Staff
President and CEODirector of Finance and Administration/CFO
Director of Clinical Operations/COO
Director of Psychiatry/Medical Director
Director of Training and Quality Management
Director of Behavioral and Primary Health Care Services
Director, Bushwick Mental Health Clinic
Director, Canarsie Mental Health Clinic
Director, Flatbush-Sheepshead Mental Health Clinic and V.I.P. Mobile Geriatric Treatment Team
Director, Louis E. Reinhold Downtown Mental Health Clinic and Rose Gelormino STAR School Program
Director, Edward S. Lentol Williamsburg-Greenpoint Mental Health Clinic
Director, ACCESS Program
Director, Central Brooklyn Initiative Program (CBIP)
Director, Childrens ACT Team
Director, Clearway Dual Diagnosis (MICA) Program
Director, Clearway Dual Diagnosis (MICA) Program Director, WIN Program
President and CEO
Pamela D. Straker, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Pamela D. Straker, Ph.D. is president and CEO of Brooklyn CareWorks, an agency she joined in 1999.
In her position at Brooklyn CareWorks, Dr. Straker manages an annual budget in excess of $7 million and more than a dozen programs, including on-site programs in the public schools, five community-based mental health clinics, programs for seniors, a drug and alcohol treatment program, and specialized mental health services. She leads a staff of more than 100 full-time and part-time professionals and support personnel in providing services for more than 2,300 children, adults, and seniors and their families, resulting in more than 60,000 visits annually.
Dr. Straker, a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist, has more than 20 years experience as a mental health professional. During her career she has provided individual, family, and group therapy, offered technical assistance, and served in foster care, Head Start, and other human service agencies.
Her knowledge has been sought and shared with the New York State Council for Exceptional Children, Child Welfare League of America, New Jersey State Department of Health, and the Medical Society of Kings County, New York. Dr. Straker has been consulted by and appeared on numerous television and radio programs, and she was recruited to teach social policy as it pertains to mental health in the graduate division of New York University’s School of Social Work.
Dr. Straker was the recipient of the Brooklyn Borough President’s Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Humanatarian Award in 2006. She serves on the Courier Life and Caribbean Life Publications Political Forums at Kingsborough Community College; the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Kings County Democratic County Committee; and the New York State Assembly Mental Health Committee Task Force/Underserved Populations Subcommittee.
Dr. Straker has served on the Board of the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies, Inc.; Integrated Children’s Services, Inc. (ICS); PRISM for Youth, Inc.; Mental Health Association of New York City’s Professional Advisory Committee; and Citywide Behavioral Network.
She also serves as a member of Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee. Dr. Straker was recruited to serve as an active member of the External Review Team of the New Jersey Department of Education, monitoring the educational practices of that state’s largest city, Newark. In addition, the New York Community Trust and New York City Partnership sought Dr. Straker to serve on “The Education Task Force of the New York City Town Meeting.”
Dr. Straker holds a doctoral degree in School-Community Psychology from Hofstra University, where she also received a master’s degree, and has achieved alumna status at Columbia University’s Executive Level Institute for Not-for-Profit Management. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester.
Dr. Straker is available to speak to the media and professional and community groups about mental health issues.
Director of Finance and Administration/CFO
Lawrence Mitchell, M.B.A.
Director of Finance and Administration/CFO
Mr. Mitchell joined Brooklyn CareWorks’ senior management team in 1986 as controller. In his current position as the director of Finance and Administration, Mr. Mitchell manages a budget in excess of $7 million and assists in the supervision of more than 100 management and union full-time and part-time employees in more than a dozen programs. He also has been instrumental in upgrading the technology in the agency.
Mr. Mitchell earned a master’s degree in Finance from Long Island University and an undergraduate degree in Accounting at St. Francis College. He also has completed a number of computer courses in various applications.
He has served as an executive board member of the Citywide Behavioral Network, a consortium of more than 35 agencies forming a Managed Service Organization, and chaired its Legal Committee, and has been active with the United Way as a volunteer speaker. His memberships include the Association of MBA’s, and alumni associations of St. Francis College and Long Island University.
Directorof Clinical Operations/COO
Marie Kelleher, LCSW
Director of Clinical Operations/COO
Mrs. Kelleher is a licensed psychiatric social worker. She is part of a management team that oversees a staff of more than 100 clinical and support personal, and is responsible for the operation of the agency’s programs, which include five community-based clinics, on-site programs in the public schools, prevention services for children and families, a drug and alcohol treatment program, senior programs, and specialized mental health services.
