Francine Williams Arienti is a Senior Associate in TAC's Human Services Group and has over 16 years experience working to address the housing and service needs of people with disabilities through direct service, technical assistance and training, and policy support. Her experience includes...
View More managing and providing technical assistance for multiple federal and state initiatives designed to prevent and end homelessness through community-based housing with mainstream services and supports for persons with disabilities. She manages TAC's permanent supportive housing TA initiative in Louisiana, which is reducing homelessness and the state's reliance on high-cost restrictive care settings through the implementation of best practice housing and community supports. She also manages TAC's Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) TA initiative, supporting community providers in accessing and leveraging federal, state and local resources to serve veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
Prior to joining TAC, Francine was a Senior Project Associate at Policy Research Associates, Inc., where she managed and coordinated technical assistance, training, and knowledge dissemination activities for several homelessness, mental health and housing-related projects, including the State Policy Academies on Homelessness, HUD McKinney-Vento national homelessness technical assistance, and SAMHSA's National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness. She has co-authored several publications on evidence-based and promising practices in service delivery and housing for people who are homeless and have serious mental illnesses and/or co-occurring substance use disorders, and has worked in employment and residential treatment settings for formerly homeless individuals with mental illnesses in New York State.

Emily Cooper is a Senior Associate in TAC's Housing Group. She is a nationally recognized expert with over 17 years in helping organizations to access and better utilize federal homeless programs, including the use of Shelter Plus Care and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, to meet the needs people with disabilities, and people who are homeless, including individuals who are chronically homeless...
View More.

As a principal consultant for TAC's federal McKinney-Vento homeless contracts, Emily has provided over 50 trainings and workshops to homeless providers and Continuum of Care planning groups on critical topics related to grant administration and compliance, program design, and the implementation of best practices. She has a proven track record as a knowledgeable and approachable trainer and in ensuring positive outcomes and results. She has provided direct individualized assistance to hundreds of community-based organizations to ensure that homeless and housing programs are well coordinated, non-duplicative, and delivered in the most effective manner.

Emily has provided on-site technical assistance to various state and local governments in long-range strategic planning and partnership building to expand housing for vulnerable populations and increase access to mainstream housing and service resources, such as public housing and Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. Working with the City of Boston, the City of Des Moines, the State of Virginia, as well as numerous other governmental agencies, she has developed and helped the client to implement feasible and realistic strategies to maximize funding and leverage all available state, local, and federal resources for the lowest income households.

In addition to writing several publications for the federal government, such as the upcoming revised Shelter Plus Care Desk Guide, she is also the author of numerous TAC publications that focus public attention on the need to expand affordable housing options for people with disabilities and people who are homeless. Her most influential guidebook to date, Section 8 Made Simple, continues to be one of TAC's most-requested publications.

Prior to joining TAC, Ms. Cooper worked for the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development where she administered multiple federally-funded service-enriched housing programs for homeless and/or disabled people, and served as an agency liaison to the state human service commissions.

Kelly English, MSW, Ph.D. is a senior associate at TAC, who joined the organization in July 2010. Kelly comes to TAC with experience in Medicaid behavioral health managed care, policy, research, and clinical practice with children and families. Prior to joining TAC, ...
View More Kelly served as a consultant to Massachusetts Medicaid on the implementation of new behavioral health services for youth developed to remediate a class-action EPSDT lawsuit. Kelly also worked for several years for the Massachusetts Medicaid behavioral health carve-out vendor, assuming key roles on child and adolescent issues with the provider network, state agencies, and stakeholder groups. While there she also led efforts to organize care management approaches for children with serious emotional disturbance and worked to ensure providers delivered high quality behavioral health services to Medicaid members.

Kelly's expertise and interests are in the areas of design and implementation of care management approaches, systems of care development, person-centered planning, quality improvement strategies, and program evaluation. Her focus is also on assisting states to leverage Medicaid to develop services to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to the services they need to be successful at home and in the community. Kelly is a licensed independent clinical social work and holds a Ph.D. in social work from the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work.

