Steve Forzato
Director, Center for Addiction and Recovery Education (CARE)
Forzato began his law enforcement career at the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in 1986. In 1992, Forzato transferred to the Narcotic Enforcement Team and for the next 27 years, worked in undercover roles and investigated drug traffickers, pursuing them locally, nationally and internationally. As a Lieutenant, Forzato supervised undercover detectives and 480 local police officers who served in a drug task force. Forzato led more than 100 wiretaps where his team seized thousands of pounds of drugs including kilograms of heroin and fentanyl. Forzato was sworn-in as a federal agent in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. In 2017, Forzato joined Pennsylvania’s Attorney General as Deputy Chief of Statewide Drug Initiatives where he led new initiatives addressing the drug overdose crisis in Pennsylvania.
Forzato testified as an expert in drug abuse, trafficking, and wiretapping in local, state and federal courts. Forzato has interviewed hundreds of drug dealers, suppliers and users. Forzato remains up to date on the current drug-trafficking trends statewide, nationally, and internationally.
Forzato trained thousands of local, state and federal law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and public health officials. Forzato now directs the Center for Addiction and Recovery Education at Saint Joseph’s University and leads its Phoenix Training for first responders.
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Director, Center for Addiction and Recovery Education (CARE)
Tonya Lupinacci
Consultant, Center for Addiction and Recovery (CARE)
Tonya Lupinacci currently serves as a consultant to St. Joseph’s University’s (SJU) Center for Addiction and Recovery Education. She is also enrolled in the doctorate program at SJU in Educational Leadership with a concentration in criminal justice reform. She recently retired from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office where she served as the Assistant Chief of Trials of the Firearms and Narcotics Division. Mrs. Lupinacci handled all aspects of the District Attorney’s initiatives to combat the current opioid epidemic. Mrs. Lupinacci spearheaded the grand jury investigation into the opioid epidemic in Montgomery County which resulted in a comprehensive report and recommendations that was released in May 2017. Mrs. Lupinacci’s experience also includes the prosecution of numerous wiretap cases involving large-scale drug trafficking organizations and homicide investigations. She has taught courses for the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Institute, Pennsylvania State Police and the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. She is also a member of the criminal justice and business law adjunct faculty at Montgomery County Community College. Mrs. Lupinacci is an active member of the Montgomery Bar Association (“MBA”) where she is vice-chair of the Women in Law Committee, as well as a member of the 2019 Leadership Academy. Mrs. Lupinacci received her B.A. in Journalism with honors from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and her law degree from Widener University School of Law.
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Consultant, Center for Addiction and Recovery (CARE)
John Becker
Founder, Guardian Recovery Services
John Becker Jr. has experience as a police officer, clinician, outreach professional, program developer and director. John possesses a personal understanding of substance abuse among first responders, having overcome addiction in his own life. He is the founder of Guardian Recovery Services, a private practice that provides counseling to First Responders struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues. John holds a B.S. in Behavioral Health Counseling and a Master’s in Human Services. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and has obtained Certification as an Advanced Alcohol & Drug Counselor (CAADC). He is the Clinical Director of the Montgomery County (PA) Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team and is certified by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) in individual and group interventions. John is a Certified Trauma Responder (CTR) and is recognized as a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP) and Substance Abuse Professional (SAP). John regularly provides training, education and consultation to local, state and federal organizations throughout the United States, on topics such as stress, trauma, wellness, mental health, suicide, and substance abuse, with a focus on members of the first responder community.
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Founder, Guardian Recovery Services
Bryan McCauley
Program Coordinator, First Responder Addiction Treatment (FRAT)
Bryan McCauley is the Program Coordinator for the First Responders Addiction Treatment (FRAT) Program at Livengrin Foundation, a drug and alcohol treatment center in Bensalem, PA. Bryan is a Marine Corps Veteran, a former firefighter, and served as a police officer/ detective in Montgomery County and Philadelphia for twenty years. Much like the veterans and emergency responders he works with, he had to overcome his own alcoholism and engage in recovery. He has been sober and working with others since September 2010. Bryan is continuing his education, attending Alvernia University in the Addictions and Mental Health program. His passion lies in educating and helping others to understand and overcome the disease of addiction.