Mrs. Kelleher’s experience ranges from individual, group, and family therapy to grant writing and serving as the liaison with the managed behavioral health companies that have contracts with Brooklyn CareWorks. She works closely with other human service providers and government agencies. She is responsible for the compliance and implementation of the Rules and Regulations of the State Office of Mental Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and for the agency’s Quality Assurance Program and Consumer Satisfaction Surveys. She is most proud of being instrumental in the formation of the agency’s Consumer Advisory Committee whose representatives serve on the agency’s board of directors.
Mrs. Kelleher brought considerable programmatic and administrative expertise to her current position when she became director of Clinical Operations in 1991. Prior to moving to the executive office, she was the clinic administrator at the Williamsburg/Greenpoint Mental Health Clinic. Previously, she was a social worker at the Williamsburg/Greenpoint Mental Health Clinic, Kings County Hospital Center, and Catholic Charities of New York.
She holds a master’s degree from the Fordham School of Social Service and has achieved a certificate from the Manhattan Center for Psychotherapy and Minuchin Center on Family Studies. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College.
Her continuing education includes numerous seminars/workshops such those given at the Ackerman Institute for Family Therapy, the Society of the Advancement of Self Psychology, Short-Term Solution Focus Therapy/Stress Management, and Cultural Sensitivity Training. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the Academy of Certified Social Workers.
Director of Psychiatry/Medical Director
Robert Freeman, M.D.
Director of Psychiatry and Medical director
Dr. Freeman joined Brooklyn CareWorks as its director of Psychiatry and Medical director in 2004.
His previous experience includes: director of Outpatient Services and chief of MICA Inpatient Services for North General Hospital; medical director and consultant psychiatrist for Northside Center for Child Development, Manhattan; associate director of the Department of Psychiatry and staff psychiatrist at Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, the Bronx; medical director and psychiatrist at Kingsboro Addiction Treatment Center, Brooklyn; in private practice and a consultant psychiatrist for a number of mental health programs in Tennessee; chief of service and physician on duty at Brooklyn Children’s Psychiatric Center; and adolescent psychiatrist for Montefiore Medical Center-Rikers, Mental Health Division.
He has given a number of presentations and workshops in the areas of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Treatment Issues; Attention Deficit Disorder; Mental Illness and Chemical Abuse (MICA); and Psychotropic Intervention with Children and Adolescents. Venues and audiences have included: Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Grand Rounds-St. Luke’s Hospital, Harlem Hospital, Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center, Alumni Association of Rutgers University School of Social Work, Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers, Clinical Conference-NYC Board of Education Teaching and Guidance Staff, parent groups, and radio and television audiences in Tennessee.
Dr. Freeman earned his medical degree from the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He completed an internship in general psychiatry and his residency and fellowships in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, all at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Freeman is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Director of Training and Quality Management
Steven Demby, Ph.D.
Director of Training and Quality Management
Dr. Demby is the director of Training and Quality Management. He joined Brooklyn CareWorks as chief psychologist in 1999 and since that time has assumed the responsibility for the agency’s training, evaluation, and quality management initiatives. He also has maintained a part-time private practice since 1983.
Dr. Demby’s previous experience includes serving as a psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn; custody evaluations for the Brooklyn Center for Families in Crisis, Brooklyn; psychotherapy and psychodiagnostic testing for Geropsychology Associates, Long Island; program director at South Beach Psychiatric Center, Staten Island; neuropsychological testing at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, East Orange, NJ; and teaching learning disabled boys at the Bronx Children’s Psychiatric Center.
He has made numerous presentations on a variety of psychological topics. Additionally, he has academic and professional appointments with the Washington Square Institute and the Graduate School Psychology Program at Pace University. His professional affiliations include the American Psychological Association, Division of Psychoanalysis, the International Psychoanalytical Association, the New York Freudian Society, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, and the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals.
Dr. Demby earned a bachelor of arts degree, cum laude, from Columbia College, a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Long Island University, and a certificate in psychoanalysis from the Psychoanalytic Training Institute of the New York Freudian Society.
Director of Behavioral and Primary Health Care Services
Marcia Titus-Prescott, R.N.C.
Director of Behavioral and Primary Health Care Services
Ms. Titus-Prescott is the director of Behavioral and Primary Health Care Services for Brooklyn CareWorks, a position created to help clients improve their physical well-being.