Suzanne Fields, MSW joined TAC in January 2010 as a Senior Consultant. Suzanne has extensive experience as a clinician and an administrator in behavioral health, children's services, managed care, Medicaid, and child welfare. Before joining TAC, Suzanne was Director of Behavioral Health for Massachusetts Medicaid....
View More She was responsible for the service design and implementation of best practice services for children and youth under the Rosie D. judgment, a landmark class action lawsuit expanding behavioral health services to support children and their families. As Director of Behavioral Health for Massachusetts Medicaid, Suzanne was also a key contributor in reform efforts related to care for the dually eligible, medical homes, care management, and managed care design and purchasing.

Suzanne's primary focus is designing and implementing services and systems of care for individuals with behavioral health needs and their families; designing and implementing managed care approaches that address the integration of physical health and behavioral health; and financing services and systems through the development of federal Medicaid Waivers, Medicaid state plan amendments, and federal grant applications. Suzanne is a former Director for a behavioral health managed care organization where she led efforts to improve the mental health delivery system for children involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Suzanne also served as the City of Boston's first Director of Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health, where she led efforts across the city to promote youth mental health, reduce substance use and reduce violence.

Patti Holland , MS, CRC is a Senior Associate at The Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC). She has over 25 years experience working to advance recovery oriented services and systems, with an emphasis on supportive housing, rehabilitation and evidence-based practices. ...
View More Her work experience reflects a comprehensive approach to systems change and service delivery, and includes positions held in non-profit administration, academia and state government. She has worked in leadership positions in prominent non-profit organizations in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Philadelphia. She served as an Assistant Director for the New Jersey Division of Mental Health Services leading the Office of Housing, Policy, Planning and Evaluation; and was an Assistant Professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Dept of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Behavioral Healthcare.

Her areas of interest and expertise include the design and delivery of services that promote recovery, wellness, community inclusion and self-determination; facilitating organizational and systems transformation that result in desired outcomes including housing, increased income, employment/career development, and supportive relationships; and promoting workforce development strategies to ensure the most effective services and interventions are accessible and available to as many as possible.

Amy Horton is TAC's TA and Training Coordinator. She is responsible for the administration of over $2.49 million in federal grant funding from both HUD, including overseeing all of the logistics for TAC’s HUD and VA trainings. ...
View More

Prior to joining TAC, Amy worked in the non-profit sector at a Community Development Corporation assisting low-income families through the process of purchasing their first home and tracking a revolving loan pool for local home and business owners. In addition, Amy has volunteered extensively with homeless and disadvantaged populations and has extensive experience organizing events, fundraising, and spreading awareness about the issue of homelessness.

Kevin Martone has nearly 20 years of experience in executive level leadership at the national, state government and non-profit human services levels with expertise in public mental health administration. Much of his work has focused on implementing ...
View More the Olmstead decision, advancing recovery, community integration and social inclusion particularly through the use of permanent supportive housing, service coordination and other evidence-based practices. He has knowledge of complex systems, including healthcare, social services/welfare, community development, public health, criminal justice and their intersection with the political environment.

As Deputy Commissioner over mental health and substance abuse in New Jersey, he managed a $1.5 billion operating budget and advanced statewide systemic transformation of the public behavioral health system. Results include the significant downsizing of the state psychiatric hospital system, expansion of outcome-oriented community services, despite the recession, and design and implementation of administrative merger of divisions of mental health and addictions, including service integration at the provider level.

As President for the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, he advanced key policy issues on behalf of the nation’s public mental health systems before Congress, federal agencies, including CMS, HUD and SAMHSA, and other stakeholder groups.

Kevin has experience in the design and delivery of permanent supportive housing services, and utilizes a strong clinical background as foundation for diverse management skills. Kevin has expertise in public speaking and training on a range of issues related to behavioral health, including policy strategy, healthcare reform, treatment integration, and supportive housing.

