Presenter Biographies

Latonya Adjei-Tabi
Change Liaison for National Center for Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Projects, Center for Children and Family Futures (CCFF)

Latonya Adjei-Tabi serves as Change Liaison for National Center for Substance Abuse and Child Welfare projects. She has over 20 years of experience with court teams.

Adjei-Tabi previously worked as Policy Analyst for the Ohio Supreme Court— managing implementation of the Statewide System Improvement Program (SSIP). SSIP strengthened cross-system collaboration at both state and local levels allowing communities to provide services to all families affected by parental substance use disorders.

She has also held several positions within local justice systems, including Residential Specialist at a Treatment Facility for felony level offenders; Coordinator for Drug Treatment Courts—managing all operations and successfully obtaining certification from the state of Ohio as a specialized docket; Project Director—implementing the national Reclaiming Futures model in a local county; and Unit Manager—where she developed, coordinated, operated, and supervised an assigned unit of probation officers. She has also written successful funding proposals securing several million dollars in grants to support specialized dockets.

Adjei-Tabi holds an M.A. in Public Administration from Franklin University and a B.A. in Psychology from The Ohio State University. She also has a Chemical Dependency Counselor Assistant (CDCA) license from the Ohio Chemical Dependency Licensing Board.

James Boleyn
Specialized Dockets Director, Marion Municipal Court

James Boleyn is the specialized dockets director for the Marion Municipal Court in Marion, Ohio where he is proud to have overseen the operations of an adult drug treatment court, a mental health treatment court, and a veterans treatment court for the past twelve years.

Boleyn works closely with the various agencies and stakeholders in Marion County and the State of Ohio to ensure the operations of the dockets are in line with best practice standards and meet the needs of the community. In addition to his work with the court, Boleyn has served on multiple committees and participates in policy level discussions regarding the provision of substance use disorder and mental health treatment in Marion County and the State of Ohio.

Through his work with the Stepping Up Ohio Initiative in Marion County, Boleyn is currently assisting in the development of a comprehensive continuum of crisis services for Marion County.

Originally from Chicago, IL, Boleyn began working in mental health following his graduation from Shimer College in 1998.

Matt Collinson
Project Director for Justice Initiatives in the School of Public Affairs, American University

Matt Collinson is a project director for Justice Initiatives in the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, DC. In this role Matt directs several translational research and TTA projects focused on addressing racial disparities in treatment courts across the country. This work includes using AU’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities Assessment tool to help courts to understand how their current policies and practices may be unintentionally contributing to racially biased outcomes, and then developing unique and tailored training and technical assistance programs for courts, jurisdictions, and states to reduce racism, disparities, and bias in their programs.

Collinson also teaches as an adjunct professor in American University’s department of Justice Law and Criminology, where he teaches an undergraduate class on the history and purpose of the legal system, and a graduate level course on pre-trial justice, jails, bail and risk assessments. All his classes explore the role of racism and racial bias in the administration of justice, and challenge students to fight for a more equitable, less racist, and radically reimagined system of justice.

John R. Gallagher, Ph.D.
Full Professor, George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government

John R. Gallagher is a Full Professor in the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government. His expertise is in clinical social work, substance use disorder and mental health treatment, and criminal justice reform. Dr. Gallagher's research agenda is focused on the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in treating opioid use disorders; exploring drug court participants' lived experiences in programming; identifying the factors that may contribute to racial disparities in drug court outcomes; program evaluation for drug courts and other treatment courts; and implementing evidence-based interventions to promote substance use disorder and mental health recovery.

He serves as Associate Editor for Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly and is on the editorial boards for the Journal for Advancing Justice and the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. Additionally, he has served as a peer-reviewer for over 30 academic journals.

Dr. Gallagher has developed a national reputation for excellence in drug court research, and he helped develop the Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) Program Assessment Tool, presents the equity and inclusion curriculum for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), and advocates for best-practice standards in serving African Americans in drug court.

Dr. Gallagher is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Licensed Clinical Addiction Counselor (LCAC) who has practiced substance use disorder and mental health counseling since 2002.

Laura Hunter, Ph.D.
Project Director and Research Associate, NPC Research

Laura Hunter is a Project Director and Research Associate at NPC Research with a primary focus on treatment court evaluation and translating research into practice. Dr. Hunter has extensive research and evaluation experience, including the design and analysis of surveys, key stakeholder interviews, courtroom observations, and court records. She has multiple peer-reviewed publications.

Prior to joining NPC, Dr. Hunter was the Program Evaluator and Manager in the Planning, Research, and Evaluation Division at Arizona Superior Court in Pima County. In this role, she worked closely with judges and court staff to design evaluations based on evidence-based best practices and the program’s goals.