Ms. Titus-Prescott joined the agency’s Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team in 1997, and served as its program administrator from 1999 to 2007. The Children’s ACT Team provides psychiatry, nursing, social work, psycho-education, case management, and advocacy services to seriously emotionally disturbed children ages 5 to 17 by supporting and strengthening their families and preventing out-of-home therapeutic placement.
She earned a general nursing degree and mental health nursing degree from East Glamorgan Teaching Hospital and Witchurch Teaching Hospital, South Wales, United Kingdom, and a diploma in psychology from the College of Allied Sciences in Trinidad.
Ms. Titus-Prescott has the following certifications: BCLS, Child Abuse Reporting, Infecting Control and Barrier Protection, ANCC Certification Psychiatric and Mental Health, and Family Development Credential for Supervisors from Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology.
Director, Bushwick Mental Health Clinic
Joanne Siegel, LCSW
Director, Bushwick Mental Health Clinic
Ms. Siegel is the director for Brooklyn CareWorks’ Bushwick Mental Health Clinic, a position she has held since 2002. In addition to her administrative duties at the clinic, Ms. Siegel also sees clients.
Ms. Siegel has been a clinical social worker for more than 25 years and prior to joining Brooklyn CareWorks, Ms. Siegel was director, assistant director, on-site program director, and on-site therapist for New Hope Guild in East New York, Brooklyn, from 1986 to 2001, and a psychotherapist for Amico Center for Family Living, Brooklyn. She also has maintained a private practice since 1996.
Ms. Siegel earned her master’s of Social Work degree from the New York University School of Social Work and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. She has completed coursework at Beth Israel Medical Center, Manhattan, in “A Relational Framework for Integrating Cognitive-Behavioral Principles in Brief Psychotherapy” and completed coursework and supervision at the Institute for Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies, Manhattan.
She has received certifications from New York University for the supervision of social work students and from the New York State Education Department as a licensed clinical social worker, and is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers.
Ms. Siegel has served as the chairperson for the New York City On-Site Director’s Committee, New York City Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Alcoholism. In addition, she has made a number of presentations to groups on mental health topics.
Director, Canarsie Mental Health Clinic
Sheryl Alman-Charles, LCSW-R
Director, Canarsie Mental Health Clinic
Ms. Alman-Charles is the director for the Canarsie Mental Health Clinic, a position she has held since 2001.
Her previous experience includes serving as a Social Work supervisor and program coordinator for the Domestic Violence Aftercare and Drug Elimination Programs at the New York City Housing Authority, Manhattan and Brooklyn; a therapist for St. Vincent Services, Mental Health Clinic, Brooklyn; assistant director and residential rehabilitation supervisor for the Institute for Community Living, Brooklyn; social worker for the Canarsie Aware Mental Health Clinic, Brooklyn; and social worker for the Cypress Hills Local Development Corp., Brooklyn.
Ms. Alman-Charles earned her MSW/CSW from the Hunter College School of Social Work.
Director, Flatbush-Sheepshead Mental Health Clinic and VIP Mobile Geriatric Team
Toni F. Holder, LCSW
Director, Flatbush-Sheepshead Mental Health Clinic and VIP Mobile Geriatric Team
Ms. Holder is the director for Brooklyn CareWorks’ Flatbush-Sheepshead Mental Health Clinic, a position she has held since 1991, and director of the VIP Mobile Geriatric Team, which provides services to homebound seniors and their families, a position she has held since 2005. She also has served the agency as clinic administrator for the agency’s school-based F.L.A.G. program and, during an earlier period, as program administrator and a psychiatric social worker for the agency’s V.I.P. Mobile Geriatric Team.
As director of the Flatbush-Sheepshead Mental Health Clinic, Ms. Holder is responsible for the clinic’s daily operations, provides psychotherapy for individuals, groups, and families, handles intake procedures, coordinates managed care referrals and policies, and provides referrals and crisis interventions in a supportive environment.
Prior to joining Brooklyn CareWorks, Ms. Holder was a social work intern at Long Beach Mental Health Clinic, Long Beach, NY; Tempo Youth and Drug Treatment Center, Woodmere, NY; and Geriatric Center of Peninsula General Hospital, Far Rockaway, NY.
Ms. Holder earned a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, and was formerly president of her cooperative building in Queens, a board member of Canarsie AWARE, Inc., and board member of the Community Council of Nassau County.
Director, Louis E. Reinhold Downtown Mental Health Clinic and Rose Gelormino STAR School Program
Patricia Reid, LCSW
Director, Louis E. Reinhold Downtown Mental Health Clinic and Rose Gelormino STAR School Program
Ms. Reid joined Brooklyn CareWorks as the director of the Louis E. Reinhold Downtown Mental Health Clinic and director of the Rose Gelormino STAR School Program in 2006.
