Parents
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Providers
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Legislator
State Agencies
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Parents
Annette Ristoro was appointed to the Council in 2007. She is the parent of two children who were in the Early Intervention system.
Her daughter had speech delay due to low muscle tone and she had sensory issues. Her daughter was de-classified upon entering kindergarden.
Her son was speech delayed and had sensory integration dysfunction. After transitioning to the preschool disabled program, he had Selective Mutism which is a social communication anxiety disorder. He remains in the special education system.
Annette previously was a board member for the Southern New Jersey Regional Early Intervention Collaborative. She felt it was the best way to give something back to the community. She holds a Masters Degree in Human Service Administration from Rider University. She is currently writing a book on Selective Mutism.
Norman Rosenblum was appointed to the Council in 2004. He is an attorney and the parent of two young children. His daughter has aged out of early intervention services.
In his own words:
"I see how valuable they were to her development. I got interested in the SICC through advocacy concerning the Family Cost Share Proposals."
He is a 2003 graduate of the Partners in Policymaking offered by the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities. This program, offered to people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities, provides exposure to experts and information about relevant issues involving disabilities, best practices, and tools for advocacy on a personal level as well as for systemic change.
Norman serves as the co-chair of the Family Support Advisement Committee of the SICC.
Steve Weiss was appointed to the Council in 2008. He is the CFO and General Counsel of GalaxE.Solutions, Inc., an Information Technology services firm, and is the parent of two children. Both children have been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and both participated in the NJ Early Intervention System.
Steve's daughter began receiving early intervention services at 21 months of age in 2005. She recently began kindergarten where she is half day mainstreamed. She is expected to be full day mainstreamed by the first grade. Steve's son began receiving early intervention services at 16 months in 2006. He is currently in a full day pre-school program for children with autism and has been making tremendous progress.
In Steve's own words: "Neither of my children would be where they are today, or where they will be in the future, without early intervention. It is clear that services at an early age provide exponential benefits. The Early Intervention System is critical to the well being of children with disabilities and their families and I am committed to enhancing this
program the best that I can."
Providers
Michele Christopoulos was appointed to the Council in 2005 under Governor Richard Codey. Michele has been involved in Early Intervention for 15 years with 8 years in New York and 7 years in New Jersey. She holds a masters degree in Special Education from CW Post University. She has worked with children and their families in their homes as well as school settings. Michele is with Progressive Steps, an early intervention provider of services for children located in Hackensack, NJ.
Michele serves on the Administrative Committee of the SICC.
Carola d’Emery, Ph.d, P.T., was appointed to the Council in September 2002. She is a member of the targeted evaluation team in Monmouth County. She is a bi-lingual pediatric physical therapist, who graduated from the School of Medicine, University of Chile and Columbia University. She became interested in early intervention 25 years ago and has worked in community based centers as well as in families’ homes. She completes evaluations for early intervention, provides home based early intervention services and also maintains a private practice.
Carola loves her work and in her own words "there has never been a moment when I thought I would be happier elsewhere. Watching a child learn how to move is the most miraculous event I can ever dream of."
Carola serves on the Service Delivery Advisement Committee of the SICC.
Celine Fortin was appointed to the Council in 2002. She is the Associate Executive Director of The Arc of New Jersey which has five local chapters that provide early intervention services. Her educational background is in psychology, fine arts and social work. She has twenty-five years of experience working in the field of mental health and developmental disabilities.
Celine is Co-Chair of the Administrative Committee of the SICC.
Joseph Holahan, M.D., was appointed to the Council in 2000. He is affiliated with the Child Development Center at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey. He and his wife, Nancy, who is also a Developmental Pediatrician, have four children.
In his own words:
"The whole premise of the practice of Developmental Pediatrics is early identification, but twenty-five years ago a doctor could only say ‘it’s good to have children identified’ but then would add ‘There is nothing you can do about it. I want to work with this group to keep improving the system to make it work for families and children."
He has served on the New Jersey Department of Education’s Special Education Advisory for six years.
Joe serves as Co-Chair of the Family Support Advisement Committee of the SICC.
Warren Moore has worked at Children’s Specialized since 1998, and is currently the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to coming to Children’s Specialized, he worked in the adult rehabilitation field for several large, for-profit hospital companies. His areas of expertise are in business development, planning and hospital operations. All total he has 16 years of experience in the healthcare field.
At Children’s Specialized, Warren focuses much of his time on planning for the hospital’s future growth. During the past year, the hospital has opened two new facilities and is working on the plans for two more. One of these facilities currently under construction is a new state-of-the art pediatric rehabilitation hospital on the campus of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
Warren is responsible for all of the hospital’s operations, including: outpatient services, support services, school programs and the early intervention program.
