr. Hopper has written numerous scholarly articles, books, and book chapters on complex trauma, trauma-informed care, homelessness, and human trafficking and has particular interests in the impact of early developmental trauma and human trafficking, the development of trauma-informed systems, and integrative models of healing.
Shannon Self-Brown, PhD, Co- Principal Investigator
Dr. Shannon Self-Brown is a child clinical psychologist and a Professor in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. She serves as Chair of the department of Health Policy and Behavioral Sciences and is the Co- Director of the National SafeCare Training and Research Center (NSTRC). NSTRC is housed within the School of Public Health and focuses on the dissemination of SafeCare, an evidence-based parenting program for preventing child physical abuse and neglect. Dr. Self-Brown’s research focuses on child maltreatment prevention, behavioral parenting intervention, youth trauma intervention, and implementation science. Her research has been funded by NIH, CDC, PCORI, and several foundations. She has been funded for the last 10 years by the National Child Trauma Stress Network to evaluate best practices for serving the mental health needs of youth who have been victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Dr. Self-Brown has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications focusing on the impact of youth violence, trauma, and disaster exposure on youth mental health, as well as the implementation of evidence-based behavioral parenting programs and mental health practices for traumatized youth. She serves as a grant reviewer for the DOJ, NCTSN, and NIH, and as a member of the editorial board for the journal Child Maltreatment.
Melissa Osborne, PhD, Lead Evaluator
Melissa Osborne, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Wellstar College of Health and Human Services at Kennesaw State University. Dr. Osborne’s research is in the area of pediatric violence and injury research and prevention, particularly child maltreatment and firearm access and injury in the pediatric population. The overarching goal of her research is to better inform prevention strategies that help keep children and adolescents safe and healthy at home. Most recently her work has examined risk patterns among adolescent firearm suicides using surveillance data and assessed in-home firearm availability among children at-risk for maltreatment.
Kathryn (Katie) O'Hara, MPH, Project Coordinator
Kathryn O’Hara, MPH, is a recent graduate of the Georgia State University School of Public Health with a focus in Health Promotion & Behavior. In her graduate studies, she served as a Graduate Research Assistant in the PREVenT Lab, participating in research on augmented parenting programs.Ms. O’Hara graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in Human Development and gained research and academic experience in the field of child maltreatment, specifically in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of child sexual abuse. She currently serves as the Project Coordinator for the National Center on Child Trafficking.
Jennifer Roman-Martin, LICSW, Project Coordinator - Justice Resource Institute
Jennifer Roman-Martin, LICSW is an independently licensed clinical social worker with expertise in the mental health treatment of complex trauma. She has provided trauma treatment with survivors of trafficking, torture and complex trauma including psychological affidavits within The Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights and as Project Coordinator for Project REACH, for The Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute’s human trafficking program. She worked cross-culturally in international mental health program implementation with human trafficking survivors and marginalized communities in Africa (South Africa, Malawi), Asia (Thailand), and the Caribbean (Jamaica). Jennifer is a part of The Human Trafficking Expert Consultant Network funded by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons within the Department of State (TIP Office) including grant review, training and material development. Jennifer has received specialized training in EBP for trauma treatment, including Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, Child Parent Psychotherapy, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She is currently a clinician at the Metro-Boston Complex Trauma Treatment Initiative at Justice Resource Institute, and adjunct faculty at the Boston College School of Social Work.
Jessica Wozniak, PsyD - CSEC Specialist
Jessica Wozniak, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and the Clinical Research and Development Manager at Baystate Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry in Springfield, MA, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate (UMMS). In her role she oversees community-based projects, clinical research, and training including oversight of all projects funded by SAMHSA/NCTSN. She is the Director of the Child Advocacy Training and Support Center, a national training and consultation center for Children’s Advocacy Centers. Additionally, Dr. Wozniak oversaw the development of the One Mission Project which provides coordinated services to child trafficking victims. She is also a leader of the Hampden County Coalition to Identify and Prevent the Sexual Exploitation of Children. Dr. Wozniak is a nationally recognized trainer in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, the most rigorously tested treatment for trauma in children. Additionally, she conducts trainings for community organizations as well as presenting at national and international conferences on topics related to trauma informed practices, vicarious trauma, trauma-informed multidisciplinary teams and sexual exploitation of children.
Regina Bernadin, International Rescue Committee
Dr. Regina Bernadin is the Technical Advisor for Anti-trafficking Programs at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) where she supports the organization’s programming that assists trafficking survivors in the United States and Europe. She is also part of Framework—a national training and technical assistance provider on the issue of labor trafficking. She has held various roles at the IRC, including serving as the Deputy Director of the Miami office. Previously, she served as the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordinator with the Florida Department of Children and Families. She is a consultant for the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center and the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center on human rights issues. Regina also conducts presentations and trainings nationally, in English and Spanish, on victim identification, service provision and collaboration. She has overseen targeted outreach campaigns aimed at increasing the number of trafficking survivors identified in the community. Internationally, she has trained on the topic of conflict analysis and resolution and the implementation of anti-trafficking initiatives. Her interest in the development of human rights abroad has taken her to several countries, including Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, Suriname and Tanzania. She holds a B.A. in International Studies and Criminology from the University of Miami and an M.A in International Administration and Certificate in Non-profit Management from that same institution. Regina, a published author, blogger, and active member of various advisory boards and committees, received her Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Nova Southeastern University. Her dissertation focused on refugee self-sufficiency. Regina is the recipient of the Sarlo Distinguished Humanitarian Award and the Janita Lee Award for Victim Advocate Professional of the Year.