Dr. Hunter earned her Doctorate in Sociology at the University of Arizona, a Master of Public Health in Health Promotion at the University of Arizona, and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Sociology at the Ohio State University.

Jordan Knipper
State Opioid Treatment Authority (SOTA), OhioMHAS

Jordan Knipper is the State Opioid Treatment Authority (SOTA) with OhioMHAS, and he is an experienced SUD Counselor, Program Administrator, and Clinical Director. He holds a Masters in Mental Health Counseling and is licensed by both the Counselor/Social Work and Chemical Dependency boards of Ohio.

He previously held the position of Director of a 50 plus bed inpatient withdrawal management unit in central Ohio. Knipper transitioned to the State of Ohio in 2022, and he advances the goals of maintaining strong collaborative relationships with the Ohio Opiate Treatment Program (OTP) Provider network and the implementation of effective and modern SUD treatment modalities.

Jessica Lavelle, MSW, LISW-S
Women’s Treatment Coordinator of the SUD Bureau, OHMAS

Jessica Lavelle, MSW, LISW-S is currently the Women’s Treatment Coordinator of the SUD Bureau at OHMAS. She received her master’s degree in social work from The Ohio State University in 2013 and has experience in both clinical practice and supervision.

In her current role, she works with community agencies on managing Women’s Treatment block grant funding and coordinating training, sharing of resources, and networking opportunities between providers. She also represents Ohio on NASADAD’s (National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors) Women’s Service Network and is a committee member of Governor DeWine’s Infant Mortality Task Force.

Prior to this role, Jessica worked briefly in community mental health and hospital social work but has spent most of her career so far at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.  Here she spent 9 years in both clinical and administrative roles to assist in the provision of services to incarcerated persons. This work has helped Jessica better understand and become passionate about the treatment needs of women and has led her to want to work on advocating for this population on a macro level.

Juliette R. Mackin, Ph.D.
Co-President, Director of Quality and Training, and Senior Research Associate, NPC Research

Juliette Mackin is Co-President, Director of Quality and Training, and Senior Research Associate at NPC Research. Dr. Mackin has been involved with over 80 studies of treatment courts, including the national juvenile drug treatment court evaluation, and was a member of the research and practice collaborative that developed the self-assessment tool to help programs align with Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Guidelines. She has helped develop, validate, and implement risk and strength-based assessment tools used by juvenile justice agencies, schools, and community-based service providers.

Matt Ouren
Project Director, All Rise

Matthew Ouren is a project director with justice for Vets (JFV), a division of All Rise. Before joining JFV, he served as the treatment court administrator for the 39^th Circuit Court in Missouri. Ouren started his career in treatment courts in 2011 as a probation and parole officer responsible for supervising drug and DWI court participants.

In 2015, the 29^th Circuit Court in Jasper County, Missouri, hired him as their new treatment court administrator. During this time in Jasper County, he assisted the 29^th Circuit in starting their DWI and veterans courts. While at the 29^th Circuit, he also helped write and secure two BJA grants in 2017 and 2018.

In February 2020, Ouren accepted a position with the 39^th Circuit Court as their new treatment court administrator. He was responsible for administrative and managerial work, managing and coordinating treatment court activities for three DWI, drug, and veterans courts spanning three counties. He also served as the project director for a SAMHSA grant awarded in 2019.

Before accepting a full-time position with JFV, Ouren had served as faculty with All Rise since 2018, providing training and technical assistance in various lead trainings across the United States.

Judge Gregory G. Pinski (Ret.)
Judicial Consultant, All Rise

Judge Gregory G. Pinski is a retired district judge for the State of Montana Eighth Judicial District Court. Judge Pinski earned his bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, in political science and journalism from the University of North Dakota. Before attending law school, Judge Pinski worked at the White House in the Office of Presidential Scheduling for President Bill Clinton. Judge Pinski graduated, with distinction, from the University of North Dakota School of Law.

Upon graduation from law school, Judge Pinski entered private practice with Gray Plant Mooty in Minneapolis, while teaching at the University of Minnesota Law School. Judge Pinski returned to private practice in Montana with Conner & Pinski, PLLP before his election as district judge in 2013. After retiring from judicial service in 2021, Judge Pinski joined Conner, Marr & Pinski, PLLP, and he is frequently called upon to act as a mediator in complex civil cases.

Judge Pinski sat by designation on the Montana Supreme Court, and he was appointed by the chief justice to the Montana Uniform District Court Rules Committee, Drug Treatment Court Council, and Access to Justice Commission. The attorney general appointed him to the Montana Crime Lab Advisory Board. The Montana legislature confirmed Judge Pinski as a national commissioner to the Uniform Law Commission. Judge Pinski also served on the National Judicial Opioid Task Force.

