20th Annual NJPN Conference - 2020 Vision Program Book

HANER HERNANDEZ, PH.D., CPS, CADCII, LADCI Massachusettes Organization Addiction Recovery MOAR

DR. TAWANDA HUBBARD Social Work Educator & Practitioner

DR. PHYLLIS HOLDITCH-NIOLON Senior Scientist for ACES Prevention | Division of Violence Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Hernandez is a person in long-term recovery from addiction and is committed to eliminating health disparities by working at the national, state, and local levels. He is currently a Senior Consultant to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, with a focus on disparities, building health equity, addiction treatment, recovery supports, and the Recovery Support Centers located throughout the Commonwealth. He also consults and teaches a number of courses at the New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) at Brown University and the National Latino and Hispanic Mental Health TTC. Dr. Hernandez was appointed to SAMHSA Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) steering committee in 2014 and the Criminal Justice Policy Committee in 2018. He has served a consultant to several federally-funded initiatives in the areas of behavioral workforce development, HIV/ AIDS, Substance Use Disorders prevention and treatment, military service members, their families and TBI and PTSD, and pediatric asthma. Dr. Hernández serves as faculty at the New England School of Addiction Studies since 1998, has taught a number of undergraduate and graduate courses, and has presented at several national and state conferences. Dr. Hernández serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Board for Voluntary Certification of Drug and Alcohol Counselors, is a member of the Board of the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR), was appointed to the Springfield Public Health Council in 2006, and served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Latin American Advisory Commission in Massachusetts from 2000-2004. Phyllis Holditch Niolon, PhD, is a behavioral scientist in the Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Dr. Niolon serves as a senior subject matter expert (SME) on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Teen Dating Violence (TDV). In this role, she responds to high-level information requests from the legislative and executive branches of government and from the media relating to the topics of IPV and TDV. She is the lead author of the Division’s technical package on the prevention of IPV, Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices, and has made numerous presentations on the package to a host of audiences since its publication. Since 2009, she has served as the lead of the randomized controlled trial evaluating the comparative effectiveness of CDC’s Dating Matters®: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships Initiative. Dr. Niolon graduated with High Distinction with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Virginia. She received her masters and doctorate of philosophy in Community Psychology from Georgia State University. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Violence Prevention for one year, she joined DVP as a behavioral scientist in 2006. Since coming to CDC she has served as a science officer on numerous cooperative agreements and contracts evaluating interventions to prevent IPV and TDV. She has published multiple peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and government documents on the topics of IPV and TDV. 38

Dr. Tawanda Hubbard is a social work educator and practitioner. She teaches on faculty at Monmouth SSW and at her alma mater, Rutgers SSW as a part-time lecturer. Dr. Hubbard received the honor of Outstanding Doctoral Instructor at Rutgers SSW in 2016. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 15 years of experience in child welfare, behavioral health, adolescent and family therapy, and clinical practice. She currently provides individual, couple and family therapy as a private practitioner and clinical supervision. Dr. Hubbard is a consultant trainer with NJ ChildWelfare Training Partnership and NJ Victims Assistance Academy. She conducts workshops on her scholarship interests (dismantling structural discrimination, oppositionality in adolescents, clinical supervision, etc.). Dr. Hubbard is the immediate past President of the NASW, NJ Chapter, serves on Rutgers School of Social Work Alumni Advisory Council and CSWE Minority Doctoral Fellowship Alumna.

DAVID KESSLER Author and Founder of Grief.com

David Kessler is the world’s foremost expert on grief and loss. His experience with thousands of people on the edge of life and death has taught him the secrets to living a happy and fulfilled life, even afterlife’s tragedies. He is the author of six books, including the new bestselling book, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief . His books and work have received praise by so many, including Saint (Mother) Teresa. David’s personal experience as a child witnessing a mass shooting while his mother was dying in a hospital helped him begin his journey. For most of his life, David has taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about the end of life, trauma, and grief. He facilitates talks, workshops and retreats for those experiencing grief. However, despite his vast knowledge on grief, his life was turned upside down by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son. It inspired him to write his newest book, Finding Meaning . David’s volunteer work includes being an LAPD Specialist Reserve for traumatic events as well as having served on the Red Cross’s disaster services team. He is the founder of www.grief.com which has over five million visits yearly from 167 countries.