Sierra Carter, Clinical and Community Psychology, Georgia State University
Dr. Carter’s research focuses on racial health disparities and investigates how
psychosocial and contextual stressors can affect both mental and physical health outcomes for underrepresented populations. She has had a long-standing interest in the ways that health disparities in African American populations arise and are maintained by psychological, physiological, and contextual processes. A common theme throughout much of her work has been examining how, across a life course, racial discrimination as an acute and chronic stressor can affect development and further exacerbate chronic illnesses and stress-related disorders.
Kimberley Freire, School of Public Health, Georgia State University
Kimberley Freire, PhD, is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences Department in Georgia State University’s School of Public Health. Kimberley has worked in public health within state and local government, non-profit, and academic institutions for over 20
years. She joined the GSU faculty in December 2021 after 13 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she led an evaluation and translation team in the Division of Violence Prevention and served as Evaluation Lead in CDC’s Program Performance & Evaluation Office. Her work focuses on applying scientific concepts and data within practice settings and using practice-based evidence to advance public health strategies. Her interests also include violence prevention, implementation and dissemination science, and complex program evaluations.
Amanda Gilmore, School of Public Health, Georgia State University
Amanda Gilmore, PhD., is a clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Mark Chaffin Center for Healthy Development and the Department of Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. She is also affiliated with the Department of Psychology and the Center for Research on Interpersonal Violence. Dr. Gilmore’s research interests primarily focus on the development and testing of integrated prevention programs for alcohol and drug use, sexual assault, and sexual risk behaviors among high-risk groups including adolescents, college students, and service members, Dr. Gilmore has served as a Principal Investigator or Co- Investigator on grants from NIDA, NIAAA, the Office for Victims of Crime and the Department of Homeland Security as well as several internal grant mechanisms. She has more than 60 peer reviewed publications focused on alcohol and drug use as it relates to sexual assault and sexual risk behaviors, as well as the use of technology to increase accessibility for mental health treatment. For this project, she will lend her expertise in substance abuse prevention and intervention for adolescents with a history of trauma.
Tharyn Giovanni, Emory University
Tharyn Giovanni, LCSW, entered the social work field because of the core values and ethics regarding social justice, integrity, service, and dignity. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, he believes that it’s important that his work is deeply rooted in advocacy, compassion, support, connection, and self- determination, so he can help others live authentic lives. Tharyn earned his Masters in Social Work from the Smith College School for Social Work and obtained his Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the Claremont Colleges. He previously worked with youth and young adults in various roles and capacities with programs focused on homelessness, LGBTQ issues, HIV/AIDS, substance use, and trauma. His clinical interests include trauma, gender identity and sexuality development, attachment issues, and anxiety.
Lisa Goldblatt Grace, My Life My Choice
Lisa Goldblatt Grace is the Co-founder and Co-Executive Director of My Life My Choice (MLMC), a program of JRI. Founded in 2002, My Life My Choice is a groundbreaking, nationally recognized initiative designed to stem the tide of the commercial sexual exploitation of adolescents. My Life My Choice offers a unique continuum of evidence-based, survivor-led services spanning service provider training, exploitation prevention programming for adolescent girls at disproportionate risk, survivor mentoring to young survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, and advocacy and leadership development. Ms. Goldblatt Grace has been working with vulnerable young people in a variety of capacities for over thirty years. Her professional experience includes running a long-term shelter for homeless teen parents, developing a diversion program for violent youth offenders, and working in outpatient mental health, health promotion, and residential treatment settings. Ms. Goldblatt Grace was a primary researcher on the 2007 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services national study of programs serving human trafficking victims. She has served as the Co-Chair of the Training and Education Committee and the chair of the Implementation Subcommittee of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s appointed Task Force on Human Trafficking. She currently serves on the Governor’s Working Group on Child Trafficking, the Governor’s Commission on Unaccompanied and Homeless Youth, the Governor’s Commission on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence and Shared Hope’s National JuST Council. She is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and holds Masters Degrees in both social work and public health.
Yolanda Graham, Devereaux Advanced Behavioral Health
Yolanda Graham, MD, is the Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, and Chief Clinical Officer at Devereaux Advanced Behavioral Health. Dr. Graham is double Board certified in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry. She completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University and received her medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Graham completed her residency and child and research fellowships at Emory University. She served as an Adjunct Clinical Professor at Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University for many years and is a past president of the Georgia Council on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association. Dr Graham is an expert in mental health, child advocacy, psychotropic medication management, behavioral management, childhood sexual exploitation and trauma. She is a fierce advocate for children’s mental health issues, serving as a national speaker, keynote speaker, consultant and advisor. Dr. Graham is a native of Georgia and currently resides in Philadelphia, PA.