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Program Coordinator, First Responder Addiction Treatment (FRAT)
Mike Yaeger
Retired Battalion Chief, Philadelphia Fire Department
Mike Yaeger retired several years ago as a Battalion Chief with the Phila fire Dept. ( 41 years ). He spent most of his time as a firefighter in north Philly. After getting promoted to Lieut in 1989 Mike was sent to west Philly where he spent the next few years. Promoted to Captain in 1994 and spent the next 15 years in the rank. During that time Mike had the honor of being Captain at Resue 1, which he found to be a truly humbling experience. Mike was promoted to BC in Aug of 2008. After recognizing the increasing amount of suicides in the fire service he got involved with developing and delivering a suicide prevention initiative in the PFD. Mike began working with Local 22’s health and wellness program and assisted in developing a peer support program. He started working with first responders at the Livengrin Foundation’s FRAT program (drug and alcohol rehab). They developed a drug and alcohol prevention progam and delivered that program to over 20,000 first responders. From the peer program they have visited all station in the PFD to discuss trauma, PTSD and other related issues with first responders. They are also involved with presenting the peer program to all cadets in the PFD.
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Retired Battalion Chief, Philadelphia Fire Department
Bill Burdette
Retired K9 Section Supervisor, Pennsylvania State Police
William J Burdette is currently a consultant with Saint Joseph's University, Center for Addiction and Recovery Education Center.
Burdette Served 25 years with the Pennsylvania State Police. He started in patrol, transitioning to Troop Vice and PSP Drug Strike Force, criminal Investigation and State Fire Marshal. He spent 11 years as Supervisor of the Eastern K-9 Section. He was sworn in as a Federal Task Force Officer assigned to a DEA HIDTA interdiction team.
After retiring, Burdette remained active in law enforcement serving a local university, and as a sworn police officer with local school districts.
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Retired K9 Section Supervisor, Pennsylvania State Police
Scott Heatley
Retired Pennsylvania State Police Corporal
Scott Heatley is a United States Coast Guard veteran and a retired Pennsylvania State Police Corporal. He started his law enforcement career in 1986 as a trooper working in traffic, criminal investigation and vice/narcotics units. Heatley was promoted to Corporal in 1998, where he supervised patrol, criminal investigation, and primarily vice/narcotics units. He also served as a supervisor for the State Police Clandestine Lab and Weapons of Mass destruction Response Team.
During his career, Scott Heatley has conducted and supervised hundreds of criminal investigations including wiretaps, and multi jurisdictional investigations at the local, state and federal level. He has been certified as an expert witness regarding drug investigations in local, state, and federal courts. Heatley developed and presented a clandestine lab safety awareness course geared towards first responders and has supervised over 70 clandestine lab investigations.
Heatley served on the Northcentral Counter Terrorism Task Force where he also worked as a facilitator and evaluator for multiple large scale, multi-agency training exercises. He was a certified instructor for the State Police, as well as an instructor for Act 120 (Municipal Police Officer Academy) at Mansfield University.
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Retired Pennsylvania State Police Corporal
Janene Holter, PhD.
PA LETI (Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative)
Dr. Holter develops and implements initiatives that assist law enforcement across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania including developing, policy writing, and managing the PA LETI (Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative) for counties and the Office of Attorney General. Dr. Holter also instructs law enforcement officials on substance use disorder, stigma, and conducting referrals to treatment in conjunction with law enforcement diversions. She also works with private insurance and the Single County Authorities to help any individuals get into treatment. Dr. Holter’s serviced as an Undercover Narcotics Agent, Supervisory Narcotics Agents, Adult Probation/Parole Officer, Caseworker with Kids Peace National Hospital, and Alcohol Case Manager, provides her expert insight into developing diversion policies that meet the expectations of multiple stakeholders. She received her PhD in Leadership from Alvernia University where she is an adjunct faculty member in their Criminal Justice Department.
