Real Help-Real Hope: How Can We Access You Part 3?

Judge Jeri Beth Cohen is a retired Circuit Judge, having most recently served in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Dependency and Criminal Drug Court Divisions. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree at Boston University, her Master of Arts degree at Harvard University, and her Juris Doctorate at Georgetown Law. Before being elected to the bench in 1992, Judge Cohen was a trial attorney with the Office of the General Counsel, Securities Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., and an Assistant State Attorney under Janet Reno. Judge Cohen was a member of the Miami-Dade County Opioid Addiction Task Force and an executive committee member of the South Florida Behavioral Health Network, the entity responsible for funding Miami-Dade County behavioral health providers. She has been a tireless champion in Miami-Dade for the use of Medication Assisted Treatment as part of a comprehensive approach to recovery. Judge Cohen has trained hundreds of child welfare and drug court partners, including judges, on the benefits of incorporating MAT into treatment services. Judge Cohen is recognized as an expert on issues relating to child welfare, substance abuse and mental health. She worked on a national level with The Bureau of Justice Affairs, Children and Family Futures and the National Drug Court Institute to develop curricula and train drug courts across the country. Judge Cohen chaired the Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals and sat on the Board of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. She has taught at statewide and national conferences and published several articles on family drug courts. Judge Cohen has received several grants from, inter alia, NIDA, CSAT, SAMHSA, HHS and BJA. The majority of these grants have funded randomized studies in both the community and the court.

About Me: My name is Dr. Gia Elise Barboza-Salerno, and I am honored to be on the faculty at the Ohio State University, in the colleges of Social Work and Public Health. I hold a PhD in Political Methodology, a JD in Law, an MS in Statistics, an MA in Human Development from Michigan State University, and an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of California at Los Angeles. My scholarship focuses on the multiple contextual influences of risk (e.g., traumatic experiences, sexual risk-taking behavior) and protective factors (e.g., family support, social networks) associated with traumatic experiences including criminal justice and child welfare involvement focusing on vulnerable youth populations (i.e., individuals who misuse substances, people of color, LGBTQIA+, older individuals, and adolescents). I conduct empirical research to characterize racial/ethnic differences in rates of survivorship, response, revival and administration of naloxone among individuals with OUD. My past research experiences as Director of Research for the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative have afforded me with the expertise and training needed to ground my work in community and to bridge research with praxis using innovative and advanced statistical (e.g., network analysis) and geostatistical methods (e.g., Bayesian Space-Time Modeling) using nationally representative datasets. Specifically, I focus on estimating the costs of policy interventions via geospatial data aggregation and analysis, identifying local vulnerability to unintended consequences of policy interventions, and assessing the disparities of these impacts across racial and socioeconomic divides. With these analyses, I strive to reframe existing narratives in ways that empower communities of color and low-income communities. My work has been funded by internal university-level research grants, multiple foundation grants, and the National Science Foundation. At present, I am serve as an Associate Editor for the journal Child Maltreatment. My work as an attorney has been pro bono, representing victims of domestic violence and individuals seeking asylum. My research has been published in multiple peer reviewed journals including the International Journal of Drug Policy, Journal of Urban Health, Preventive Medicine, and Applied Spatial Policy and Analysis. My motivation comes from my beautiful wife and our seven children, who have provided me with grace, compassion, and healing.

Cassaundra “Yo’ Sis” Bingaman has over a decade working in behavioral health and human services. Her career started in foster care with teenage girls, which primed her for the addiction treatment and recovery landscape. As a certified peer specialist, she uses her lived experience to create, teach, and practice innovative approaches to behavioral management, crisis prevention, and personal empowerment. Yo’ Sis is a multi-award-winning artist and humanitarian who uses the power of words, expression, and creativity as an effective means of connection, healing herself and others. She has a servant’s heart, a poet’s soul, and is nothing without God, sunshine, and strong coffee.

About Me: My name is Donald Gunther, the son of Albert L Gunther, Sr., a World War II veteran who was challenged with an AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder). Presently, I am a husband of twenty-seven years and a father for twenty-five years to an Auburn University Magna Cum Laude first-generation college graduate in 2021. I am also a Father Family Advocate of the RISE program at Mary Hall Freedom Village. With special thanks to Ms. Lucy and Dr. Sherman, I am working towards a (CAC1) Certified Addiction Counselor (in Training), and have continued to educate myself with Psycho-educational resources and M.I (Motivational Interviewing) techniques/ skills along with the support of The Opioid Treatment Providers of Georgia. Most importantly, I have obtained my certifications from (CCAR) Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery Coach Professional in 2021 and a year later I became a certified Facilitator of their evidenced based recovery professional coaching curriculum. I have obtained my CPS-MH credentials from Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network; CPS-WH and RESPECT Institute of Georgia graduate, and in 2023, I was recognized by Caron Treatment Center Atlanta as the Catherine Caron Heart of the Family Award Winner advocating for families in recovery. Last year, I continued to be a voice for harm reduction and the many pathways of recovery when I became a part of the (PRCoE) Peer Recovery Center of Excellence Stakeholder SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) funded peer recovery support group. I was also featured on their December 2023 podcast. My writing has allowed fathers, family members and support systems to be empowered during our correspondence. My publications have been noticed by Faces and Voices of Recovery (nationally), The Zone Magazine (locally) and by an author and international speaker in Chicago Mark Sanders LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker), CADC on his online website Museum of African American Addiction, Treatment and Recovery (virtually). Currently, I am working on creating a dual development program, S.O.B2E.R-F.A.C.T.S. that will empower Systems of Beliefs and Behaviors Empowering Recovery with FACTS that will educate and engage with (V-FIRST) Veterans-Families in Recovery from Substance Abuse and Trauma with a Veteran Family Workshop (VFW). Donald Gunther CPS-MH, CPS-WH RCP, RCPF

Enter to Win Big Prizes!! Singing, Dancing, Poetry, Comedy, Whatever!!! You have talent, we know you do, and we want to see it!! Send in your video that is 60 seconds or less to joalfred@bellsouth.net. The Event will be on November 10, 2024-Sunday: 5P-7P. See you there!!