Ciara Green, Family Ties Enterprises, Inc.
Ciara is currently CEO of Family Ties Enterprises, Inc., a social service agency providing care to over 6,000 families a year and based in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Ciara works with children and adolescents who are at risk for neglect and/or abuse or have a mental health diagnosis. Her staff of over 150 therapists is a melting pot of backgrounds, intentionally designed to reach all clients at multiple levels. She has collaborations providing mental health care with hospitals, school districts, group homes and organizations such as Big Brother Big Sister. These collaborations serve two causes – educating about the need for mental health support within our communities as well as utilizing the resources of other agencies to further that cause. Today, her agency works with over 100 schools independently within 4 major school systems: Fulton, Atlanta, Henry, and Forsyth for on-site behavioral health services. She is currently an advisory board member for Hughes Spalding Hospital. Auction chair for the Children’s Hospital Hope and Will Ball, Co-chair of the Atlanta Speech School Language and Literacy Gala and a 2022 recipient of the Bold and Fearless Award in the Health and Wellness category by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
Jordan Greenbaum, International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children
Jordan Greenbaum, MD is a child abuse physician living in Atlanta, GA. She has worked in the field of child maltreatment for over 20 years. She is the medical director of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, and she founded the Institute on Healthcare and Human Trafficking at the Stephanie Blank Center for Safe and Healthy Children at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She also served as the medical director of the Blank Center. She was a co-chair of the Education/Training committee for HEAL Trafficking, an organization of medical professionals working on human trafficking issues. She is a board member of the International Society on the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN).
Lisa Jones, Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire
Lisa M. Jones, PhD., Research Associate Professor of Psychology at the Crimes against Children Research Center (CCRC), University of New Hampshire (UNH), has over 20 years’ experience researching child victimization and adversity exposure issues, with a current focus on commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), bias victimization and hate crimes, technology-based victimization, and violence prevention. She is currently serving as PI or Co-I on several federally funded CSEC-focused studies, including: 1) an evaluability assessment of services provided to youth CSEC victims; 2) a multi-site study aimed at better understanding the health and wellness needs of CSEC victims; and 3) a national survey of law enforcement response to CSEC. She is also serving as PI on a privately funded, quasi-experimental evaluation of a trafficking prevention program being delivered in Houston public schools. Her work focuses on translational research, assisting youth serving organizations to use research to improve programs and evaluate new approaches to helping protect youth from violence. Dr. Jones has published extensively topics of child victimization and evidence-based prevention and presents nationally and internationally.
Naeshia McDowell, Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia
Naeshia McDowell is the Director of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSEC) Response Team, a program of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia. Naeshia leads a multidisciplinary team of professionals who provide assessment and crisis intervention services to children and youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation. Naeshia earned her Master of Public Health degree from Georgia State University and has been immersed in anti-trafficking efforts since 2016. Naeshia is an active member of the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Taskforce and the Georgia Coalition to Combat Human Trafficking. In 2022, she was named to the Statewide Expert Committee on child abuse, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
Michelle Miller, National Children's Alliance
Michelle Miller, PhD, LCSW, LCPC, has nearly 30 years’ experience working in the child welfare field and over 20 years’ experience as a mental health provider. Dr. Miller was the founding director of the Butte Child Evaluation Center, Montana’s first NCA accredited CAC, in 1998 where she served as director, forensic interviewer, clinician, and multi-disciplinary team coordinator until 2013. Michelle was the founding board chair for the Montana State Chapter organization of NCA, a position she held from 2008-2011, and continued to serve as a board member until 2016. Michelle has provided clinical supervision to mental health practitioners and training on the implementation of evidence-based practices. Since joining the NCA team in 2016, Michelle has worked with the Yale Child Study Center on the implementation of Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention in CACs. In partnership with Baylor University, she facilitates trainings for clinicians in Evidence-Based Assessments. Michelle is also involved in a NIMH grant with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center to develop and train victim advocates in engaging children and families in mental health care. Michelle facilitates the Youth with Problematic Sexual Behaviors National Collaborative Workgroup and has been involved in the creation of resources for the field. Michelle has served on numerous local, state, and national task forces and committees. In her private practice, Michelle specializes in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT).
Rachel Niemiec, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Rachel Niemiec is a Pediatric and Adult/Adolescent Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She has a master’s degree in nursing, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. In addition to being part of the Massachusetts SANE program for the past 8 years, she has over 15 years of experience working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence. As a survivor of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), she is committed to helping service providers respond compassionately to this issue. In her free time, she serves on the Survivor Advisory Council and Executive Board for ALIGHT, an organization that utilizes technology to meet the legal needs of survivors of human trafficking across the country. She has conducted numerous trainings on CSEC for law enforcement, medical providers and community-based advocates, often using her reflections as both a survivor and clinician to inform her recommendations for trauma-informed, survivor-informed care.