Melany Mondello is an Associate in TAC’s Housing Group, who joined the organization in September 2010. She has over 13 years of experience working in non-profit mental health agencies. She has successfully worked with non-profit agencies and government entities to build partnerships and develop housing and supportive services for people with disabilities. Her expertise is in Shelter Plus Care, supportive housing, HUD’s Continuum of Care process, and developing quality improvement systems. ...
View More

Prior to joining TAC, she was the Statewide Grant Coordinator for Maine’s Shelter Plus Care and Bridging Rental Assistance subsidy programs. She also served as the Co-Chair for the Maine Balance of State Continuum of Care and the Data/HMIS sub-committee for 7 years. She has delivered presentations at multiple local, regional and national conferences on topics of HMIS, Annual Progress Reporting, Permanent Supportive Housing Models, Cost Studies and High-Performing Rural Continuum structure.

Under contract with the Maine State Department of Health and Human Services, Ms. Mondello helped to triple the number of housing vouchers available to people with severe mental illness as well as expand the permanent housing options available to people with disabilities who were experiencing homelessness. Melany served as the lead staff in the Maine Cost of Homelessness grant and co-authored three reports which have received national coverage detailing the benefits of rural and urban permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness with disabilities. She is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a Bachelors degree in psychology.

Gina Schaak is an Associate in TAC's Housing Group and is TAC's policy liaison. She has over ten years experience helping non-profit housing and service agencies to navigate through local and federal regulations, in order to access resources for permanent supportive housing for the most vulnerable populations. ...
View More

Gina is a skilled trainer and has extensive experience providing support and consultation to individual projects. She has worked with numerous non-profit homeless and housing organizations to troubleshoot project management issues, identifying obstacles and recommending realistic solutions. Gina has also worked with community and state planning groups to help build consensus and formulate collaborative partnerships to expand housing options for people who are homeless and have a disability.

Gina serves as TAC's national policy researcher and public liaison. She tracks federal congressional activity related to relevant homeless and housing legislation and disseminates information to the public, both via TAC's website and through partnerships with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force.

Prior to joining TAC, Gina worked for the City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development managing multiple federal homeless Supportive Housing Programs and Shelter Plus Care grants.

Lisa Sloane is a Senior Associate at TAC. For over 20 years, Lisa has worked with federal, state and local governments as well as nonprofit agencies, including faith-based organizations, to address the supportive housing needs of people with disabilities, including homeless individuals and their families. Her work in the area of ending homelessness includes the development and implementation of training as well as technical...
View More assistance to Continuums of Care and individual programs. She has also worked with the States of Pennsylvania and Louisiana to develop and implement Permanent Supportive Housing programs. In Massachusetts, she played a key role in the development of innovative cross disability housing programs, including a housing locator system, a state housing bond fund and a state home modification loan program. She has expertise in the area of fair housing.

Prior to joining TAC, Lisa was principal of Sloane Associates, a woman-owned business that provided affordable housing and human services consultation, specializing in the development of housing programs and policies for persons with disabilities, including homeless persons with disabilities.

Kyia Watkins joined TAC in July 2011 as a Project Coordinator. Prior to joining TAC, Kyia worked as an administrative coordinator for one of Boston's leading Medical Centers. There, she ensured that all proposed research and personnel remained compliant with government regulations as well as the Medical Center's guidelines and concerns.
View More In addition, she assisted research personnel with the completion of their projects for submission to the IRB and ensured that all proposed research was safe for participants. During the last 10 years as a coordinator, Kyia has become experienced in organizing meetings, managing schedules, providing technical assistance to peers and colleagues and coordinating and facilitating trainings.

James M. Yates is a Senior Associate at TAC, with a focus on affordable housing for homeless people and people with disabilities. Jim works with non-pr ofit agencies to troubleshoot and evaluate supportive housing programs and assists local and state governments to develop and implement strategic plans to address the needs of vulnerable populations. He also provides customized trainings and information...
View More dissemination on housing programs and regulations.

Prior to joining TAC, Mr. Yates served as a Housing Development Officer for the City of Boston's Department of Neighborhood Development, working collaboratively with communities on the planning, design and development of affordable housing throughout many of Boston's neighborhoods, as well as collaborating with local Public Housing Authorities on the Section 8 Project-Based Assistance Program and the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation SRO Program for Homeless Individuals. He also played an important role in the program development of a specialized continuum of care for homeless veterans in the Boston area.