Hear From Our Staff
Betsy McAlister Groves, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and the Founder of the Child Witness to Violence Project. Her practice and research interests are on the impact of community and family violence on young children, and on engaging community systems in identifying and responding to children who are affected by violence in their environments. In addition, she served as Co-Director of the Child Protection Team at Boston Medical Center. Ms. Groves holds appointments as Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and Lecturer at Harvard University. She serves on the Governor’s Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault of Massachusetts and has served in various advisory and consultative capacities for the US Department of Justice, the National Council of Juvenile, and Family Court Judges and the Family Violence Prevention Fund. She is the author of a book, Children who See Too Much: Lessons from the Child Witness to Violence Project (2002), and has published extensively on topics related to childhood trauma and intervention.
Maxine L. Weinreb, Ed.D., is a licensed educational psychologist with degrees in counseling and human development. She is also licensed as a marriage and family therapist and mental health counselor. She is the Director of the Child Witness to Violence Project and coordinates all training provided by the Project. She is a faculty member in The Counseling and School Psychology Department at The University of Massachusetts and taught for ten years in the Social Work Department at Wheelock College in Boston. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Weinreb has provided consultation and assistance to early childhood programs, Head Start programs, public and private schools, the courts, law enforcement, and mental health and health professionals. She provided assistance and training to early childhood professionals and mental health clinicians in Oklahoma City following the bombing in April, 1995 and in New York after the terrorist attacks of September 11. She has published in Young Children and is the co-author of a curriculum for child care professionals serving children in court-based child care centers. She and her colleagues have published Shelter from the Storm, a manual for mental health providers on the assessment and treatment of children who have witnessed violence. She has presented locally, regionally, and nationally about issues of childhood stressors, especially those related to exposure to violence.
Jenifer Goldman Fraser, PhD, MPH, brings an array of research and programmatic experience in early childhood mental health to CWVP. She considers herself a "boundary spanner," bridging developmental science and public health to think innovatively about how services and systems can best promote well-being in vulnerable young children and their families. For the past several years, Dr. Goldman Fraser has been engaged in a translational research project focused on the application of Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) in the context of a court improvement model. Through this study - which centered on systems integration across the court, child welfare, and child mental health to improve outcomes for young children in foster care - she intensively studied implementation processes and drivers, and dissemination strategies, that supported effective uptake of a complex systems change effort. She is looking forward to applying the lessons learned from this exciting initiative to building a similar court improvement project in Massachusetts, expanded to include a pediatric medical home component. Dr. Goldman Fraser also brings a deep understanding of the scientific literature on interventions for children exposed to maltreatment, having recently led a comparative effectiveness review on the topic for the AHRQ/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (under the AHRQ Effective Health Care Program). At CWVP, she is currently engaged in the two flagship projects in Massachusetts that involve dissemination of CPP and other evidence-based trauma treatments: the Boston Defending Childhood Initiative, funded by the Department of Justice, and the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project (Integrating Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Protective Service Delivery), funded by the Administration for Children and Families Children's Bureau.
Marta Casas, MA, graduated from Javeriana University in Bogotá, Colombia, as a Clinical Psychologist in 1981. In 2002, Marta moved to Boston to become part of the clinical team at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, where she continues doing clinical work with complexly traumatized adults, as well as trauma-informed evaluations of minors and survivors of human trafficking. In 2007 Marta was trained and now part of the alumni of the Harvard Refugee Program in Global Mental Health. Between 2007 and 2011, Marta was the program coordinator of a SAMHSA-funded program at the Latin American Health Institute in Boston, which provided therapeutic services to trauma-exposed children from Latin American and their families. In her current position with the Child Witness to Violence Project, she coordinates new referrals and develops dyadic clinical work with survivors of Domestic and Community Violence. Marta is also part of the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project, an ACF-funded initiative that provides training and on-going consultation in evidence-based trauma approaches and treatments to strengthen DCF casework practices.
Neena McConnico, Ph.D, LMHC holds a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology and is a licensed mental health counselor. In addition, Dr. McConnico has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and has extensive experience working with under-served populations as a mental health provider and teacher in early childhood, elementary and college settings. Dr. McConnico currently serves as an Early Childhood Clinician and Consultant at the Child Witness to Violence Project. In her role at CWVP, Dr. McConnico provides direct clinical services to children and families, conducts social skills groups and consults with teachers at a Boston-area elementary school. Dr. McConnico’s professional interests include the impact of a NICU stay on child-parent attachment as well as how the impacts of trauma interface with children’s academic and social development. Dr. McConnico is also interested in training early childhood educators about the impact of mental health factors on children’s academic performance and helping schools identify interventions to address these issues in the classroom. Dr. McConnico has trained extensively in the art of dance and is also interested in using dance and movement as a therapeutic outlet for children who have been impacted by trauma.