Christine Raino, Shared Hope International
Christine Raino, JD, is Senior Director of Public Policy at Shared Hope International. Christine directs Shared Hope’s legislative advocacy efforts to advance protections and services for child and youth sex trafficking survivors. Christine Raino joined Shared Hope International in 2011 as part of a new domestic policy initiative and helped draft the legal analysis of the 50 states and District of Columbia that laid the foundation for the annual Protected Innocence Challenge Report Cards. Following 9 years of state grades under that project, Christine led the development of a new framework for state grades under the Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking, which focus on advancing survivor-centered legislative reforms. She also authors and leads research initiatives on emerging topics related to child sex trafficking. To ensure that policy efforts advanced by Shared Hope’s Institute for Justice & Advocacy are shaped and informed by survivors and on-the-ground implementation, Christine convenes the JuST (Juvenile Sex Trafficking) Response Council, a group of over 30 experts from the areas of policy development, survivor leadership, federal and state child serving agencies and service provision, to examine the nuanced and complex challenges that advocates encounter when working to connect exploited youth to qualified and appropriate services. Christine is a licensed attorney and obtained her J.D. from American University. Prior to obtaining her law degree, she worked with refugees, asylees and victims of trafficking through federal and state resettlement programs at the International Institute of Boston (now the International Institute of New England).
Regena Spratling, School of Nursing, Georgia State University
Regena Spratling, PhD, RN, APRN, CPNP, FAANP, FAAN, is a pediatric nurse practitioner, and former pediatric nurse, with expertise in acute and primary care settings. Dr. Spratling’s research has focused on children and adolescents with chronic conditions and their families. Dr. Spratling also has collaborations and expertise in a variety of infant, child, and adolescent, and family health issues. She has numerous publications and presentations and NIH funded research. Her recent NINR funded project supports the development and feasibility testing of a web-based education and skill-building intervention for caregivers of children who require both tracheostomies and feeding tubes. For many years, she has been an active leader at the national, regional, and state level in the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and other professional organizations. Currently, she serves as Research Methods Department Editor for the Journal of Pediatric Health Care. She received a BSN from Mercer University, and a MS and PhD from Georgia State University.
Liza Suarez, PhD, Urban Youth Trauma Center, University of Illinois at Chicago
Liza Suarez, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the co-director of the Urban Youth Trauma Center, a SAMHSA funded Treatment Service Adaptation Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network aiming to address the needs of youth impacted by community violence. Dr. Suarez is also the director of the Pediatric Stress and Anxiety Disorders Clinic, a Community Treatment Service Center, also funded by SAMHSA and part of the NCTSN. Trained as a clinical child psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Suarez has over 20 years of experience working with trauma-related services for diverse urban youth and families. Dr. Suarez has directed the development, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of assessment, prevention and intervention protocols and programs to address violence exposure, traumatic stress, anxiety and substance abuse. Dr. Suarez blends research and practice in academic, clinic and community settings. She develops and evaluates research and clinical programs for youth impacted by trauma and adversity, tailoring treatment approaches to families of diverse ethnic, racial and socio-economic backgrounds experiencing community violence, substance abuse problems. She is the Co-Chair of the Adolescent Trauma and Substance Abuse Committee, a nationally represented group of clinicians and researchers in the fields of trauma and substance abuse within the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, where she leads efforts to develop and disseminate resources to ameliorate the impact of trauma and substance abuse among youth and families. Dr. Suarez also leads local and statewide efforts to improve the workforce’s ability to identify, connect and engage in services youth impacted by trauma and violence in law enforcement, mental health, and school settings through training, implementation support, and cross system collaboration.
Erik Wright, School of Public Health, Georgia State University
Eric R. Wright is Distinguished University Professor of Sociology and Public Health and Chair of the Sociology Department at Georgia State University. He holds a BA in sociology from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and an MA and PhD in sociology and human sexuality from Indiana University Bloomington. His scholarship centers on social and public policy responses to mental health and illness, substance use and addictions, and sexual health and sexual behavior. Currently, Dr. Wright is working on several projects to understand and ameliorate social and health problems and disparities in minority and other vulnerable communities, including homeless youth, youth who have been trafficked, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people (LGBTQ). Professor Wright also is an award-winning teacher and deeply committed to involving students in research and service-learning projects to make learning more relevant and to build stronger bridges between the academy and the community.
Mae Ackerman-Brimberg, National Center for Youth Law
Mae Ackerman-Brimberg, JD, MSW, is Senior Attorney on the National Center for Youth Law’s Collaborative Responses to Commercial Sexual Exploitation Initiative. With a background in law and social work, Mae has spent her career seeking to transform the child welfare, juvenile justice, and prison systems, address discrimination leading to disproportionate impacts on people of color and those with disabilities, and improve supports for children, families, and communities affected by those systems. At NCYL, Mae works to change policies, laws, and practices to better identify children and youth who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and facilitate multi-disciplinary collaborations to support them to heal, meet their self-identified goals, and live full, healthy lives. Mae served as a judicial law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University, and a dual M.S.W. and J.D. from Columbia University.
