Carla Abrasheff
Child Advocacy Specialist
Carla comes to KidsVoice with seven years of experience as an Administrative Case Manager (for children and adolescents receiving mental health services) at Mercy Behavioral Health. Her prior experiences include her work as an in-home services worker at Auberle and as an ACCYS case worker. Carla received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Point Park College, and is currently enrolled in the certificate program at the Institute for Law and Forensic Science at Duquesne University. Carla joins the South team as a Child Advocacy Specialist.
Mary
Bockovich
Director of Development
Mary Bockovich joined KidsVoice on October 7th as our Director
of Development. Her main duties involve fundraising, PR, marketing
and development. Mary previously worked in development with
Catholic Charities, Family Hospice and Girl Scouts of Western
Pennsylvania. She began her career in human services work as
a caseworker at Catholic Charities.
Terry
Bicehouse
Child Advocacy Specialist
Terry has over twenty-five years of experience as a therapist,
consultant, trainer and educator, and has worked in a variety
of settings and organizations. He has helped develop a violence
prevention curriculum for elementary school age children, which
were adopted by the PA State Board of Education. Additionally,
he has been a member of the Taskforce that developed statewide
standards for Batterer's Intervention Services, (adopted by
the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.) Terry
has co-authored a book on domestic violence with Dr. Lynn Hawker,
titled "End the Pain." He is a certified Parent Effectiveness
Training Instructor and Trainer of Trainers for the Pittsburgh
AIDS Task Force. Terry has a bachelor's degree in education
from Slippery Rock University. He joins the Central team as
a Child Advocacy Specialist.
Sean
Brennan
Software Programmer/Systems Administrator
Carrie
Brill
Child Advocacy Specialist
Zivia Brown
Administrative Assistant - South Team
Zivia, our newest support person for the South Team, has over 15 years of Child Care experience. She worked in North Carolina as an infant Master Teacher for Bright horizons Child Development Center. She has an Associates Degree as a Child Care Specialist from Western School of Health and Business.
Zivia most recently worked for Pennsylvania Culinary Institute as a Student Accounts Specialist. She worked with over 500 students helping with tuition and financial aid.
Gina
Caruso
Executive Assistant
Gina is the new Executive Assistant. She previously worked as an executive assistant and Special Events Coordinator for Saks Fifth Avenue. She has also worked as a teacher in several day care programs, and helped to run a community theatre program for children in State College, PA. Gina received her undergraduate degree in business and liberal arts from Penn State University.
Michelle
Caruso
Administrative Assistant- East and Special Assignment Teams
Michelle Caruso is our Administrative Assistant for the East Team and Special Assignments Team. Michelle worked for TCI Building and Engineering as a Property Management Assistant. Michelle will be attending ICM School of Business part-time in the fall to pursue an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice.
Sharon
Henderson
Administrative Assistant- Central Team
Marcia
Herriot-Harris
Child Advocacy Specialist
Marica was a CYF caseworker in the Mon Valley Office. She
previously worked as a Community Therapist for Family Services
of Western Pennsylvania, as a Family Development Specialist
in the Clairton office of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit
in their Early Head Start Program, and as a Mobile Therapist
for Kidsnet. Marica received her M.S.W. from Pitt and her
B.A. in Psychology from Wilberforce University.
Rhonda
Jones Fitch
Child Advocacy Specialist
Rhonda Jones Fitch comes to Kid's Voice with over 12 years
of experience in the social service field. Ms. Fitch began
her career working as a counselor at Stormbreak Runaway and
Youth Shelter in Centre County. She also worked at the Centre
County Drug and Alcohol Prevention Program and Independent
Living Program. Upon graduation from The Pennsylvania State
University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology,
Ms. Fitch was employed by Alternative Program Associates and
later The Pressley Ridge Schools, PRYDE Program working in
the treatment foster care program. It was out of the PRYDE
Program that Pressley Ridge Schools collaborated with various
parties and developed the Power Bolt Rites of Passage Program.
Ms. Fitch was promoted to Program Coordinator of the female
component of Power Bolt's Rites of Passage Program. During
her time at Pressley Ridge, Ms. Fitch completed the intensive
training coursework toward receiving a Certificate in Drug
and Alcohol Counseling (CAC) and became a Certified CPR and
First Aid Trainer for the Red Cross. After working in these
programs for a combined total of eight years, Ms. Fitch became
employed with Neighborhood Centers Association, In-Home Service
Program as a Senior Case Manager, where she was instrumental
in partnering with Kid's Voice to advocate for the best interest
of the child. It was this special partnering with Kid's Voice
that interested Ms. Fitch in becoming a member of our team.
Ms. Fitch has now joined the Kid's Voice staff as a Child
Advocacy Specialist for the South Regional Team.