Carmen Rosa Noroña, MS. Ed., is from Quito, Ecuador where she completed her licensure in clinical psychology at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in addition to a three-year training program in psychoanalysis. Subsequently, she received a Fulbright scholarship to earn a Master’s degree in Early Intervention from Wheelock College. She is certified in the administration of the Newborn Behavioral Observations System (NBO) and trained as a Fussy Baby specialist. Her practice and research interests are on the impact of trauma on infant mental health and attachment, adapting mental health services to new immigrants in the Latino community, the intersection of immigration and trauma, multicultural supervision and consultation, and developmental assessment and intervention with children at risk for developmental delays. Ms. Noroña wrote a series of articles regarding the effects of institutionalization in young children and alternative systems of care in Ecuador that were published by UNICEF. At CWVP, Ms. Noroña serves as the clinical coordinator for the program; she provides clinical services and supervises graduate students. In addition, she is the associate director of the CWVP site of the Early Trauma Treatment Network (ETTN), a research, development and treatment site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). She provides Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) consultation to mental health agencies and training to Spanish and English-speaking multidisciplinary audiences, nationally and abroad, on topics related to the impact and treatment of early trauma. Ms. Noroña is a member of the Culture Consortium of the NCTSN, and has adapted and translated child assessment protocols for use with Spanish-speaking children and families. Ms. Noroña co-developed the Birth to Three Clinic, a specialty clinic in Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center that provided short-term clinical intervention to children birth to thirty-six-months and their caregivers with the goal of addressing attachment difficulties. In 2003, Ms. Noroña was the recipient of the Children’s Trust Fund Emerging Leader Award.
Ashley Schiffmiller, is the Senior Administrative and Intake Coordinator for the Child Witness to Violence Project. Ms. Schiffmiller performs all administrative tasks and handles all incoming referrals to CWVP. She started at Boston Medical Center as a Northeastern co-op student in the Grow Clinic for Children and Children’s HealthWatch in 2005. She performed various roles for these programs including Research Assistant for the Children’s HealthWatch Boston site, and ultimately, Program Coordinator for the Center. Prior to working for Children’s HealthWatch, Ms. Schiffmiller was an assistant teacher at a daycare and after-school program in Connecticut. She was also a residential counselor at a group home in Brookline, MA. Ms. Schiffmiller received her BS in Psychology from Northeastern University and hopes to get her Master's and PhD in child psychology.
Maxine L. Weinreb, Ed.D., is a licensed educational psychologist with degrees in counseling and human development. She is also licensed as a marriage and family therapist and mental health counselor. She is the Director of the Child Witness to Violence Project and coordinates all training provided by the Project. She is a faculty member in The Counseling and School Psychology Department at The University of Massachusetts and taught for ten years in the Social Work Department at Wheelock College in Boston. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Weinreb has provided consultation and assistance to early childhood programs, Head Start programs, public and private schools, the courts, law enforcement, and mental health and health professionals. She provided assistance and training to early childhood professionals and mental health clinicians in Oklahoma City following the bombing in April, 1995 and in New York after the terrorist attacks of September 11. She has published in Young Children and is the co-author of a curriculum for child care professionals serving children in court-based child care centers. She and her colleagues have published Shelter from the Storm, a manual for mental health providers on the assessment and treatment of children who have witnessed violence. She has presented locally, regionally, and nationally about issues of childhood stressors, especially those related to exposure to violence.
Jenifer Goldman Fraser, PhD, MPH, brings an array of research and programmatic experience in early childhood mental health to CWVP. She considers herself a "boundary spanner," bridging developmental science and public health to think innovatively about how services and systems can best promote well-being in vulnerable young children and their families. For the past several years, Dr. Goldman Fraser has been engaged in a translational research project focused on the application of Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) in the context of a court improvement model. Through this study - which centered on systems integration across the court, child welfare, and child mental health to improve outcomes for young children in foster care - she intensively studied implementation processes and drivers, and dissemination strategies, that supported effective uptake of a complex systems change effort. She is looking forward to applying the lessons learned from this exciting initiative to building a similar court improvement project in Massachusetts, expanded to include a pediatric medical home component. Dr. Goldman Fraser also brings a deep understanding of the scientific literature on interventions for children exposed to maltreatment, having recently led a comparative effectiveness review on the topic for the AHRQ/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (under the AHRQ Effective Health Care Program). At CWVP, she is currently engaged in the two flagship projects in Massachusetts that involve dissemination of CPP and other evidence-based trauma treatments: the Boston Defending Childhood Initiative, funded by the Department of Justice, and the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project (Integrating Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Protective Service Delivery), funded by the Administration for Children and Families Children's Bureau.