Antonia Barba
Antonia Barba, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with nearly 20 years of experience providing trauma focused mental health support, professional training, and program leadership. Her areas of specialty include trauma-informed care with LGBTQ+ youth and their families, trauma and crisis consultation and direct response with organizations, recognizing and supporting survivors of child sex trafficking, and preventing secondary traumatic stress and burnout among helping professionals. Antonia is a long-time member of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and frequent collaborator on the development of culturally affirming tools and resources to promote prevention, healing and recovery from trauma and stress for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. She is passionate about transforming the way we think about and provide mental health services, and excited to be engaged in work that honors and is informed by the lived experiences of youth and families.
Dawn Blacker, CAARE Center, UC Davis
Dr. Dawn Blacker is a clinical psychologist and Associate Director of Mental Health Services at the UC Davis CAARE Center as well as the Training Director of the APA-Accredited Psychology Internship in the Department of Pediatrics, University of California Davis Children’s Hospital. Over the past 22 years, Dr. Blacker’s primary clinical and research interests have focused on issues of abuse/neglect and trauma within the family context as well as issues related to training clinicians in evidence-based practices. As a senior psychologist, Dr. Blacker provides individual therapy services such as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Trauma Focused Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy as well as Evaluation services for clients with very diverse social, cultural and economic backgrounds. As the Training Director of the CAARE Center, Dr. Blacker spends much of her time providing training and consultation to early career staff through the APA accredited Psychology Internship. She is also a trainer of Parent Child Interaction Therapy and has trained more than 50 clinicians in PCIT. Dr. Blacker is also involved in the training of professionals including clinicians on providing services for sexually exploited youth. She oversees 4 contracts with Sacramento County (Probation; Child Protective Services; Behavioral Health; Public Defenders’ Office) that provide training and services for sexually exploited youth and their caregivers. Dr. Blacker has also co-developed a web course on sexual exploitation as well as a Caregiver Skills Group curriculum for caregivers caring for youth with a history of sexual exploitation. Dr. Blacker is also Co-Chair of the NCTSN Child Trafficking Workgroup.
Kate Walker Brown, National Center for Youth Law
Kate Walker Brown, JD, is Senior Director of the Collaborative Responses to Commercial Sexual Exploitation Initiative at the National Center for Youth Law. Walker Brown's career has been devoted to examining and developing innovative research, policy, and practices to support children and youth and their families impacted by commercial sexual exploitation. She currently serves as Project Director for the California CSEC Action Team and partners with the Advisory Board of the CSEC Action Team, made up of lived experience experts, working to ensure that the state’s work is grounded in lived experience. Walker Brown has worked closely with counties throughout California to consult with agency leadership and develop interagency protocols to more effectively serve children and youth impacted by exploitation. Walker Brown has successfully advocated for laws that recognize commercial sexual exploitation as abuse and provide nearly $20 million of ongoing funding to support children and youth who have experienced sexual exploitation, and most recently to provide pre-and post-conviction relief to survivors of human trafficking. She contributes to the field by serving on advisory boards, speaking to media outlets, presenting at national conferences and partnering with academic institutions on research. She received her undergraduate degree in Public Policy from Pomona College and her J.D. from University of Iowa College of Law.
Evelyn Chumbow, Operations Manager & Survivor Advocate, The Human Trafficking Legal Center
Evelyn Chumbow is a survivor of child labor trafficking turned anti-trafficking activist and public speaker who focuses her life’s work on ending modern-day slavery. Today, Ms. Chumbow works tirelessly to raise awareness in communities to create employment opportunities for trafficking survivors. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Human Trafficking Legal Center and Free the Slaves. She has been invited to brief government agencies about human trafficking from a survivor’s perspective, including the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the State Department, and the Department of Justice.
Judith (Judy) Cohen, Center for Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents Allegheny General Hospital
Judith A. Cohen is a Board Certified Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, Medical Director of the Allegheny General Hospital Center for Traumatic Stress in Children & Adolescents, and Professor of Psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine in Pittsburgh, PA. With Tony Mannarino, Ph.D. and Esther Deblinger, Ph.D., Dr. Cohen developed and tested Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), an evidence-based treatment for traumatized children, and has received more than two dozen grants related to the assessment and treatment of child maltreatment and trauma. Dr. Cohen is past Co-Chair of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry’s Child Maltreatment and Violence Committee, past member of its journal editorial board, first author of its PTSD practice parameters, and a recipient of its Rieger Award for Scientific Achievement. She has served on the Boards of Directors of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and as Co-Chair of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s Child Sexual Abuse and Child Traumatic Grief Committees. She is a consultant to Sesame Workshop and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, and maintains an active practice focused on disseminating evidence-based treatment for traumatized children and adolescents.
Irene Countryman-Roswurm, Center for Combating Human Trafficking, Institute for Transformative Emancipation
Dr. Irene Countryman-Roswurm, LMSW, Ph.D. is the Founder/Executive Director of the Center for Combating Human Trafficking (CCHT), Institute for Transformative Emancipation (ITE). She is also a tenured Associate Professor and a frequent consultant for diverse federal and non-governmental agencies striving toward systemic improvement. Cumulatively, Dr. Roswurm has more than 26 years of professional practice expertise in Movements mobilizing others to not only end abuse, homelessness, exploitation, human trafficking, and the adaptive “ism’s” these issues are often rooted in but most importantly, promote holistic healing and prosperity.
