Joe Milke, Klingberg Family Centers’ Vice President of Finance and Administration, was recently nominated for recognition as the ‘Hartford Business Journal — CFO of the Year 2011’.   Pia Brown of Ovation Benefits Group, which serves as KFC employee benefits broker, nominated Joe, based on her respect and appreciation for his great work:  “I have worked with Joe for almost two years on the employee benefit plan strategy (design and cost).  He is thoughtful and comprehensive in the application of the changes to plans in order to achieve the best balance of cost and coverage for his employees, and in staying true to the mission of Klingberg Family Centers.  Joe has guided his organization through some tough financial times due to state funding cuts, and has been instrumental in the development of a new program to help children/families with special needs.”  Always optimistic and encouraging, Joe has had the admiration of his coworkers at KFC for many years.  Now we can all celebrate with him as he is recognized throughout Greater Hartford for his tremendous contributions to Klingberg Family Centers and our cherished clients.  Congratulations Joe.

Steven Girelli, PhD, President of Klingberg Family Centers [KFC], led a team of runners in the 2011 Malibu Fitness Farmington 5K Road Race, on Thanksgiving morning.  This was the 7^th year that Jack Banks, owner of Malibu Fitness, has organized the event as a fundraiser for the benefit of select local non-profits, and the 4^th year that KFC will be a beneficiary.  Mr. Banks estimates that the proceeds for KFC this year may be as high as $5000!

This annual event, which competes for runners with the world famous Manchester Road Race, has seen steady growth in participants in seven years, to approximately 800 runners/walkers!  Joining Dr. Girelli for the 6:45 a.m. start time at Malibu Fitness health club in Farmington were: KFC staffers Barbara Divalentino, Cheryl Fliss, Marissa Lammlin [along with her husband Dave, father Steve Robin and faithful dog Bronx], Christina Mangini [and her dad Greg], and Kathleen Woolley.  Representing our very own Park View Group Home was group-home coordinator Kevin Paquette along with three athletic residents from PVGH, each of whom finished the race in very fast times!  Rounding out the field was Dr. Girelli’s son Ari, who finished with the fastest time of all ‘Team Klingberg’ runners, crossing the finish line in approximately 21 minutes!  Congratulations to all participants and many thanks for supporting this KFC fundraiser.   Great Job!  

A heartfelt ‘Thank You Very Much’ goes out to Jack Banks and his whole team for organizing this wonderful event.  We are truly grateful for your generous support through the race and your encouragement all year long!  Your commitment to our cherished clients is making a real difference.  Thank you as well to all the participants, whose registration fee is converted into financial support for KFC and other agencies serving people in need throughout Connecticut.  Last but not least, ‘Thank You’ to meteorologist extraordinaire, Scot Haney of WFSB TV, Channel 3, who covered the race ‘on air’ again this year,  and did a live interview with Dr. Girelli after the race.   Thanks for your support Scot! 

This year’s 27^th Rosalynn Carter Symposium will focus trauma and its long-term effect on children. It will be webcast live.  

The National Association of Children’s Behavioral Health (NACBH)  will be ably represented by Beth Chadwick, President and Pat Wilcox, Klingberg Family Centers Traumatic Stress Institute who will be joining an illustrious gathering of national leaders, advocates, policy makers, practitioners and researchers as they meet to bring this most pressing issue into greater focus and resolution. 

27^th annual rosalynn carter symposium on mental health Policy to cover Trauma’s long-term impact on children exposed to juvenile justice, welfare, and domestic violence 

Estimates suggest that millions of American children and adolescents experience trauma each year, through exposure to physical or sexual abuse, a life-threatening illness, natural disaster, or the loss of a loved one. Although effective treatments are available to prevent the long-term impacts of trauma on a child’s intellectual development and physical well-being, most traumatized children do not have access to these services. 

On Oct. 26-27, the invitation-only, 27th annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy will bring together more than 200 health advocates, policy-makers, practitioners, educators and researchers from across the country to discuss ways to remove barriers to providing mental health services for children at greatest risk for trauma—especially those exposed to domestic violence, child welfare, and the juvenile justice system. 
The event is open to the media and will be webcast live on www.cartercenter.org on Oct. 26 starting at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) and on Oct. 27 starting at 8:30 a.m.

Erin Joudrey (far right, third row from front) with other women honored at the luncheon

The YWCA of New Britain hosted its 14th biennial Women in Leadership luncheon recently at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville. This year’s group of “Women in Leadership” included 12 honorees and six inductees into the Academy of Women Leaders.  One of this year’s honorees is Erin Joudrey, Director of Community-based Care at Klingberg Family Centers.

Erin is most deserving of recognition for her outstanding work.  She began her career at Klingberg Family Centers in 1998 working with pre-adolescent children facing behavioral health issues. Since that time she has made her mark on the lives of scores of boys and girls, earned a Masters Degree in Social Work, and taken on increasingly demanding leadership roles in the organization.

Known for her cheerful, enthusiastic spirit, Erin embraces new challenges. Her roles have included serving as Director of the Therapeutic Foster Care Program. In that capacity several years ago, she headed up a redesign of our specialized foster care and adoption services that involved participation in many statewide meetings and training staff in new models of care. Currently, Erin oversees the agency’s three group homes for teens and is working hard on opening a fourth group home. 

Erin is driven by a passion for helping young people overcome the tragic consequences of trauma and move forward to a more promising future. As she has advanced into supervisory and administrative roles, Erin appreciates the opportunity to inspire her staff to always treat children and families with genuine respect and seek to understand their unique situations. She is dedicated to hiring a diverse staff that reflects and appreciates the diversity of the clients we serve.Erin realizes that advocacy is an essential component of working with children and families who often have no voice.  Her greatest fulfillment has been witnessing the healing and restoration that takes place when abused children come to know they are loved and have tremendous value.

In keeping with her heart of compassion, Erin also enjoys volunteering for the Connecticut Humane Society.

Patricia D. Wilcox, LCSW of Bristol, is one of six members of the National Association of Social Workers, Connecticut Chapter, to be honored June 14 at the association’s annual awards dinner in New Haven.

Wilcox will receive the 2011 Social Worker of the Year Award.

She is the vice president for strategic planning at Klingberg Family Centers in New Britain. At Klingberg she is responsible for designing new programming, maintaining a quality assurance process, consulting clinically, and contributing to sustaining trauma-informed care.  It is her work in the area of trauma treatment for youth that particularly distinguishes her.

A national leader in the area of trauma treatment for youth, especially in congregate care treatment settings that work with the most psychiatrically complex children, Wilcox has forged new paths.  At Klingberg she initiated and oversaw an organizational transformation process from a traditional, control-oriented, token economy treatment approach to one that is based on state-of-the-art knowledge about treatment of complexly traumatized children.

Wilcox is also the primary creator of the Restorative Approach, a trauma-informed alternative to traditional point-and-level systems for child congregate care treatment settings.  She has trained internationally on the Restorative Approach, has self-published a book on the subject, and is writing a book to be published by the NEARI Press.

Helping to bring the Risking Connection Training Program to Klingberg, Wilcox has established Klingberg as a national training center for RC, and has assisted 30 agencies in nine states and Canada to adopt RC as an ongoing staff training program.  A member of NASW since 1983, she has participated on the board of directors, on committees, and has presented numerous workshops at conferences.  She is a strong advocate for paying attention to the care of both clients and treatment providers and has a long history of supervising and mentoring social workers, generously sharing her expertise with those who care for children.  Service to deeply troubled children has been the central mission of her life work and she has done this work tirelessly and unselfishly in her effort to look for ways to help them heal.