Carrie Epstein, LCSW-R is Co-Director of the Yale Center for Traumatic Stress and Recovery and Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center at the Yale University School of Medicine. For over 30 years, Ms. Epstein has been providing treatment, supervision, and consultation on providing mental health treatment and on developing new programs for children and families impacted by trauma and traumatic grief. She is recognized both nationally and internationally as an expert in the field of child trauma, child traumatic grief and disaster response. Ms. Epstein is co-developer of the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), which is currently the only evidence-based early, brief trauma-focused intervention for children and families that is designed specifically to be implemented in the acute phase of trauma response that reduces and interrupts the development of PTSD and related disorders. She has responded to multiple school shootings and other mass casualty disasters across the country. She served as a key coordinator of New York City’s mental health response to the attacks on 9/11 and was a principal investigator of a collaborative, multi-site study that was the largest youth trauma project associated with the September 11th terrorist attack in New York City which was established to deliver evidence-based trauma treatments for impacted children and adolescents. Ms. Epstein played a lead role in coordinating Yale’s response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, providing ongoing training and consultation to mental health professionals in the greater Newtown area. In addition, Ms. Epstein provided training and ongoing consultation to mental health providers after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Ms. Epstein and her colleagues also developed nationally disseminated materials that aimed to increase public awareness about both the behavioral health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as ways of coping with the pandemic. Ms. Epstein is also a National Trainer of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).

Ms. Epstein has been instrumental in developing and overseeing national training initiatives and national learning collaboratives focused on the dissemination of child trauma-focused evidence-based treatment models, and provides training and clinical supervision, locally, nationally, and internationally on child trauma-focused evidence-based practices. She has co-authored numerous publications in support of her trauma-focused activities. Ms. Epstein was the one of the original and organizing Principal Investigators of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) and has continued to Co-Chair the NCTSN’s Child Traumatic Grief-Traumatic Separation Committee since its inception in 2001. She has served on the Steering Committee of the NCTSN, as well as act as a regular contributor to the NCTSN’s Terrorism and Disaster Response Committee.

Prior to her position at the Yale Child Study Center, Ms. Epstein was Senior Director of Child Trauma Programs at Safe Horizon in New York City, the largest victim assistance, victim advocacy organization in the country, where she oversaw clinical services for children and families impacted by trauma in the organization’s outpatient programs, domestic violence shelters, and Child Advocacy Centers. During her tenure at Safe Horizon, Ms. Epstein has served on the Scientific Advisory Board to the Evidence-based Treatment Dissemination Center of the New York State Office of Mental Health, as well as the HHS Region II Strategy Group on Mental Health and Trauma.

Steven Marans, MSW, Ph.D. is the Harris Professor of Child Psychoanalysis and Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, director of Yale’s Childhood Violent Trauma Center; developer of the Child Development-Community Policing Program model for police-mental health collaborative responses to traumatic events. He co-developed the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), an early, psychodynamic/developmentally informed intervention that reduces and/or interrupts the development of PTSD and related disorders. Dr. Marans is also the co-developer of broadly disseminated guidelines for adults and families to help deal with the behavioral health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also co-developed a brief supportive intervention for hospital staff who have been impacted by the experience of dealing with the surge of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. He has responded to various mass casualty disasters (9/11, Newtown, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita) and served on national task forces related to violence, disaster and trauma. Along with his professional writing, Dr. Marans is also the author of Listening to Fear: From nightmares to the nightly news (Holt, 2005). Dr. Marans consults with and treats children, adolescents and adults in psychotherapy and is involved in the training of psychologists, child psychiatrists and clinical social workers.

Jessica Wozniak,PsyD is a clinical psychologist and the Clinical Research and Development Manager at Baystate Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry in Springfield, MA, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate (UMMS). In her role she oversees community-based projects, clinical research, and training including oversight of all projects funded by SAMHSA/NCTSN. She is the Director of the Child Advocacy Training and Support Center, a national training and consultation center for Children’s Advocacy Centers.  In addition, Dr. Wozniak oversaw the development of the One Mission Project which provides coordinated services to child trafficking victims. She is also a leader of the Hampden County Coalition to Identify and Prevent the Sexual Exploitation of Children. Dr. Wozniak is a nationally recognized trainer in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, the most rigorously tested treatment for trauma in children. Additionally, she conducts trainings for community organizations as well as presenting at national and international conferences on topics related to trauma informed practices, vicarious trauma, trauma-informed multidisciplinary teams and sexual exploitation of children. 

Judge Linneweber presides in Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, in a jurisdiction of approximately 150,000.  Prior to becoming a judge two years ago, he was a prosecutor for more than twenty years.  During that time he helped establish the current iteration of the Children’s Alliance of Montana and at one point served in all executive functions.  As a prosecutor he handled many complex crimes involving children, including use of forensic interviews and multi-disciplinary teams, and often taught professionals involved in these multi-disciplinary teams, as well as peer reviewing interviews, at a state and regional level.

Jimmy Widdifield, Jr., MA, (he/him) is a Licensed Professional Counselor (Oklahoma) and training and technical assistance (TTA) provider in child maltreatment, trauma, and adversity. He is the Project Director for the TTA Grant for Child Abuse Professionals at the National Children’s Advocacy Center. This national grant provides multi- and interdisciplinary TTA on child maltreatment to optimize professional development in the field.

Since 2002, Mr. Widdifield has provided evidence-based clinical assessment and treatment of children ages 3-12 with an emphasis on those with problematic sexual behavior (PSB) and adolescents with illegal sexual behaviors, recipient children, and their families. Throughout his career, Mr. Widdifield has provided training on the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents. He has co-authored group and family modality treatment manuals and, also, book chapters on clinical services for children with PSB.

Mr. Widdifield has extensive experience planning and providing TTA and presenting nationally and internationally on children and adolescents with PSB, child maltreatment, and sexual orientation and gender identity of youth. He was formerly the Training Director for the University of Oklahoma (OU) Problematic Sexual Behavior TTA Program and the National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth. In addition to providing clinical training, Mr. Widdifield assisted with initial assessment of training needs; participated in the design of training plans to facilitate implementation of evidence-based treatments for PSB including engagement of stakeholders. As a former Program Manager at the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, Mr. Widdifield provided TTA to over 35 Oklahoma freestanding multidisciplinary teams which are not affiliated with Children’s Advocacy Centers for accreditation purposes. Further, he implemented a Children’s Justice Act grant that sponsored local and statewide professional trainings on multi- and interdisciplinary issues in child maltreatment.

Mr. Widdifield is a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, and the American Counseling Association. He is a graduate of the Interdisciplinary Training Program (ITP) in Child Abuse and Neglect at the OU Health Sciences Center. In 2022, Mr. Widdifield received the Barbara L. Bonner Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the ITP.

Geoff Sidoli, MSW, LCSW, is the current Coordinator for NCA’s Institute for Better Mental Health Outcomes.  He assists CACs around the country implementing, building, and sustaining mental health services.  Prior to coming to NCA, Geoff was the executive director of a CAC in Asheville, NC where he supervised a clinical department that assessed and treated trauma and problematic sexual behavior (PSB) utilizing multiple evidence-based/supported models, including a PSB model that he developed.  Geoff has a broad history of work with trauma and sexual violence for over 30 years including the assessment and treatment of individuals that have caused sexual harm.  He speaks regionally and nationally on the topic of sexual abuse, trauma assessment and treatment.  He served on several state/national boards and work groups that focus on intervention and prevention of sexual harm and trauma.