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PA LETI (Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative)
Mike Noone is a founding partner of the law firm Noone & Borger, LLC focusing on criminal defense, internal investigations, and commercial litigation. As First Assistant District Attorney from 2012 to 2019, Mike served as the second in command of the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. Mike supervised all the criminal trial teams, the juvenile unit, coordinated the investigation and prosecution of all adult sexual assault cases and elder abuse cases, and served as co-chair of the Chester County Overdose Prevention Task Force. Mike was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Elder Abuse Task Force.
Mike began his legal career at a Philadelphia law firm where he represented individuals and companies in commercial litigation matters in both state and federal court. Mike then served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. In the time between serving as an Assistant District Attorney and returning as First Assistant, Mike was in private practice in West Chester focusing on criminal defense and personal injury. Mike is a graduate of Wilkes University where he was valedictorian and Villanova University School of Law where he was Chairperson of the Moot Court Board. He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey, and the District Court for the District of Columbia.
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Attorney
Drew Skelton
Private Detective
Drew Skelton began his first responder career as a teenager when he joined the Hereford Volunteer Fire Company in Berks County, Pennsylvania. At 17, he became an EMT and served with Bally Community Ambulance, Topton Ambulance and Eastern Berks Advanced Life Support (ALS). He also was a firefighter with the Red Hill Fire Company.
In 1989, Skelton received an Honorable Discharge from the Army after serving as a Military Police Officer.
In 1990, he joined the ranks of the Pennsylvania State Police. While in the state police, Skelton was assigned to Troops J-Lancaster, K-Philadelphia, M-Bethlehem, N-Hazelton and the Bureau of Professional Responsibility, Systems and Process Review Division. He spent the majority of his PSP career in Criminal Investigations and retired from the state police at the rank of sergeant in 2013.
In 2017, Skelton was hired as a consultant by the Borough of East Greenville in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in order to assist the borough with forming its own police department. He was later selected to be the Chief of Police.
Currently a licensed private detective in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, he is also a member of the National Ski Patrol and is certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR).
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Private Detective
George Yaeger
Deputy Fire Chief
George Yaeger was a Philadelphia firefighter for 35 years. He retired in 2008 as a Deputy Chief. George served in both firefighting units and various staff positions during his career. In long term recovery himself, since 2014, he has worked with first responders struggling with addiction and mental health issues. George is a certified recovery specialist and a certified family recovery specialist.
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Deputy Fire Chief
Roberto Duarte
Executive Director for Montgomery County's Office of Children and Youth
Mr. Duarte has 20 years of experience in the field of Child Welfare; he began his career in 2002 as a social worker in Philadelphia's Department of Human Services conducting child abuse and neglect investigations. He later held various management positions in the same organization, including supervisor, program analyst and division administrator. As his current role of Executive Director for the Office of Children and Youth, Mr. Duarte is responsible for all child welfare operations, including programatic, fiscal and administrative functions.
During the course of his career, Mr. Duarte has witnessed the negative effects Substance Use Disorder (SUD) has on children and families and has welcomed the opportunity to connect with other child welfare professionals to share his experience and help first responders assist families struggling with SUD and connect them to treatment.
Mr. Duarte, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is fluent in English and Spanish and holds a Master's degree in Social Work and an MBA with a concentration in Finance Management.
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Executive Director for Montgomery County's Office of Children and Youth
About Matt Unangst
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Trainer
David Darrough
Corporal with the Pennsylvania State Police
David Darrough is a Corporal with the Pennsylvania State Police. In his 35 year career with PSP, David spent the last 26 years exclusive to Narcotics investigations and assignments.
David worked numerous undercover investigations prior to supervising other narcotic officers. He is currently the coordinator of the Clandestine Laboratory Response Team.
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Corporal with the Pennsylvania State Police
About Colleen Ramsey
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Trainer
About John Yount
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Trainer
