Massachusetts' Initiative to Reduce Child Neglect

Join us for the third meeting of Massachusetts' Initiative to Reduce Child Neglect.

Our first two convenings focused on establishing the work and building a shared sense of purpose. This winter, we’ll come together to see how that shared purpose is translating into action, hear about progress across the coalition, and help shape what comes next.

Whether you’ve already joined a working group or are looking to get more involved, your perspective is important to shaping this effort.

We look forward to continuing this work together.

Massachusetts' Initiative to Reduce Child Neglect is a statewide coalition convened by the Children's Trust that brings together leaders from state agencies, family-serving organizations, individuals with lived experience, and communities working together to shift the way the Commonwealth supports families.

State Steering Committee 

Community Steering Committee 

State Steering Committee

Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities (EOHLC): Chris Thompson, Undersecretary, Division of Housing Stabilization

Children’s Trust (CT): Jennifer Valenzuela, Executive Director

Dept. of Children and Families (DCF): Jesenia Collado, Assistant Commissioner for Protective Operations

Dept. of Early Education & Care (EEC): Joseph Rucker, Deputy Director, Field Operations

Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE): Rachelle Engler Bennett, Associate Commissioner, Student Family Support

Dept. of Mental Health (DMH): Funmi Aguocha, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Behavioral Health Promotion and Prevention | Andrea Oliveira Goncalves, IECMH Statewide Policy and Initiatives Lead

Dept. of Public Health (DPH): Elaine Fitzgerald Lewis, Director, Bureau of Family Health & Nutrition, State Title V Maternal and Child Health Director | Beth Bostic, Division Director for Children and Youth with Special Health Needs, Bureau of Family Health & Nutrition

Dept. of Transitional Assistance (DTA): Delrose Newman, Assistant Director of Family and Community Engagement | Kamaria Moore-Hollis, Associate Commissioner of Employment and Training Programs

Dept. of Youth Services (DYS): Cecely Reardon, Commissioner | Lisa Belmarsh, Assistant Commissioner for Support Services

Office of Attorney General (AGO): Liza M. Hirsch, Director, Children’s Justice Unit | Flora Chang, Children’s Justice Unit

Office of the Child Advocate (OCA): Christine Palladino-Downs, Senior Director of Quality Assurance

Community Steering Committee

Human Service: Nancy Allen Scannell, Executive Director, MSPCC

Parent Leadership and Engagement: Sue Covitz, Executive Director, Families First

Legal: Lisa Morrow, Deputy Director, Health Law Advocates

Family Members with Lived Experience: Charles Lerner, Executive Director, Lived Expertise Network for Systems Change (LENS)

Lived Expertise: Miesha Parker, Lived Experience Expert, Stand With Me Advocacy

Education: Chelsea Prax, Program Director, American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

Lived Expertise: Julie Segovia, Chief Policy & Impact Officer, HopeWell

Lived Expertise: kate warren barnes, Senior Advisor for Wellbeing and Systems Transformation

Lived Expertise: Meri Viano, Associate Director, Parent/Professional Advocacy League (PPAL)

Lived Expertise: Tia Washington

First responder: TBD

Healthcare: TBD

Philanthropy: TBD

Backbone Team

Backbone Team 

Maggie Holland, Program and Workforce Working Group Project Manager, The Children’s Trust

Matthew Kincaid, Founder & CEO, Overcoming Racism, to provide equity expertise

Delbar Mamedzade, Community Working Group Project Manager, The Children’s Trust

Liz Marotta, Director of Marketing, Communications, and Events, The Children’s Trust

Melissa Oomer, Strategy Consultant, to provide strategy and coalition-building expertise

Dimple Patel, Director of State Policy, Casey Family Programs, for MA/National policy and coalition-building expertise

Priscila Pumarada Urrutia, Director of Community Initiatives, The Children’s Trust

Cassidy Trabilcy-Kiernan, Director of Public Policy, The Children’s Trust, and Policy Working Group Project Manager