BACKGROUND INFORMATION

FACULTY

Lynette Araki, M.P.H., is a Program Analyst in the Office of Planning and Evaluation, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the lead staff on several cross-cutting projects for the agency. Ms. Araki is the lead staff for the HRSA Work Group on Homelessness that developed an agency work plan to address homelessness to improve access to mainstream programs for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Work Group identified six cross-cutting projects for FY 2001 and FY 2002, including the conduct of the Policy Academies to focus on improving accessibility of mainstream resources at the State level for people who are homeless or who are at risk of homelessness. The Work Group received the HRSA Administrator's Citation for Outstanding Group Performance in 2001. Other cross-cutting projects for which Ms. Araki is responsible include the HRSA Pacific Basin Initiative and the agency's External Emergency Response Team to assure continuity of essential functions during a crisis or emergency.

Ann Denton, M.Ed., has nearly twenty years experience working with and for people with disabilities. In that work, Ms. Denton has focused on the housing needs of people with disabilities, particularly people with serious mental illness. She has worked with communities and state agencies throughout the country on Continuum of Care planning and creating housing for people who are homeless. She has provided leadership in the area of targeting resources to people who are most in need, especially people making at or less than 30% of the household median area income, and targeting resources to people who are homeless.

Ms. Denton provides leadership at the state level in all these areas. She has served as the past Chair of the Texas Interagency Council for the Homeless and is a founding member and a current Board member of the Texas Homeless Network. She helped to create and implement the Supported Housing initiative, an activity of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, which has been identified as a "best practice." At present, she advises advocacy groups throughout Texas on the local Consolidated Planning process and provides energetic input to the state ConPlan.

Ms. Denton is the Director of the Austin office of The Enterprise Foundation, a national foundation devoted to the development of affordable housing and decent and safe communities. Ms. Denton's office operates a statewide training and technical assistance project with the goal of increasing the number of housing units that are affordable, available, and accessible for people with disabilities. Also, the Austin office operates a leadership training project for people with disabilities. This project provides training to people with disabilities in twelve communities over five years, resulting in new leaders and measurable system change at the local level.

John Garrity, M.P.A, is the Director of Special Needs Assistance Programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Mr. Garrity brings almost 20 years of experience with various housing projects. He currently oversees policy and program development as well as the national competition for homeless assistance funding authorized by the McKinney-Vento Act. Funded at over $1 Billion, the annual Continuum of Care process is the largest public sector competition sponsored by the federal government. Mr. Garrity obtained his master of public administration from Syracuse University. He has received many certificates including a special certificate of appreciation from the Assistant Secretary and a certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. In addition to these many honors, under Mr. Garrity's leadership the SNAPS Office was awarded the Harvard University/Ford Foundation "Innovations in American Government Award" in 1999.

Mark Johnston, M.P.A., is the Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs, which administers HUD's homeless assistance programs. Among other responsibilities, he has served as Deputy Director of the Federal Interagency Council on the Homeless. He has a masters degree in Public Affairs from Indiana University at Bloomington, and a bachelors degree in Public Policy from Brigham Young University.

Nancy King, J.D., is the Deputy General Counsel for Policy and Programs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Department of Transitional Assistance, the state TANF agency. She has held this position for six years and has worked extensively on family homelessness issues. Prior to working for the Department, she worked at various legal service agencies and has private practice experience as well. She graduated from Catholic University Law School and American University.

Michele McNurlin, is originally from Las Vegas Nevada, and has lived in Santa Fe for about six months. She has three children ages 13, 5, and 9 months. She currently lives in the Arroyo Sonrisa Transitional Living Program of the St. Elizabeth Shelter in Santa Fe.

Phoebe Soares, M.S.W., has over twenty years of experience in program planning and administration in the areas of housing, health, domestic abuse, homelessness, and community organizing and development. During her three years at The Better Homes Fund, she has served as the Director of Community Organizing for Adding Seats to the Table, a Kellogg-funded demonstration project. She has been responsible for providing technical assistance and support to three communities, working to increase participation of homeless families in relevant program planning and development. Phoebe is currently Director of Programs at The Better Homes Fund, and has served as Project Manager for the evaluation of the Community Children's Center.

Lawrence Bartlett, Ph.D., is Director of Health Systems Research, Inc., a firm specializing in the design of State and local health care strategies to control escalating health care costs and improve access to needed care for disadvantaged populations. He possesses more than 20 years of experience in health services research, evaluation, and policy analysis and in providing "hands-on" technical assistance to State and local governments and private sector clients. Dr. Bartlett's range of knowledge of health care issues is noteworthy for its depth and breadth. Not only does he have extensive experience in the analysis of a broad range of State health care issues, but his knowledge of the unique characteristics and experiences of innovative health programs and policies in States across the country has provided him with valuable insights critical to the design of successful strategies and policies. Because Dr. Bartlett's technical expertise is combined with strong group facilitation skills, he is often called upon to provide assistance to governors' blue ribbon commissions, legislative task forces, and local health care coalitions.

In addition to his work with numerous States and localities, Dr. Bartlett has served as a consultant to a variety of national organizations, including the National Governors' Association, the National Conference of State Legislators, the American Association of Retired Persons, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He is the former staff director of the State Medicaid Directors' Association and the former director of the National Governors' Association's State Medicaid Information Center. Dr. Bartlett holds a doctorate in economics and a master's degree in health services administration.

RESOURCE PERSONS

George A. Kanuck, is a policy resource person in the Office of Policy Coordination and Planning, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Kanuck is responsible for homelessness issues, co-occurring disorders, Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and demonstration grant activities.

Pat Post, M.P.A., is a policy analyst for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and author of a monograph on Medicaid enrollment barriers for eligible homeless people, published in May 2001.

Kathy Rama, is Technical Director, Division of Advocacy and Special Issues, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her experience is in Medicaid and SSI eligibility, policy and processes, Medicaid managed care, and waiver programs.

Frances L. Randolph, Dr.P.H., has expertise in the following areas: strategic planning; evaluating services and systems; creating integrated service systems; developing partnerships and collaboration; effective services and treatments for persons with mental illness including outreach, case management, treatment for substance abuse and supportive housing.

Robyn S. Raysor, M.S.W., is a Specialist, Special Needs Assistance Programs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her graduate degree/study is in psychiatric Social Work and Urban Planning/Community Psychiatry. Ms. Raysor has 20+ years experience in local and federal community development grants management.

Robert Shelborn, is currently the Director of the Division of Policy and Program Development
for the TANF program.

Phyllis Wolfe, M.A., L.I.C.S.W., is a Special Expert in the Homeless Programs Branch, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has over 25 years of direct work in support of individuals that are homeless that includes policy, program, practice, research and advocacy.