2021 Behavioral Health Care Virtual Symposium — Forward Motion: Moving a Crisis Into Action

Janssen
London Willis, National Policy and Advocacy Director
Ramona Burress, Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusion

XFERALL Patient Transfer Network
Shana Palmieri, COO & Co-Founder

Stephanie Welch is the Deputy Secretary of Behavioral Health at the California Health and Human Services Agency, appointed by Governor Newsom in 2020. Ms. Welch has served as Executive Officer for the Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health since 2015. She was Senior Program Manager for the California Mental Health Services Authority from 2011 to 2015, Associate Policy Director at the County Behavioral Health Directors Association from 2007 to 2011, and Associate Director of Public Policy at the Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies from 2000 to 2005.

Tyler Sadwith is the Assistant Deputy Director for Behavioral Health at the California Department of Health Care Services. In July 2021, he was appointed to help oversee the development of behavioral health care-related initiatives and services for Medi-Cal members. Before becoming Assistant Deputy Director, Mr. Sadwith was a senior consultant at Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. (TAC), where he provided strategic advice and technical support to state health leaders on behavioral health policy and delivery system reforms. Prior to joining TAC, he was a technical director at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where he spearheaded efforts in supporting states to introduce comprehensive benefit, program, and delivery system reforms through Medicaid Section 1115 substance use disorder (SUD) demonstration waivers, with the goal of improving care and outcomes for individuals with SUD. He also helped implement the agency’s opioid strategy and managed the SUD portfolio of the Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program, a cross-agency strategic support and technical assistance platform designed to support service delivery and payment innovation.

Toby Ewing, PhD, is the Executive Director for the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. With the Commission, Mr. Ewing launched California’s first Mental Health Innovation Summit and an Innovation Incubator to promote novel approaches to improving mental health systems in California. He has also steadfastly worked to increase public access to high-quality data on mental health funding, programs, and outcomes.

Mr. Ewing has championed community engagement with more than $5 million in annual grants that support stakeholder advocacy, the launch of a youth leadership initiative, and creative ways of reaching the public, including through community engagement and filmmaking. The goal has always been the same: to elevate the voices of consumers, family members, and communities on mental health issues.

Lynne Ayers Ashbeck, MS, MA, RD, is the accountability commission and chief community impact officer for Valley Children’s Healthcare. She has also served as vice president at Community Medical Centers; regional vice president at the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California; and the director of Continuing and Global Education at California State University, Fresno.

Ms. Ashbeck is an elected Councilmember in the City of Clovis, first elected in 2001, and has served two terms as Mayor. She is active in a number of community organizations, including the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley Board of Directors, the Vice-Chair of the Fresno County Transportation Authority, and a Board member of the Community Justice Center.

Michelle Cabrera is the Executive Director for the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California. Before joining CBHDA, she served as the Healthcare Director for the California State Council of the Services Employees International Union (SEIU California). In this capacity, she advocated on behalf of health care workers and consumers, including SEIU California’s county behavioral health workforce, on issues related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Health Equity, Health4All, and cost containment, among others. She served as a Senior Consultant for the Assembly Human Services Committee, where she specialized in child welfare issues and staffed legislation that extended foster care in California to age 21. Ms. Cabrera also served as a Program Officer for the California Healthcare Foundation, working as a liaison on state health policy in Sacramento.

Dr. John Franklin Sierra completed his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering, with a focus on Healthcare Systems, from the University of Southern California in 2017. Soon after he joined the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, first as a consultant and then in 2019 as a full-time Senior Staff Analyst. In his 4+ years with DMH he has worked for the Director, Dr. Jonathan Sherin, on numerous systems redesign and strategic planning projects, including as lead coordinator for the development of DMH’s new 2020-2030 strategic plan, as lead author for an analysis of gaps in the county’s mental health treatment bed network, and as lead project manager for Alternative Crisis Response, a multi-departmental initiative in partnership with the CEO’s Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) initiative seeking to significantly bolster civilian, non-law enforcement responses to individuals experiencing behavioral health crises/emergencies throughout the county.

Brenda Grealish is the Executive Officer of the Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health, which is part of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. She served as Chief for the Medi-Cal Behavioral Health Division at the California Department of Health Care Services since 2019, where she has served in several positions, including Chief of the former Mental Health Services Division and Assistant Deputy and Acting Deputy Director for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services. She also held several positions at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Office of Research including Deputy Director, Research Manager III, and Research Manager II.

Marshall Moncrief is the Chief Executive Officer of Mind OC, a not-for-profit organization created to advance the community-wide mental health collaborative known as Be Well Orange County.  Marshall also serves as a commissioner for the Orange County Commission to End Homelessness. He is a licensed psychotherapist and holds an Executive MBA in health care management.

Before his current role with Mind OC, Marshall served as the executive clinical and administrative leader of mental health and addiction services for the Hoag Health and Providence-St Joseph Health Systems, most recently overseeing hospital and primary care services across LA, Orange County, and the High Desert.

A Alicia Macklin is a partner at Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, PC.  Alicia provides regulatory advice to hospitals, including handling EMTALA investigations, compliance, training and counseling. She also regularly advises hospitals and behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment providers on a broad range of legal and compliance issues, including Federal and California privacy and confidentiality requirements, Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursement, county mental health plan contracting, and involuntary civil commitment under the LPS Act (Lanterman-Petris-Short Act).  In addition to her work at the firm, Ms. Macklin is also a Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, where she teaches Legal Environment of Health Services Management.