Warren received his Bachelor of Science degree in business management from the University of Maryland, and a Master’s degree in health and human service administration from Rider University. He serves on the community advisory committee for the New Jersey Family Care Program, Board of Directors for the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, the Governor Appointed, community member for the State Interagency Coordination Council (SICC) and member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Warren is a father of two wonderful boys. He spends most of his free time with his family, coaching their sports teams or helping with homework. He is an avid runner and enjoys exercise and playing various sports.
Denise Murray was appointed to the Council in 2004. She is a physical therapist and started her career in pediatrics in 1974. She is now the administrator of the St. John of God Community Services’ early intervention program and the Here We Grow Preschool and Child Care Center (an inclusive program in Gloucester and Salem Counties). She has been with St. John of God Community Services for 30 years, a private non-profit agency serving people with disabilities from birth to adulthood.
Denise is the vice chair of the SICC and serves as the co chair of the Direct Service Advisory Committee of the SICC.
Joyce K. Salzberg was appointed to the SICC in 1996. She is Co-Founder and CEO of Sunny Days Early Childhood Developmental Services that currently provides early intervention services to 1700 families a week in New Jersey and targeted evaluation teams in Hunterdon, Ocean, Morris, Sussex and Atlantic counties. Sunny Days also provides early intervention services in Pennsylvania, California and New York. She is married and has two grown children, who also work in Sunny Days, and four grandchildren.
Joyce is a licensed clinical social worker with over twenty-five years of experience in the field of developmental disabilities. She is the former Associate Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey and in that capacity founded their early intervention program that is now known as Building Blocks. One of her fondest memories in early intervention is working with colleagues in Essex County in the early 1990’s to conceive and pilot the first regional collaborative now known as Family Link.
Joyce serves on the Department of Health and Senior Services Finance Task Force and the Steering Committee for Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring.
Joyce serves on the Service Delivery Advisement Committee of the SICC.
Legislator
State Agencies
Barbara Tkach, M.ED. was appointed to the SICC Council in 2006. She represents the New Jersey Office of Special Education Programs of the Department of Education (DOE).
Since 1998, Ms. Tkach has been the 619 Coordinator (Preschool/Special Education) at the New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education. In this role she is ambassador for families with young children with disabilities to the DOE’s Offices of Special Education and Early Childhood and the state agencies she collaborates. The list of agencies includes early intervention, school districts, Head Start and child care. Barbara holds a Master Degree in Early Childhood/Special Education from Temple University. Prior to this position for ten years she was a Director of a non-profit agency providing early intervention services and preschool special education supports and classes to children with disabilities and their families. As a teacher with B.A. in Early Childhood from the College of New Jersey she was a home educator providing early intervention for five years in an urban environment, a preschool special education teacher in a rural environment and an early childhood teacher in an inclusive classroom in the suburbs.
She serves as a member of the System Definition and Communication Committee of the SICC.
Celeste Andriot Wood was appointed to the Council in 1999. She is the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Family Health Services in the
New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). DHSS is the department within our state government that is responsible for early intervention services i.e., Lead Agency. She is responsible for the administration of varied preventative, primary and specialized health care programs and services for women, children and families, including persons affected by chronic or disabling conditions.
She holds a Master’s degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology and began her career in state service in 1978.
Celeste serves on the Service Delivery Advisement Committee of the SICC.
Chanell McDevitt, J.D., was appointed to the SICC in 2007. She represents
the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI).
Ms. McDevitt is currently the Deputy Executive Director of the Individual
Health Coverage (IHC) and Small Employer Health Benefits (SEH) Programs.
The goal of these programs, each established by a law enacted in 1992, is
to assure that New Jersey residents covered through a small employer or
seeking to buy insurance individually are neither denied nor later lose
health insurance because of a health-related issue. Both the IHC and SEH
programs are in but not of the DOBI, and are overseen by separate boards of
directors comprised of various stakeholders.
Ms. McDevitt has been in State government since 1987. She has worked in
the DOBI's Office of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, the Department
of Health and Senior Services' (DHSS) Office of Legal and Regulatory
Affairs and DHSS's former Office of Managed Care. She has been involved
with multiple commissions, committees and task forces that have addressed a
variety of health care and health insurance-related issues over the years.
It was while working at DHSS that Ms. McDevitt was introduced to the early
intervention program.
Ms. McDevitt serves as a member of the State Performance Plan Advisement
Committee of the SICC.
Family Health Services
