{"id":4841,"date":"2024-02-05T13:16:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T13:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cacmi.org\/?page_id=4841"},"modified":"2024-04-26T14:24:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T14:24:22","slug":"our-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cacmi.org\/our-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Who We Are?<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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CACMI is the state-wide coordinating agency for the 40 Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers (CAC\u2019s) across the state of Michigan. When law enforcement or child protective services believe a child may be experiencing abuse, the child is brought to the CAC\u2014a safe, child-focused environment\u2014by a caregiver or other \u201csafe\u201d adult. At the CAC, the child tells their story once to a trained interviewer who knows the right questions to ask in a way that does not retraumatize the child.<\/p>

A team that includes medical professionals, law enforcement, mental health clinicians, prosecution, Child Protective Services, forensic interviewers, victim advocates, and other professionals make decisions together about how to help the child based on the interview. CACs offer therapy and medical exams, plus courtroom preparation, victim advocacy, case management, and other services. This multidisciplinary team (MDT), is a core part of the work of CACs do. Across the state, MDTs share a steadfast commitment to get children on the path to healing as soon as possible so they can get back to being kids.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Meet our Team<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Melissa\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Melissa Werkman<\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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President\/CEO<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Melissa comes to CACMI from her role as the President and CEO of the Children\u2019s Advocacy Center of Kent County. She led a team of 24 staff and 12 on-site multi-disciplinary team members serving more than 1000 survivors of child sexual abuse a year. In her past leadership roles, she worked to advocate for individuals with Down syndrome, create more access to healthcare, and helped develop mentorship programs for women and girls. Her experience has provided her with a keen awareness of the challenges and isolation that faces leaders today and she is eager to bring that empathy and insight to support others. By cultivating deeply meaningful corporate and community partnerships, she has come to understand the exponential effect of creating mutually beneficial relationships that honor mission and impact organizational goals which in turns impacts the broader community.<\/p>

Melissa is honored to assume the role supporting the critical work that CACs perform across Michigan every day by increasing access, growing capacity, cultivating sustainable funding and influencing policy that will best benefit all of Michigan\u2019s children.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Josh\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Joshua Bissell<\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Program Director<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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As the Program Director for the Children\u2019s Advocacy Centers of Michigan (CACMI) team, Joshua is committed to providing support to CAC leaders and their staffs across the state. In addition to helping members prepare for accreditation and re-accreditation, his support ranges from on-site training to phone consultations, active troubleshooting of difficult dilemmas and planned delivery of content expertise and practical advice. His personal mission is to ensure that every CAC staff person has an opportunity for professional development and growth as experts in their field and to foster a collaborative network where even the smallest programs feel supported.<\/p>

In a previous life, Joshua worked as a licensed social worker in the state of Louisiana developing a social services program embedded within the New Orleans Police Department Special Victims Section. He spent years working with the Child Abuse, Adult Sex Crimes, and Domestic Violence units and served as a forensic interviewer and case manager at the New Orleans Children\u2019s Advocacy Center. He received undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Sociology and his master\u2019s degree in social work at Tulane University. In his free time, he enjoys disc golfing and board games and likes to write short stories in the genre of science fiction and fantasy.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Amanda\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Amanda Davis-Scott
MS, MA, LPC-S, CAADC<\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Director of Clinical Practice,
Development, and Education<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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As the Director of Clinical Practice, Development, and Education for CACMI, Amanda helps to support the clinical and victim advocacy operations of the Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) in Michigan. Amanda\u2019s duties include but are not limited to providing clinical consultation, giving onboarding support for new victim advocates and clinicians at the CACs, operational support for established CACs and internship programs, development of training curriculum and materials based on the needs of and for the use at CACs, and development and facilitation of peer review\/support programs for advocates and clinicians. Prior to working at CACMI Amanda was the Program Director at the Lenawee Child Advocacy Center and the Program Director at the Lenawee Child Trauma Assessment Center. Amanda holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in family life education from Spring Arbor University, a Master\u2019s degree in counseling also from Spring Arbor University, and a Master\u2019s degree in criminal justice with a specialization in forensic psychology from Tiffin University. In her free time Amanda enjoys spending time with her husband James, and three children.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Steven King
LMSW, LLMFT<\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Systems Administrator<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Steven King is our Systems Administrator, playing a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation of our internal systems and resources. With a strong focus on engagement, platform management, and logistical support, Steven’s responsibilities encompass a broad range of vital functions. He oversees our network\u2019s engagement initiatives, the management of our platform systems and databases, and provides essential logistical planning and support for our conferences and events. Additionally, Steven plays a key role in ensuring compliance and maintaining quality assurance standards. He continuously monitors and innovates our internal systems and resources to ensure they effectively support CACMI\u2019s operations. Steven also facilitates peer groups for Intake Coordinators and provides technical support to our members regarding data tracking and reporting. With a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master\u2019s in Social Work, Clinical, from Michigan State University, Steven brings a solid educational foundation to his role. He is certified in Clinical Social Work with Families and holds a license as a Masters level Clinical Social Worker and Limited License in Marriage and Family Therapy. Outside of work, Steven enjoys running, reading, spending quality time with his family, and pursuing outdoor activities, such as rounds of disc golf.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Rebekah McDowell<\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Operations Director<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Rebekah McDowell has spent her entire career in nonprofits. After graduating from Central Michigan University, Beka worked in legal and education agencies before joining the Children\u2019s Advocacy Center of Kent County. During her 16+ years at the Center, she worked in fund development and grant writing before becoming Operations Director where she led Human Resources, Finance, and Building Management for nearly ten years. A self-proclaimed \u201cnonprofit policy wonk,\u201d Beka obtained her HR Management certificate from Cornell University during the early days of the pandemic, while helping guide CAC Kent through remote work and safety policies and becoming the agency\u2019s \u201cCOVID expert.\u201d She enjoys the behind-the-scenes work of operations, providing a strong foundation for the Chapter and the CACMI team while also supporting CAC staff around the state as they engage in the essential work of creating safe and welcoming spaces for everyone who needs a CAC. Beka is honored to be a resource for CAC staff in human resources, finance-related best practice, state and federal grant writing and reporting, policy development, compliance, and DEIA.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Tom Stuessy<\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Director of Organizational Strategy<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Tom Stuessy serves as the Director of Organizational Strategy. Having worked in nonprofit leadership for over ten years, Tom brings strong knowledge and experience in forging effective partnerships that lead to expanding capacity, resource and fund development. His approach centers on the opportunity nonprofits have to collaborate with for-profit partners to exponentially increase awareness and engagement. During Tom\u2019s previous tenure as an executive director, these tools and strategies increased funding, drove membership, and participation among the business community, and led to organizational advancements such as websites, collateral investments, youth programs, internal grant programs, PSAs, partner referrals, subject matter expertise, and most importantly, more attention paid to important causes. Tom believes the CAC community has the opportunity to modernize partnership with the for-profit sector, producing engagement that will further mobilize the mission of every CAC.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Meet our Board<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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