Kevin J. Mahoney
National Program Director

Dr. Mahoney is a faculty member at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work where he serves as Professor. During his 25 year career in gerontology and long-term care, Dr. Mahoney has served in a number of policy making and administrative positions in the state governments of Connecticut and California.

Prior to coming to Boston College, he held academic appointments at Yale University, the University of Connecticut, the University of California- San Francisco and the University of Maryland. From 1978 to 1987, Dr. Mahoney served as Chief of Research and Program Development at the Connecticut Department on Aging where he was responsible for that state's home care programs for the frail elderly. From 1987 to 1995, Dr. Mahoney developed and implemented innovative partnerships between private insurance and Medicaid to finance long-term care, first in the State of Connecticut and then in the State of California.

An expert on state government and long-term care innovation, he speaks and writes extensively on consumer direction, the roles of the public and private sectors in financing long-term care, long-term care insurance and care management.

Kristin Simone
Deputy Program Director

Prior to coming to Boston College, Ms. Simone completed a Master of Management with a concentration in Health Policy at the Heller Graduate School at Brandeis University.

While at the Heller School, Ms. Simone served as a Research Assistant at the Starr Center for Mental Retardation, where she worked on a national survey of families of children with special health care needs. As a final degree requirement, Ms. Simone completed a management team consulting project with the Massachusetts Senate Post Audit and Oversight Bureau, which examined the efficacy of the nursing home inspection process.

In 1999, Kristin Simone joined the Cash & Counseling National Program Office staff at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work.

Elizabeth joined the Cash & Counseling NPO in October 2005. She previously worked as a research assistant for the Center for the Study of Home and Community Life, including work on Cash & Counseling, in 2004 while completing her MSW at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work. Elizabeth has recently worked on health care issues in Massachusetts with the advocacy organization Health Care For All.

Dr. Lori Simon-Rusinowitz, M.P.H., Ph.D. is Research Director of Cash and Counseling at the University of Maryland Center on Aging and an Associate Professor in the Department of Public and Community Health. Her research focus has been in the field of aging and disability policy issues for the past 18 years.

As Research Director for the CCDE, Dr. Simon-Rusinowitz has overseen a three-part study of consumers' preferences for consumer-directed personal care as well as other components of the Demonstration and Evaluation. Dr. Simon-Rusinowitz has published and presented extensively on workforce and caregiver issues. In addition to her research responsibilities, she is the Undergraduate and Graduate Community Health Internship Coordinator.

Prior to joining the University of Maryland in 1992, Dr. Simon-Rusinowitz held positions at the George Washington University National Health Policy Forum and The Gerontological Society of America. She earned a Ph.D. in Health Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an M.P.H. from the University of Michigan.

Nancy Fishman
Senior Program Officer

Nancy Fishman is an Evaluation Officer in the Research and Evaluation Unit at RWJF. She has been at the Foundation since 1997. Ms. Fishman's portfolio of evaluation/assessment grants covers a wide range of health and health care topics reflecting the Foundation's mission.

In addition she is a member of the Nursing and Human Capital team. She is program officer for a number of grants reflecting her interest in issues around increased community capacity for long term care for the elderly, this includes the Cash and Counseling program.

Ms. Fishman holds a B.S. in Nursing from the University of Connecticut, and a M.P.H. in Epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Ann Christiano
Senior Communications Officer

Ann Christiano directs the Connect project at RWJF, an effort which is successfully building relationships between RWJF grantees and their members of Congress, through visits to Capitol Hill, briefings by RWJF grantees and Congressional site visits. She is also the communications officer for the Foundation's Vulnerable Populations portfolio.

Ann previously worked for the Washington Business Group on Health, The Institute for Business Technology and the National Endowment for the Arts.

She is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park, College of Journalism, where she studied journalism and public relations. She has a Masters in Public Affairs and Politics from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

She is a member of the 2002 class of Leadership New Jersey and an active volunteer with the Somerset County Association of Young Professionals and the Central Union Mission.

Jennifer Dobossy
Grants Administrator

Jennifer Dobossy manages six Foundation national programs and an array of ad hoc grants as grants administrator on the Vulnerable Populations Team at RWJF.

Prior to joining the Foundation in February 2002, Jennifer was a grants manager of the Well Fargo Housing Foundation at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, managing the company-wide volunteer grant sponsorship programs with Habitat for Humanity, including handling responsibilities as a cornerstone partner; and assisted in the execution of activities for five national Foundation programs. Previously she worked in marketing and communications at Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota and Haworth Marketing and Media, Co.

Jennifer holds a B.A. in journalism and business administration from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

Pam Doty:
Senior Policy Analyst

Pamela Doty is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Division of Disability, Aging, and Long-term Care Policy in the Office of ASPE, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Prior to joining this office in 1987, she was a senior analyst in the Office of Legislation and Policy in the Health Care Financing Administration (now calledCMS), a Congressional Fellow at the Office of Technology Assessment, and a Research Associate at the Center for Policy Research in New York City.

She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University. In recent years, her research has focused especially on family caregiving, assisted living facilities, Medicaid spend-down in nursing homes, variations in state approaches to home and community-based long-term care services, consumer-directed personal assistance services, private long-term care insurance, and cross- national comparisons of long-term care financing and organization.

Marie Squillace:
Senior Policy Analyst

Marie Squillace is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She currently develops and oversees a policy research agenda on paraprofessional long-term care workforce issues and implements intramural and extramural projects based on this agenda. She also serves on the management team for the Cash and Counseling replication project. Prior to coming to ASPE in 2004, Dr. Squillace evaluated policies and programs related to the community-based long-term care for older persons and their families under the auspices of the Older Americans Act at the U.S. Administration on Aging.

