Dr. Melissa Reitmeier is the Program Director/Principal Investigator for the HOPE-WWR Grant.  Within the College of Social Work, she serves as a Clinical Professor and the Director of Field Education.  Dr. Reitmeier’s clinical practice is rooted in behavioral health care, and the evidence based practice of dialectical behavior therapy. In addition to her 20 years of behavioral health practice, Dr. Reitmeier has served as the primary evaluator and administrator on several grants since her appointment at the College of Social Work. She is particularly interested in finding innovative ways for social work students to engage with community issues so that both students and communities can benefit from the field education process and so that we can have a clinically prepared behavioral health workforce.

Dr. Aidyn Iachini serves as a Co-PI in the role of the HOPE-WWR Project Director/Program Evaluator. Dr. Iachini will continue to assist with developing, collecting, organizing and evaluating all aspects of program performance and delivery of grant objectives and outcomes. This includes working with Dr. Reitmeier to implement a comprehensive evaluation plan that will contribute to continuous quality improvement, specifically, Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement to assess the effectiveness of HOPE-WWR outcomes, which includes improved outcomes of wellness, ongoing project processes, outcomes of implemented activities, progress toward meeting grant goals and objectives and the implementation of necessary adjustments to planned activities to meet grant deliverables.

Ms. Bengel currently serves as the HOPE-WWR Project Coordinator. Ms. Bengel has co-created online content on leadership academy series, community practitioner series, and assisted with the creations of content for the evidence-based toolkit of the HOPE-WWR program . She earned  her BSW at the University of Mississippi and her MSW degree from the College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina. Ms. Bengel coordinated all project activities. She assists PD, Program Evaluator, Liaisons, and Production and Technology Lead with duties associated with training implementation and communication. 

Dr. Tasha Childs is a Licensed Social Worker trained as a School Social Worker with experience working alongside schools in Utah, Ohio, New York, and South Carolina to improve students access to mental health services and supports. Additionally,  she has been involved of teams of researchers investigating the perceptions of teachers on students’ wellness, the information school districts provide on resources to families during COVID-19, and the experiences of school social workers delivering mental health supports. During her Ph.D. candidacy, she worked as the program evaluator assistant for the HOPEWWR grant. Now, Dr. Childs is working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri College of Health Sciences. Also, she is serving as the Community Trainer for the HOPE WWR Leadership Academy Training Series.

Ms. Ober is a Social Work PhD student at USC and currently serves as the HOPE-WWR Evaluation Assistant. She assists with grant-related project evaluation tasks as well as dissemination of all evaluation findings. She earned her Master of Social Work at New York University and her Bachelor of Social Work at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Dr. Browne will serve in the role of the HOPE-WWR Community Outreach Liaison. Dr. Browne will monitor the sub award with AHEC and be sure implementation of trainings is happening as developed and within the timelines specified by year. Additionally, she will oversee the implementation of synchronous virtual trainings and online asynchronous training materials for the leadership Academy and community practitioners for HOPE-WWR.  It is anticipated that Dr. Browne will spend 10% of her time on this program each year. 

Beck Sullivan, MMA is the content manager on the HOPE-WWR project. She has 30 years of experience in writing, instructional design, and multimedia production. Sullivan has a master’s in media arts (USC) and certificates in Advanced Instructional Design (ASTD) and Leadership (Columbia College). She has an undergraduate Honors degree from the University of North Dakota. Sullivan and her teams have won more than 50 awards in various national and regional competitions, such as the Telly Awards, Worldfest Houston, and the National Council on Family Relations. During her tenure at the Municipal Association of South Carolina, Ms. Sullivan improved management and production processes for the Municipal Elected Officials Institute. She managed Institute branding and promotion which resulted in a 25% increase in enrollment. She also redesigned the Institute curriculum for an online, rich media format. Ms. Sullivan is a passionate advocate for the use of evidence-based learning science and high-end production values in the instructional design, development, and production of training aimed at improving performance.  

Dr. Betsy Blake practice in a patient-centered medical home primary care clinic associated with Primsa Health- Richland, as well as collaborating with providers to improve outcomes for patients with diabetes. She earned her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) College of Pharmacy in 2000. Then, she completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency and a Primary Care Residency at MUSC, and joining the faculty in 2006. Since 2009, Dr. Blake has been involved in interprofessional education at the College of Pharmacy as a charter faculty advisor for the IHI Open School for the Health Professions chapter. Now, she serves as the co-director for UofSC for Interprofessional Education for the Health Services, including faculty and student across all five of the university health science programs. She integrates and delivers delivering content into their respective school’s plan of study for HOPE-WWR students. Dr. Blake monitors the evaluations of students who participate in the HOPEWWR grant. She will collect necessary and needed data and assess any barriers, changes or success with implementation.