Marta Casas, MA, graduated from Javeriana University in Bogotá, Colombia, as a Clinical Psychologist in 1981. In 2002, Marta moved to Boston to become part of the clinical team at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, where she continues doing clinical work with complexly traumatized adults, as well as trauma-informed evaluations of minors and survivors of human trafficking. In 2007 Marta was trained and now part of the alumni of the Harvard Refugee Program in Global Mental Health. Between 2007 and 2011, Marta was the program coordinator of a SAMHSA-funded program at the Latin American Health Institute in Boston, which provided therapeutic services to trauma-exposed children from Latin American and their families. In her current position with the Child Witness to Violence Project, she coordinates new referrals and develops dyadic clinical work with survivors of Domestic and Community Violence. Marta is also part of the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project, an ACF-funded initiative that provides training and on-going consultation in evidence-based trauma approaches and treatments to strengthen DCF casework practices.
Neena McConnico, Ph.D, LMHC holds a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology and is a licensed mental health counselor. In addition, Dr. McConnico has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and has extensive experience working with under-served populations as a mental health provider and teacher in early childhood, elementary and college settings. Dr. McConnico currently serves as an Early Childhood Clinician and Consultant at the Child Witness to Violence Project. In her role at CWVP, Dr. McConnico provides direct clinical services to children and families, conducts social skills groups and consults with teachers at a Boston-area elementary school. Dr. McConnico’s professional interests include the impact of a NICU stay on child-parent attachment as well as how the impacts of trauma interface with children’s academic and social development. Dr. McConnico is also interested in training early childhood educators about the impact of mental health factors on children’s academic performance and helping schools identify interventions to address these issues in the classroom. Dr. McConnico has trained extensively in the art of dance and is also interested in using dance and movement as a therapeutic outlet for children who have been impacted by trauma.
Carmen Rosa Noroña, MS. Ed., is from Quito, Ecuador where she completed her licensure in clinical psychology at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in addition to a three-year training program in psychoanalysis. Subsequently, she received a Fulbright scholarship to earn a Master’s degree in Early Intervention from Wheelock College. She is certified in the administration of the Newborn Behavioral Observations System (NBO) and trained as a Fussy Baby specialist. Her practice and research interests are on the impact of trauma on infant mental health and attachment, adapting mental health services to new immigrants in the Latino community, the intersection of immigration and trauma, multicultural supervision and consultation, and developmental assessment and intervention with children at risk for developmental delays. Ms. Noroña wrote a series of articles regarding the effects of institutionalization in young children and alternative systems of care in Ecuador that were published by UNICEF. At CWVP, Ms. Noroña serves as the clinical coordinator for the program; she provides clinical services and supervises graduate students. In addition, she is the associate director of the CWVP site of the Early Trauma Treatment Network (ETTN), a research, development and treatment site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). She provides Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) consultation to mental health agencies and training to Spanish and English-speaking multidisciplinary audiences, nationally and abroad, on topics related to the impact and treatment of early trauma. Ms. Noroña is a member of the Culture Consortium of the NCTSN, and has adapted and translated child assessment protocols for use with Spanish-speaking children and families. Ms. Noroña co-developed the Birth to Three Clinic, a specialty clinic in Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center that provided short-term clinical intervention to children birth to thirty-six-months and their caregivers with the goal of addressing attachment difficulties. In 2003, Ms. Noroña was the recipient of the Children’s Trust Fund Emerging Leader Award.
Ashley Schiffmiller, is the Senior Administrative and Intake Coordinator for the Child Witness to Violence Project. Ms. Schiffmiller performs all administrative tasks and handles all incoming referrals to CWVP. She started at Boston Medical Center as a Northeastern co-op student in the Grow Clinic for Children and Children’s HealthWatch in 2005. She performed various roles for these programs including Research Assistant for the Children’s HealthWatch Boston site, and ultimately, Program Coordinator for the Center. Prior to working for Children’s HealthWatch, Ms. Schiffmiller was an assistant teacher at a daycare and after-school program in Connecticut. She was also a residential counselor at a group home in Brookline, MA. Ms. Schiffmiller received her BS in Psychology from Northeastern University and hopes to get her Master's and PhD in child psychology.