A Native Blackfoot (Siksika) woman who remains grounded in her own life experiences of overcoming streets and systems (e.g. child welfare/foster care, criminal/legal judicial systems, state-funded institutions, etc.), Dr. Roswurm is a transformational leader who has committed her life to contemplative, emancipatory practices. Using her various first-hand vantage points, Dr. Roswurm offers pathways to holistic prosperity for individuals, groups, and communities facing abuse, exploitation, and trafficking through the provision of direct-service programming, education and training, consultation and technical assistance, research, and policy development. Acting as a street outreach worker, program coordinator, therapist, community response organizer, human rights advocate, researcher, educator, capacity builder, and public policy developer, she has walked alongside thousands domestically and internationally. Specifically, Dr. Roswurm has served as a forerunner in the Runaway, Homeless, and Anti-Exploitation Movements by advancing prevention, intervention, and prosperity-promoting strategies through her Lotus Emancipation ModelTM. This includes Dr. Roswurm’s therapeutic expertise in culturally-relevant narrative practices to assist trauma survivors re-story their lives. She has more than thirty publications and has facilitated thousands of keynotes, workshops, and critical conversations around the globe. Largely known for her advocacy to reduce the criminalization of young people who are runaway/homeless and who have survived commercial sexual exploitation, dearest to Dr. Roswurm’s heart are opportunities and recognitions that reflect her commitment to journeying alongside survivors as the step into their true identity. Dr. Roswurm often serves as an expert witness on cases regarding human trafficking; she has served as a subject matter expert at the White House National Convening on Trafficking and Child Welfare; is an Indigenous Survivor-Leader Fellow for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centers, Human Trafficking Leadership Academy (HTLA); and the recipient of awards such as the Distinguished Kansan of the Year, Pat Ayars Mentoring Award, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
Dr. Roswurm is more than her degrees and professional titles. She is a survivor, thriver, and overcomer. She is a wife, mother, sister-friend, dancer, gardener, chef, and roller-skating warrior queen. Like an eagle, she inspires and casts vision. Like a servant gardener, dependent upon the control of our Creator, she awakens and cultivates the autonomous leader in others. Like a navigating companion, she humbly offers resources as she walks alongside survivors she is honored to know. Like a lotus, despite pain and fear, she leans in and strives. And like a 5am alarm playing a rhythmic “fight song,” Dr. Roswurm mobilizes others to act with courage in efforts to empower mercy, equity, justice, and prosperity for all.
Carla Kmett Danielson, EMPOWERR Program, Medical University of South Carolina
Carla Kmett Danielson, PhD, is clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina and the developer of Risk Reduction through Family Therapy (RRFT), an exposure-based integrative treatment for comorbid PTSD symptoms and substance use problems among adolescents. She is the Founding Director of the EMPOWERR Program, which is dedicated to reducing HIV acquisition and substance use among local at-risk young people. Her research and clinical interests focus on treatment and prevention with high-risk, trauma-exposed adolescent and traditionally underserved populations using culturally informed approaches, including translational studies that seek to improve understanding pathways from trauma exposure (e.g., maltreatment; racism-related trauma) to mental health problems and applied clinical trial research focused on evaluation and dissemination of integrated treatments for comorbid PTSD and substance use problems. Dr. Danielson will collaborate with the project team in applications of RRFT with Y-CSET.
Carly Dierkhising, California State University, Los Angeles
Carly B. Dierkhising, PhD, is an Associate Professor at California State University, Los Angeles, in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics. She holds a Doctorate in Developmental Psychology and a Masters in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Dierkhising is committed to developing actionable research and translating research to practice and policy in order to improve the lives of trauma-exposed and system-involved youth. Previously, she worked for the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress on various initiatives related to developing trauma-informed child welfare and juvenile justice systems. In 2015, she was appointed by the Governor of California to the State Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Her publications and grants are on topics related to trauma-informed gang intervention, trauma and delinquency, crossover or dual system youth, commercial sexual exploitation of youth, and creating trauma-informed systems.
Jessa Dillow Crisp, Jessa Crisp Counseling, PLLC
Nathan Earl, Giant Slayer Communications
Nathan Earl is an anti-trafficking pioneer, fierce advocate and visionary leader with a passion for building resilient communities immune to exploitation. Through his work as the Principal Consultant at Giant Slayer Communications, Nathan leverages more than 20 years of lived and professional experience to help organizations and communities prevent violence against boys and male-identifying individuals. In 2014, Mr. Earl operationalized and led one of the first direct service programs for male survivors of human trafficking in the country. Based in South Florida, the program provided outreach, care coordination, case management, and housing for young adult male survivors challenged with substance dependency. Nathan currently assists Federal, State and NGO partners to increase their capacity in the areas of research, collective impact, primary prevention and crisis intervention. Mr. Earl is a member of multiple research teams tasked with studying the scope and prevalence of male sex trafficking, acute gaps in mental health care experienced by survivors of human trafficking, and the exploitation of LGBTQIA youth experiencing homelessness. Mr. Earl is a 2019 Fellow of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Human Trafficking Leadership Academy. His educational background is in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of South Florida and is pursuing a master’s degree in Public Health at Yale University. Mr. Earl possesses a Certificate in Leadership from Coro Southern California, and a Certificate in Human Subjects Research from CITI.