Dr. Beverly Baliko serves as the primary College of Nursing EASL charged with the delivery of HOPE-WWR content. Dr. Baliko is a co-coordinator of an interprofessional education course in the health sciences and represents the College of Nursing on the USC’s Interprofessional Education Committee. She integrates and delivers delivering content into their respective school’s plan of study for HOPE-WWR students. Dr. Baliko monitors the evaluations of students who participate in the HOPEWWR grant. She will collect necessary and needed data and assess any barriers, changes or success with implementation.

Ms. Jennifer Bailey is the Associate Program Director for Education and Evaluation and Director of the Office for Telehealth Education at the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (SC AHEC). Additionally, Ms. Bailey serves as Associate Director for Community Affairs with the Office of Interprofessional Initiatives and is an Assistant Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She earned a Certification of Graduate Studies in Public Heath from the University of South Carolina. Ms. Bailey’s research focus includes participatory research, social determinants of health, interprofessional collaborative practice and education, and patient safety and quality. Bailey has over fifteen years of experience developing, facilitating, and evaluating health professions clinical and didactic education programs, interprofessional education and practice, teamwork training initiatives and professional development curricula for a variety of health care providers.

Ms. Bailey earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the College of Charleston in 2017, Go Cougars! In October 2018 she began working at Mid-Carolina AHEC as a continuing professional development coordinator and knew that was where she was meant to be. Katelyn enjoys working closely with the hospital educators to plan classes and provide new and interesting education courses. She hopes to help grow AHEC and expand its reach.

Dr. Brie Dunn received her Pharm.D. degree as well as completed a Pharmacy Practice and Critical Care Residency at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in 2008. In addition to her administrative role, she teaches various cardiology and critical care classes at MUSC as well as serves as faculty advisor for the Phi Lamba Sigma Leadership Society Zeta Chapter. Dr. Dunn’s research interests include educational technologies, programmatic assessment, and scholarship of teaching and interprofessional education.  She integrates and delivers delivering content into their respective school’s plan of study for HOPE-WWR students. Dr. Dunn monitors the evaluations of students who participate in the HOPEWWR grant. She will collect necessary and needed data and assess any barriers, changes or success with implementation.

Ms. Blalock became employed by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) in 1993. Mrs. Blalock was received her M.Ed. in clinical counseling from the Citadel and is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and a Certified Public Manager. She has thorough training in crisis negotiation, crisis intervention, and critical incident management. Mrs. Blalock has served as the executive director and director of acute services for the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center. Now, Mrs. Blalock was appointed dep As the Deputy Director, she is responsible for statewide outpatient services provided by the SCDMH. Mrs. Blalock served as the executive director of the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center for 14 years before stepping into her current role. 

Mr. DuPont completed his Bachelors of Science in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of New Hampshire. He pursued a master’s degree in healthcare management from New England College. DuPont has experience with mental health services in various hospital settings. Prior to his role as an administrator, DePont began his healthcare career as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist with children and adolescents. Then, he pursued supervisor roles and program director for many residential facilities for children, adolescents, and adults.

Ms. Schmitt completed her Master’s Degree in Social Work from The Ohio State University College of Social Work in 2004. Then, Ms. Schmitt began her career at the Department of Health and Environmental Control in 2008.

Ms. Watts earned her Master of Social Work at the University of South Carolina in 2001 after earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Gardner-Webb University. As the Director of Medical Social Services at the Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, SC, she supervises approximately forty hospital social workers.

Director Goldsby was appointed Director of DAODAS by the South Carolina Senate in 2018. As director, she has responded to South Carolina’s opioid crisis and currently serves as co-chair of the State Opioid Emergency Response Team. She is passionate about social determinants of health and access to care. In the past, Director Goldsby has worked in legal and dental practices as well as hospital case management. She earned her Master of Social Work and Master of Public Heath with an emphasis on health services, policy, and management from the University of South Carolina in 2015. In 2021, she was elected President of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors.

Mr. Martin oversees the agencies various treatment and intervention programs within Richland and Lexington counties. Mr. Martin earned his Master of Social Work with a certificate in Drug and Addiction Studies from the University of South Carolina. In the past, Mr. Martin has worked as a clinical counselor at Hope Haven, McLeod Addictive Disease Center in Charlotte, NC, and as the Emergency Services Program Manager at the Midlands Housing Alliance. Mr. Martin also works as an adjunct faculty member with the College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina.

Ms. Campbell is the lead coordinator for the Social Work Services at Richland One school district.

Ms. Cobb is the lead social worker for the Social Work Services at Richland Two school district.

Mr. Greene is a social worker at the VA. 

Ms. Kammermann is a health educator at the department of neuropsychiatry and behavioral science School of Medicine Columbia.