She previously served as the assistant director of field instruction at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, Manhattan. In addition, Ms. Reid spent nearly 20 years at Northside Center for Child Development, Inc., Manhattan, where she served as chief of the Home-based Crisis Intervention Program, chief of the Intake Department and Community Outreach, and chief of the Social Work Department. Her other experience includes positions with the Children’s Aid Society and Spence-Chapin Services to Children and Families, both in Manhattan.
Ms. Reid’s teaching appointments include serving as a graduate teaching fellow and adjunct professor in the Sociology Department at Hunter College, Manhattan, and faculty field work liaison in the Adelphi University School of Social Work, Manhattan. She has served as a consultant for Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Children, Manhattan; Northern Manhattan Perinatal Parthership, Inc., Manhattan; Weston United, Manhattan; Life Force: Women Fighting AIDs, Brooklyn; and Graham-Windham Services, Manhattan.
She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and has served as a board member and third vice president, and a member of the Council on Social Work Education.
Ms. Reid earned her master’s degree in Social Work from the Fordham University School of Social Work, Manhattan, and is expected to complete her Ph.D. in 2008 from the Hunter College School of Social Work, Manhattan. Her bachelor’s degree is in psychology from Hunter College.
Director, Edward S. Lentol Williamsburg-Greenpoint Mental Health Clinic
Myron Greenberg, LCSW
Director, Edward S. Lentol Williamsburg-Greenpoint Mental Health Clinic
Mr. Greenberg is the director of Brooklyn CareWorks’ Edward S. Lentol Williamsburg-Greenpoint Mental Health Clinic, a position he has held since 1994. Prior to that he was the program administrator for the agency’s school-based STAR Program.
His previous experience includes serving as the director of the SPAN (Special Program for the Assessment of Needs) Project for the Association for Children with Retarded Mental Development, Queens; director of the Coney Island Community Support Systems Project, part of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Brooklyn; a social work consultant for drug abuse treatment programs for the Department of Community Medicine at the Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center; clinic director for the New York City Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, Lower Eastside Service Center, Manhattan; social worker for the Lower Eastside Service Center, Manhattan; caseworker-group worker, Washington Heights Community Service Psychiatric Institute, Manhattan; group worker, Home for the Aged, Jewish Guild for the Blind, Yonkers; and foster care/adoption case worker, Society for Seamen’s Children, Staten Island.
Mr. Greenberg earned his master of Social Work degree from the Hunter College School of Social Work, and bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA.
Director, ACCESS
Robert J. Sweeney, LCSW
Director, Access
Mr. Sweeney has been the director of Brooklyn CareWorks’ ACCESS Program since its inception in October, 2000. The ACCESS Program is a specialized mental health clinic providing outpatient services to a wide variety of clients, with a focus on individuals referred from the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program and the Criminal Justice System, as well as clients from other groups with a heightened level of need.
Mr. Sweeney has worked in the area of mental health for more than 20 years, in agencies and in private practice. His areas of special interest are serious and persistent mental illness; gay/lesbian/transgender issues; and depression and other mood disorders. He has presented on mental health topics, including working with clients referred from the criminal justice system.
He has a bachelor’s degree in physics, completed extensive graduate work in musicology, and is a graduate of the New York University School of Social Work.
Director, Central Brooklyn Initiative Program (CBIP)
Nixon A. Charles, LCSW-R
Director, Central Brooklyn Initiative Program (CBIP)
Mr. Charles is the director for the Central Brooklyn Initiative Program, which provides counseling to students attending the Erasmus Campus High School, Wingate Campus High School, and ACORN Community High School to help them make successful personal and academic transitions and complete their high school education. In addition, he is a psychotherapist at the Neighborhood Counseling Center and Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Inc., both in Brooklyn.
Mr. Charles joined the Central Brooklyn Initiative Program as a clinical therapist in 1998. His other experience includes serving as a case manager for the Citizen Advice Bureau, the Bronx; independent living skills instructor for The Girls Club, the Bronx; and work in a therapeutic crisis group home for Leake and Watts Childrens Service, Yonkers, NY.
Mr. Charles earned a master’s degree in Social Work and completed a post-master’s program in Advanced Clinical Social Work, both from the Hunter College School of Social Work. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in Sociology from the State University at Old Westbury, Old Westbury, NY, and graduated with honors from Sullivan County Community College, Lock Sheldrake, NY.