Dr. Squillace previously held an academic appointment at the University of Maryland, Center on Aging where she served in the National Program Office for the experimental Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation program launched in 1995. She received her Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Maryland.

Ruth Katz
Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Disability, Aging, and LTC Policy

Ruth E. Katz is the Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She oversees a range of policy and research activities related to disability and aging.

Ruth has 25 years of experience with disability and long-term care issues, including: managed care and other health and long-term care delivery systems -- financing, structure and quality; home and community-based services; nursing home and post-acute care financing and quality; Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance policy related to people with disabilities and chronic conditions; alternative residential systems; and health information technology as it relates to post acute and long-term care.

Linda Velgouse
Aging Services Program Specialist

Ms. Velgouse is a member of AoAs Center for Planning and Policy Development with responsibility for issues related to community supports and consumer direction for elderly individuals. Ms. Velgouse’s background includes positions at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging and the National Council on Aging. In the former, she was the Director for Home and Community Based Services for more than five years and worked with non-profit HCBS and housing providers to develop and implement policies and programs to increase access and availability of home and community based LTC services. At NCOA, Ms. Velgouse directed a national Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant program to increase consumer direction in HCBS for persons with disabilities of all ages. Ms. Velgouse has a BA in Political Science and a Masters in Public Health.

Mary Sowers
Health Insurance Specialist

Mary Sowers is currently a Health Insurance Specialist with the Home and Community-Based Services Waiver program in the Division of Benefits and Coverage, Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid and State Operations, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Prior to joining CMS, Mary spearheaded efforts to develop an Independence Plus waiver in Maryland, and oversaw Maryland's Home and Community Based services waiver which serves nearly 10,000 individuals with developmental disabilities. In addition to extensive legislative and executive branch policy experience - both in advocacy and public service roles, Mary has a demonstrated commitment, personally and professionally, to working to improve opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Anita Yuskauskas
Technical Director

Anita Yuskauskas is currently the Technical Director for Quality in HCBS Waivers with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She had previously been a Waiver Analyst there and worked on the Independence Plus Initiative. Dr. Yuskauskas also served as a Division Chief in Hawaii's Department of Health, overseeing their developmental disabilities, Hansen's Disease, and brain injury programs. She also served as Chief Policy Analyst for the Center for Outcome Analysis in Rosemont, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Yuskauskas received her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation from Syracuse University in 1992. She conducted numerous program evaluation and qualitative research projects specializing in organizational change, and taught graduate courses in human services and special education. Dr. Yuskauskas has volunteered her time as an advisor for self-advocates and is a trained mediator.

Christina Battista

Christina Battista is involved with the Rhode Island consumer advisory panel for individuals who are involved with the Cash and Counseling Program. She has received her Associates Degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Psychology. Currently, Christina is attending Rhode Island College pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. One day she hopes to be a counselor for individuals who have a physical disability.

Susan Battista

Susan has a daughter who was born with a physical disability which sparked great interest in wanting to help others. Susan was in a nursing program so she could help her daughter in a variety of ways. She was the chairperson for the Special Education Board for the Northwest region of Rhode Island. One major issue that their small town faced was that the special education buses did not have seatbelts for the children. After many trials and tribulations Susan was able to succeed in getting the seatbelts placed on the buses. When her child attended school in her teens years, she felt her daughter should be involved in her own IEP'S (Individual Evaluation Program)-this was a battle she won. Wanting to further her involvement with society, Susan worked as a physical therapist assistant for the Rhode Island ARC for six years. This job entailed creating general service plans (GSP) for individuals which had to be passed by the state. Currently, Susan is on the advisory panel for the state of Rhode Island, and also serves the role as personal care assistant for her daughter.

Lynn MacDonald

Lynn MacDonald received a B.S. Degree at Augsburg college. She is a LSW in MN and runs a small Guardianship/Trustee business. In 1995, Lynn was awarded the Doris Sveen award for excellence in Guardianship. She has been working with individuals with developmental disabilities most of her career, either in residential settings, day program settings, or as an Arc advocate. She has talked to legislators, completed person centered plans, as well as started and ran People First Groups. A year ago, Lynn was certified as a Support Broker and has written a few plans in MN.

Working in her current field, Lynn is always trying to keep up to date on what new initiatives MN is doing to improve delivery of services that include self-determination, choice, and control over delivery of service. In October 2005, Lynn's Mom had a stroke and needed a lot of support to remain at home. She knew the Cash & Counseling program was available in MN and so they enrolled. It is so wonderful. It meets her Mom's needs on so many levels that traditional services cannot. Living with her own disability and having to navigate/advocate through many systems for decades has allowed Lynn to see and experience a lot. So, MN recommended Lynn and Cash & Counseling accepted her to be a part of the core staff as a consumer.

Glenna Taylor

Glenna Taylor is a Project Coordinator through the ARC of KY Advocates in Action Program. She has a son Kevin Webb who has intellectual disabilities and lives at home with her and her husband. They live in Glasgow, KY. Kevin is 37 years old. Her husband is also on disability and she has in-laws in their 80s and a mother who is 79.

She is a graduate of Partners in Policy and also Project Leadership Training in D.C. Project Coordinator for the Arc of Kentucky Family to Family Health and Educational Initiative. Member of the Supports for Community Living Commission Appointed by the Governor. Served for 4 years on Kentucky Workforce Development Board Appointed by the Governor. Member of the Consumer Direction Option Advisory Board in KY. President of the Arc of Barren County 2 years. Served on the State President Commission for Intellectual Disabilities.

Glenna, her son, and THE ARC of KY, were successful in getting a law past in Kentucky known as The Kevin Webb and Kim Brown Self-Determination Act. This act is the first of its kind across the US and set a National Record of passing in 19 days.