Julia Grimm, National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth, University of Oklahoma; Private Practice, Charleston, SC
Julia Grimm, LISW-CP, is currently in private practice as an independent trainer and consultant in South Carolina. Ms. Grimm earned her B.S. in Sociology with a Minor in Psychology from Charleston Southern University and her MSW from the University of South Carolina). Ms. Grimm served at the Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center for 12 years as a Therapist, Forensic Interviewer, and Clinical and Forensic Services Supervisor. Ms. Grimm earned her national certification in Trauma Focused - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and provided Risk Reduction through Family Therapy (RRFT), a now evidence-based intervention for adolescents with comorbid PTSD, substance use and other risk-taking behaviors, during its first large scale RCT and went on to earn distinction as a clinical trainer and consultant in the model. Ms. Grimm also provided group and family therapy for youth who have engaged in problematic sexual behaviors (PSB-CBT for School Age Children and Adolescents ), earning distinction as a clinical trainer and consultant in these models, as well. Ms. Grimm trains internationally on PSB-CBT via affiliation with the National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth (NCSBY) and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Ms. Grimm co-authored the PSB-CY: Clinical Assessment and Treatment Overview online course series for military service providers, in partnership with NCSBY and OneOp. Ms. Grimm also trains and speaks nationally on the convergence of problematic sexual behaviors, sexual-risk taking behaviors, substance use and other youth risk-taking behaviors, and appropriate intervention to address these. Ms. Grimm has served as an Adjunct Faculty member for the USC College of Social Work Master of Social Work program, as a Field Instructor for MSW students, and on the Board of Directors for the SC Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
Maria Clara Harrington, Citrus Health Network, Chance Program
For 20 years, Maria Clara Harrington has been serving young survivors of sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation through counseling, advocacy and outreach. As the Training and Outreach Coordinator for the Citrus Health Network Chance Program, she combines her experience working directly with survivors with her understanding and compassion for survivors, with her skills as an educator, to train other professionals. She has helped several other local, state, national and international communities launch a trauma informed response, bringing together agencies involved in these complex cases. Ms. Harrington continues to collaborate with other organizations in the development of a community-based, survivor and trauma informed approach to Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. She serves as Chair of the Services Committee of the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, is a fellow of the National Human Trafficking Leadership Academy and serves as a consultant for the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center.
Maria Clara holds a master’s degree in School Counseling from NOVA Southeastern University. Maria Clara was the recipient of Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi’s 2015 Distinguished Victim Services Award, the Global Innovative Consulting Network’s 2019 Outstanding Leadership Award, the Junior League of Miami Women Who Make A Difference 2020 award, Survivors Pathway 2021 Women of the Year Award and Global Innovative Foundation Champion in Healthcare 2022 Award.
Matthew Kliethermes, Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis, University of Missouri- St. Louis
Matt Kliethermes, PhD, is the Training Director at Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis (CASGSL) and a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Dr. Kliethermes has over 20 years of experience and extensive training in the field of child trauma. He provides direct clinical services to youth exposed to trauma, supervises mental health trainees, teaches at the undergraduate level, and provides frequent training and consultation at local, state, and national levels. Dr. Kliethermes is a nationally certified Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) trainer and the author of multiple book chapters and articles pertaining to TF-CBT and childhood trauma.
Brandi Liles, CAARE Center, UC Davis
Brandi Liles, PhD, is a clinical psychologist at the UC Davis CAARE Center and specializes in treatment with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma, including youth involved in child welfare and juvenile justice. She implements and trains others to utilize empirically supported treatments (PCIT, TF-CBT) and provides direct services for youth who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation as well as trains other professionals (Social Workers, Probation, Advocates, Therapists) in how to utilize evidence- based principles while serving youth who have experienced commercial exploitation. She runs treatment programs for trafficked youth through Juvenile Court and Juvenile Hall in Sacramento County (CA). Dr. Liles will provide consultation to the project on trauma treatment, child systems and Juvenile Justice, and Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking.
Gihan Omar, Citrus Health Network
Dr. Gihan Omar is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who has been in practice for approximately 20 years. She completed her doctoral training at the Florida Institute for Technology, internship at the University of Houston and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine where she remained as an Associate Research Scientist before joining Citrus Health Network (CHN). During her time at CHN, Dr. Omar has supervised and coordinated various program that provide services to children and adolescents with mental health problems including Juvenile Evaluation Treatment Services (JETS), a program serving adolescents under intensive juvenile probation and Center for Adolescent Treatment Services (CATS), a residential treatment facility for adolescents with severe emotional and behavioral disorders and the Children's Crisis Response Team (CCRT) an intensive in-home Community Services Team that provides treatment to youth with severe emotional and behavioral difficulties as well as victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Dr. Omar is currently the Clinical Coordinator for the Foster Care and Citrus Helping Adolescents Negatively impacted by Commercial Exploitation (CHANCE). Dr. Omar has presented regularly at local, state and national conferences on topics related to adolescents, mental health and human trafficking. Dr. Omar is also part time faculty at NOVA Southeastern University.
