The CTAC team, left to right: Amy Mack, Dr. Yvette Hyter, Frank Vidimos, Marianne Giles, Dr. Mark Sloane, Denise Wheatley, Dr. Jim Henry, Connie Black-Pond, Dr. Ben Atchison, Love Kiracofe, Margaret Richardson.

Dr. Jim Henry is the co-founder and Director of CTAC. He is an Associate Professor at Western Michigan University in the School of Social Work. He has been principal investigator on three federal grants totaling in excess of 3.7 million dollars. Dr Henry has an expertise on the assessment and treatment of traumatized children within child welfare. He currently directs the Head Start School Intervention Project through the OJJDP Safe Start Initiative and is the Principal Investigator for the Trauma Informed Child Welfare Systems grant funded by the National Institute of Health. Dr. Henry has trained over 1,000 teachers in the last four years on the neurodevelopmental impact of trauma on learning and behavior. Dr. Henry has received several awards including the 2003 Michigan Child Advocate of the Year, (Ray Helfer Award), Michigan Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (MiPSAC). He has published several research articles in professional journals and presents at national and international conferences on the neurodevelopment impact of trauma to children.  

Connie Black-Pond, MA, LMSW, LPC is a co-founder of, and the Clinical Director of the Southwest Michigan Children’s Trauma Assessment Center (CTAC). Since 2003, Ms Black-Pond has been directly involved in the planning, development and implementation of the school intervention curriculums and consultation methodology developed by CTAC and is a co- principal investigator on the Safe Start Initiative and Child Welfare Systems grants.  Connie has presented locally, statewide and nationally on the impact of trauma on children and trauma informed practices. She also has over 20 years of clinical experience and is an expert in the assessment and treatment of traumatized children.

Dr. Mark Sloane is a board certified pediatrician with specialized advanced training in adolescent behavioral medicine who has over 26 years clinical pediatric experience and is owner and medical director of the Center for Behavioral Pediatrics in Kalamazoo. Dr. Sloane is considered an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of learning, attention, and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents. He is a founding member of CTAC's transdiciplinary team and has clinical experience in the medication management of more than 1,200 traumatized, drug and alcohol-exposed children and adolescents assessed at CTAC

Dr. Ben Atchison is a professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at WMU, with extensive experience with children with both physical and psychosocial dysfunction in community-based settings with a focus on a family- centered, transdisciplinary approach to assessment and intervention. He also has expertise in sensory processing disorders (SPD) and occupational therapy using a sensory integration approach (OT-SI) He is  a co- principal investigator on the Child Welfare Systems grant.

Dr. Yvette Hyter  is an associate professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at WMU, with expertise in transdisciplinary processes, and in the assessment and intervention of social communication skills of children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and those affected by abuse, neglect and prenatal alcohol exposure. She is a co- principal investigator on the Child Welfare Systems grant.

Love Kiracofe is a licensed master’s social worker with CTAC. She coordinated the development of the Head Start School Intervention Project curriculum and professional development.  She has implemented the curriculum and provided classroom consultation in Kalamazoo Head Start.

Amy B. Mack is a licensed master’s social worker with CTAC. She has worked as CTAC’s training Coordinator and has assisted in provision of trainings over the last 5 years. She assisted in coordination and development of the Head Start School Intervention Project curriculum, and professional development. She has implemented the curriculum and provided classroom consultation for six classrooms in the past two years.

Margaret Richardson is a licensed master’s social worker with CTAC and a third year doctoral student in Western Michigan University’s Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Evaluation. Ms. Richardson provides evaluation for other CTAC projects and assists in CTAC assessments.

Frank Vidimos is a social worker participating in Assessments and other CTAC projects.

Other staff:
Marianne Giles, Grants and Contracts Manager.
Denise Wheatley, CTAC Office Manager