Judge Pinski founded and presided over a veterans treatment court and adult drug treatment court. Judge Pinski serves as a judicial consultant to All Rise, National Drug Court Institute, Justice for Vets, and American University providing research, training, and technical assistance services to drug treatment courts and veterans treatment courts across the United States.

Grant Sandrock
Eligibility and Recovery Specialist, Portage County Specialized Dockets

Grant Sandrock is the eligibility and recovery specialist for the Portage County Specialized Dockets, has over fifteen years in recovery, and is the lead instructor for the Thinking for a Change Program at Portage County Adult Probation. As the ERS, Sandrock identifies potential Specialized Dockets participants that are currently housed in the Portage County Jail, pre-screens these inmates, and meets with them while they are incarcerated. He also provides specialized dockets participants with support in their recovery; from finding meetings, placement in sober living, liaising between the courts and treatment providers, and answering participant’s questions about recovery.

Casey Taft, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist, National Center for PTSD in the VA Boston Healthcare System
Faculty member, All Rise

Casey T. Taft, Ph.D., is a staff psychologist at the National Center for PTSD in the VA Boston Healthcare System, and Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Taft has served as Principal Investigator on funded grants focusing on understanding and preventing partner violence through the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Defense, the Blue Shield Foundation of California, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.

Dr. Taft was the primary developer of the Strength at Home programs to prevent IPV, with current grants to implement the program within civilian, military, and Veteran settings. Prior to this, he was coordinator of an abuser intervention program in an inner city civilian setting.

Dr. Taft is on the Editorial Boards of five journals and has published over 150 peer-reviewed academic articles. He has chaired an American Psychological Association task force on trauma in the military, consulted with the United Nations on preventing violence and abuse globally, and testified before the US Congress on preventing intimate partner violence in the military.

Jacqueline van Wormer, Ph.D.
Director of Research; Division Director, Center for Advancing Justice (All Rise)

Jacqueline van Wormer, PhD, is the director of the Center for Advancing Justice at All Rise and holds an affiliate faculty position at Washington State University. Before this appointment, she was an associate professor in sociology at Whitworth University.

Dr. van Wormer has held various positions in the criminal justice field, including serving as the Spokane regional criminal justice administrator, MacArthur Foundation coordinator for the Juvenile Court of Benton and Franklin Counties, intervention services manager, probation supervisor, and coordinator for both the adult and juvenile drug court programs in Benton and Franklin Counties. She has lectured and trained extensively across the country and internationally on issues related to courts, pretrial reform, and the treatment court model.

Dr. van Wormer has taught courses in statistics, courts and corrections, program evaluation, juvenile justice, drugs and crime, research methods, crime and media, and violence against women. She has written 20 peer-reviewed published articles, four book chapters, and dozens of technical reports focused on risk/need tool development, court model fidelity, detention alternatives, effective treatment options for offenders, and collaboration among social service agencies. She has successfully secured, and served as principal or co-principal investigator on over $13.5 million in grants and contracts, all focused on criminal justice system improvements.

Dr. van Wormer received her PhD in 2010 from Washington State University. She was awarded the 2017 WSU Woman of Distinction (alumna category) for her work in criminal and juvenile justice reform. Current areas of study and research focus on court responses to the opioid epidemic, measuring implementation challenges in the use of evidence-based practices, bail and pretrial justice reform, interagency collaborative partnership “drift” within court models, and improving the predictive validity of risk/need tools.

Carli Whitely
HOPE Court Coordinator and Sr. Probation Officer, Portage County Adult Probation

Carli Whitely is the HOPE Court Coordinator and Sr. Probation Officer with Portage County Adult Probation and brings over 17 years of experience in the corrections field. She has been involved with HOPE Court since its inception in 2017.

Whitely received her Bachelor of Arts in Family and Child Development, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Akron, and she is able to implement her education in her client interactions. She helped develop a quarterly survey for the HOPE participants that is now used by ALL the specialized dockets courts. This tool helps each docket improve the services offered, and ensure each participant has the opportunity to anonymously critique their respective program.

Chris Wig
Executive Director, Emergence Addiction and Behavioral Therapies
Treatment Court Institute Faculty, All Rise

Chris Wig serves as the executive director of Emergence Addiction and Behavioral Therapies in Eugene, Oregon. Emergence is the primary substance use disorder treatment provider contracted by the Lane County Adult Treatment Court, Lane County Veterans Treatment court, and Lane County Mental Health Court.

Wig has served as a member of the Treatment Court Institute faculty since 2020. He received his undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Toronto and his master’s degree from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. He is an active community volunteer, serving on the board of directors of the Willamalane Park and Recreation District, Oregon Council of Behavioral Health, and Lane County DUII Victim Impact Panel.