Ricardo Rubiales, Kristi House - Project GOLD
Ricardo A. Rubiales is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Miami, Florida, and is Nationally Certified in and an Approved National Trainer in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) with over 15 years of experience with trauma and child welfare. With an MSW from Florida International University, Ricardo began working as a full-time therapist at the Kristi House Child Advocacy Center in 2007, later becoming the Clinical Supervisor for the therapy department. After several years working with other child welfare and trauma involved community-based agencies, he returned to Kristi House in 2018 as the Associate Director at Project GOLD, the program providing wrap-around services for youth who have experienced or at risk of human trafficking and commercial exploitation. In addition to TF-CBT, Ricardo is trained in various other evidence based treatments and non-clinical services modalities. He currently oversees clinical, employment and education, and trafficking prevention programming at Project GOLD, supervising and providing direct-care individual, family, and group services in these areas. Lastly, Ricardo provides training and consultation through Kristi House and privately, and participates in a variety of local and national collaborative groups, conferences, task-forces, and coalitions related to trauma and human trafficking.
Ginny Sprang, Center on Trauma and Children, University of Kentucky
Ginny Sprang, PhD, is a professor in the College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky, and executive director of the UK Center on Trauma and Children. She is the Principal Investigator of the SAMHSA funded Category II Secondary Traumatic Stress Innovations and Solutions Center, the Category III Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatment and Training Institute, and Chair Emeritus of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Collaborative group. She is member of the College of Medicine’s executive committee, and serves as a member of the Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Council for the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Sprang has published extensively on topics such as child trauma, trauma informed care, the commercial sexual exploitation of minors, implementation and sustainability, disaster response and secondary traumatic stress. Her work involves the creation of translational tools, and the development, testing and implementation of evidence-based treatments and practices to treat those exposed to these traumatic experiences.
Hanni Stoklosa, HEAL Trafficking, Harvard Medical School
Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH, Executive Director, is a Co-Founder of HEAL Trafficking, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) with appointments at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. She is Director of the Global Women’s Health Fellowship at BWH, Connors Center. Dr. Stoklosa is an internationally recognized expert, advocate, researcher, and speaker on the wellbeing of trafficking survivors in the U.S. and internationally through a public health lens. She has advised the United Nations, International Organization for Migration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of State, and the National Academy of Medicine on issues of human trafficking and testified as an expert witness multiple times before the U.S. Congress. Moreover, she has conducted research on trafficking and persons facing the most significant social, economic, and health challenges in a diversity of settings including Australia, China, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Liberia, Nepal, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, South Sudan, Taiwan, and Thailand. Among other accolades, Dr. Stoklosa has been honored with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health Emerging Leader award, the Harvard Medical School Dean’s Faculty Community Service award, has been named as an Aspen Health Innovator and National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader. Her anti-trafficking work has been featured by the New York Times, National Public Radio, Glamour, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, STAT News, and Marketplace. Dr. Stoklosa published the first textbook addressing the public health response to trafficking, “Human Trafficking Is a Public Health Issue, A Paradigm Expansion in the United States.”
Keldric Thomas, Director of Clinical Services, Georgia Center for Child Advocacy
Keldric Thomas joined the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy in 2016, working as a Psychotherapist and Program Manager. As Director, he currently oversees the Georgia Center’s clinical programming to youth and families impacted by trauma. Keldric has worked with maltreated and at-risk children and families for over 15 years in clinical, research, and administrative capacities. Prior to joining the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy, he provided a range of psychological services and administration in various mental health care settings, including outpatient clinics, hospitals, residential facilities, schools, in-home, and forensics. Keldric received his dual B.A. degrees in Psychology and Spanish from Morehouse College and his M.Ed. and PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Louisville. He completed his internship at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology at Boston University/Boston Medical Center and post-doctoral training at the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events. This unique network of frontline providers, family members, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S. The NCTSN is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and coordinated by the UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS).
The NCTSN has grown from 17 funded centers in 2001 to 116 currently funded centers and 170 Affiliate (formerly funded) centers and individuals, working in hospitals, universities, and community-based programs in 43 states and the District of Columbia.
The National Center on Child Trafficking is proud to partner with the following organizations:
Augusta University - Institute of Public and Preventive Health
Baystate Health - Child Advocacy Training and Support Center (CATS)
Georgia Center for Child Advocacy - Project Intersect
Justice Resource Institute
Medical University of South Carolina - Enhancing Equity, Quality and Impact of evidence-based Practices for Trauma using Technology (EQUIPTT)
Northwestern University - Center for Child Trauma Assessment Services and Intervention (CCTASI)
UCLA-Duke University - National Center for Traumatic Stress (NCCTS)
University of Kentucky - Secondary Traumatic Stress Innovations and Solutions Center (STS-ISC)
University of Missouri St.Louis - Access, Skills and Support for Implementation Science in Trauma-informed Training (ASSIST)
Stay Informed and Get Involved
The National Center on Child Trafficking develops and disseminates resources to professionals serving youth and families who have experienced trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. To stay informed about new resources, sign up with the NCCT Mailing List.