Jeanne Elmer

Cheryl Giarrusso

Cheryl is Masters level counselor and the director of telephone and web-based services at Contact Community Services. She co-facilitates the delivery of the 40-hour basic training and 5-hour advanced training sessions for volunteers staffing the Contact’s 24-hour hotline. Cheryl is a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor, and a co-facilitator for both Children 1st and Acknowledging, Accepting and Alleviating Anger.

Novelette Pierce

Novelette is a licensed Master’s social worker with 20 years of experience in human services. She is currently Contact’s Director of Community-Based Services but started with the agency as a community mental health educator. During her 8 years at Contact, she has helped develop and deliver youth-based curriculum in social-emotional skills, anger management, and prejudice reduction. She currently both facilitates and coordinates the agency’s Mental Health First Aid program along with coordinating adult programs: Children 1st and Acknowledging, Accepting, and Alleviating Anger.

Gina L. Rivers

Gina is employed by Contact Community Services, Inc. as a program coordinator in school services. As a part of her current role she serves as an external PBIS coach to six schools. She has over 15 years experience in training & development. Gina also has several years working with and in schools. She has written and delivered social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum around developing character. She holds a certificate in conflict resolution/mediation for adults and school-based mediation. As a professional speaker, Gina’s style is energetic, fun, engaging, and hands on—whether there are only 2 or 200 people in the room.

Yolanda J. Seegars

Yolanda Seegars, a school services program coordinator for Contact Community Services, has extensive youth development, coordination and facilitation experience. Her training expertise and interests include Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Student Targeted Aggression Replacement Training, parent involvement, anger management, positive youth development practices, and violence prevention. She is committed to providing an engaging learning experience to teachers, parents, counselors, youth workers and administrators. Currently she is a PBIS external coach for six local schools and coordinates parent literacy for 21st Century Learning Centers and Youth Embracing Success, a social-emotional learning program for kindergarten through middle school students.

Susan VanCamp is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker whose area of expertise is school-based mental health and social and emotional development. As director of school services for Contact Community Services, Inc., Susan oversees several prevention and intervention programs providing behavioral modification and social skills training to at-risk children. Susan also works with area schools to provide programming aimed at improving anger control and moral reasoning skills of chronically aggressive adolescents and children.

As a behavioral trainer, Susan delivers evidence-based training and consultation services to help school staff and mental health providers develop learning environments that stimulate positive behavior and academic achievement, including Aggression Replacement Training (ART), Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)/Behavioral Intervention Planning (BIP), Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and Mental Health First Aid (MHFA).

Susan has worked with stakeholders and policy makers at the local and state levels to advocate for improved mental health services for children and their families. Susan embraces a philosophy that promotes collaboration among parents, schools and the community to strengthen the social and emotional development of all children. Susan formerly directed the ARISE School-Based Mental Health Program. She is trained in two evidenced-based therapy models: Functional Family Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.