Joanna
Johnson
Administrative Assistant - North/Mon-Valley Team
Kathleen Mason
Child Advocacy Specialist
Kathy Mason comes to KidsVoice with over 20 years of experience in social services as an advocate, caseworker, therapist and consultant.
Her experiences include work with children in a variety of settings, families impacted by domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse. Her most recent work experiences were at Louise Child Care as a Mental Health Consultant and at Glade Run as their deputy Director of Management services.
Skylor
Massie
Child Advocacy Specialist
Skylor Massie is a 1993 graduate of Duquesne University with
a B.A in Philosophy/Communications. She began her experience
as a Community Organizer with East Liberty Development, Inc.
as a liason between residents and the mayor’s office
as well as assisting residents of the community in matters
concerning public safety, and community resources. Ms. Massie
then worked as a First Grade Teacher and Administrator at
a Christian school in Pittsburgh for six years where she facilitated
school projects and activities. In 2000 she transferred her
teaching from children to parents as a Permanency Specialist
at Operation Nehemiah’s drug and alcohol treatment center.
Ms. Massie has continued her interest in the community, primarily
children, with her recent move to KidsVoice as a Child
Advocacy Specialist where she utilizes her experience in the
community to assist KidsVoice in giving children optimal
care through advocating for their needs.
Diane
McMillen, CPA
Child Advocacy Specialist
Diane McMillen joined Legal Aid For Children as our Financial
Manager in March of 2001. She is responsible for finance and
administrative support services. She holds a B.S. degree in
accounting for The Pennsylvania State University and is a
licensed certified public accountant. She has twenty years
of diverse financial management experience in for-profit and
non-profit sectors including government, professional services
and retail operations. She was a financial consultant on the
City of Clairton Recovery Plan, worked for the Pennsylvania
Department of Community Affairs, was a CPA for Deloitte &
Touche, served as finance director first for the Borough of
Wilkinsburg and then for Upper St. Clair Township, worked
for an employee benefits consulting firm and as a controller
for a trucking and transport company.
Ada
Maria Mezzich
Child Advocacy Specialist
Ada
Maria joined KidsVoice in May 2002 as a Child Advocacy
Specialist and working on the Summer Visitation project. Ms.
Mezzich has experience working on violence-prevention and
social justice. She received her masters degree in Social
Work and a second masters in Public and International Affairs.
Her background includes positions at Family Resources(Pittsburgh,PA)
as a Crisis Intervention Specialist counseling families of
abuse and neglect, the American Red Cross( Philadelphia,PA) as a
Mental Health Disaster Program Coordinator responding to the
needs of natural disaster victims, doing military casework,
Holocaust family tracing, and Red Cross messaging in war torn
countries, the United Nations, Economic and Social Affairs
Department (NY), working on conflict prevention, and Peacelinks(Pittsburgh,PA) working on
nuclear weapons disarmament.
Prabha
Sankaranarayan, M.S.
Program Director
Ms. Sankaranarayan is the Program Director at Legal Aid for
Children in Pittsburgh, where her responsibilities include
developing and implementing a multidisciplinary model (attorneys
and clinicians) of representation, for children in child welfare
proceedings. She is an Adjunct Professor at the School of
Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, and has over eighteen
years of clinical and administrative experience in developing
and implementing programs designed to meet the needs of families
impacted by violence. She specializes in the area of attachment
and trauma. Ms. Sankaranarayan served on Pennsylvania Coalition
Against Rape’s statewide taskforce on Traumatic Memory,
is a board member of CONTACT Pittsburgh and a trained Community
and Victim-Offender Mediator. In addition to lecturing and
consulting on family violence (domestic violence and child
abuse), she provides intensive therapy for families and training
for therapists. Prabha Sankaranarayan received her BA in Psychology
from Bangalore University, India, and MS in Child Development
from the University of Pittsburgh.
Chas
Schiffer
Child Advocacy Specialist
Chas joined the KidsVoice staff as a Child Advocacy Specialist
in March 2002, following over ten years of employment experience
in social services. Chas graduated from The University of
Pittsburgh in 1991 with a BS in Psychology. He has been employed
in various positions in the educational, mental health, foster
care, and in-home services fields. Experiences include employment
as an instructional aide in special education in the state
of California and child intensive case manager, foster care
caseworker, and permanency specialist here in Pennsylvania.
Prudence
Sloan
Office Manager
Jill
Swavey
Child Advocacy Specialist
Jill Swavey spent the entire academic year with KidsVoice
as the first intern from the University of Pittsburgh's Child
Development program. She did a terrific job. After her graduation
from University of Pittsburgh, Swavey now joins KidsVoice
full time as a child advocacy specialist. Before moving into
her role as a full-time CAS, Jill will spend her first months
here in the summer client visitation program.
Donna
Watson
Child Advocacy Specialist
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