Director, Children’s ACT Team
Scott S. Opper, LCSW
Director, Children’s ACT Team
Mr. Opper joined Brooklyn CareWorks as director for the Children’s Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team in 2007. The Children’s ACT Team provides psychiatry, nursing, social work, psycho-education, case management, and advocacy services to seriously emotionally disturbed children ages 5 to 17 by supporting and strengthening their families and preventing out-of-home therapeutic placement.
As program director, Mr. Opper is responsible for the daily activities of the Children’s ACT Team, which offers its psychiatric and psychotherapeutic services in the family’s home environment. Team members also assess the healthcare needs of clients and family members, advocate healthcare services, and make the appropriate referrals for clients and family members; provide supportive counseling to clients and family members; conduct community outreach to the appropriate agencies; and assist in crisis intervention and hospitalizations, and medication management.
Prior to joining Brooklyn CareWorks, Mr. Opper maintained a private practice in Brooklyn and served as a medical social worker for Geriatric Resource Consultants, Brooklyn; psychotherapist and trauma specialist for North Shore Psychological and Social Work Services, Manhattan; clinical coordinator and acting program director for New York Service Network-Substance Abuse, Brooklyn; psychiatric/medical social worker for Revival Home Health Care, Brooklyn; Federal Pre-trial & Holistic Programs coordinator for the Counseling Service of the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn; director of Community Development for former NYC Councilman Ken Fisher, Brooklyn; and child protective specialist/investigator for the Florida Department of Children and Families, Orlando, FL.
Mr. Opper’s community activities include serving as a first responder volunteer for the Medical Reserve Corps; member of the Housing /Human Services Committee for Brooklyn’s Community Board Six; president of the board of directors of the Black Moon Theater Company; and former board member for the North Flatbush BID & Grand Street BID. He also has served as a volunteer language and writing partner for the International Center of New York City; as senior campaign coordinator for Ken Fisher for Borough President in 2001; volunteer mental health professional to the community and firefighters following the 9-11 attacks; and counselor/mental volunteer for the Great Oaks Village Reunification Center, Orlando.
He earned his master’s degree in Social Work from New York University, Manhattan, and bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Central Florida, Orlando, where he was in the Honors College. He received his associate’s degree from Valencia Community College, Orlando, where he was on the Dean’s List and President’s List. He has completed a number of training courses including courses on Child Abuse/Neglect, Adolescents in the Criminal Justice System, and Palliative Care.
Director, Clearway Dual Diagnosis (MICA) Program
Elaine S. Schechtel, LCSW
Director, Clearway
Ms. Schechtel is director of Brooklyn CareWorks’ Clearway program, a dual diagnosis treatment program, also known as a MICA (Mentally Ill Chemically Addicted) program. She created Clearway in 1999 to serve adolescents and adults with co-existing mental health issues and chemical addictions and their families. In this position, she is responsible for the administration of the program, supervising the staff, providing individual and group therapy, conducting outreach, and coordinating services with community agencies.
Prior to joining Brooklyn CareWorks, Ms. Schechtel was the MICA specialist/supervisor for the Corona Elmhurst Community Support Systems; a clinical social worker at Bleuler Psychotherapy Center, Inc.; clinical social worker at the Lower Eastside Service Center, Inc.; and intern at Daytop Village, Inc. and the Glendale Mental Health Clinic.
Ms. Schechtel earned her master’s degree in Social Work from Fordham University and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Boston University. She has certificates for A.C.S.W.; C.S.W.; “R” Third Party Insurance Qualification; Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy; Seminar in Field Instruction; and the HIV Counselor Training Program.
Ms. Schechtel is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies’ Committee on Co-occurring Psychiatric and Addictive Disorders.
Director, WIN Program
Helga Abel, LCSW
Director, WIN Program
Ms. Abel is the assistant director for the Williamsburg-Greenpoint Mental Health Clinic and director for the WIN Program. The WIN Program provides therapeutic services to children and adolescents attending IS 49, the William Gaynor Intermediate School, who as a result of emotional or social difficulties are at risk for Special Education placement.
Prior to joining Brooklyn CareWorks, Ms. Abel was a psychotherapist for the New Hope Guild Center; psychiatric social worker for the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Brooklyn; and psychotherapist and counselor for Talbot Perkins Children’s Services. In addition she is an adjunct lecturer at the Columbia University School of Social Work.
Ms. Abel earned her master’s degree in Social Work from New York University, and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College. She also attended the Universities of Vienna, Goettingen, and Frankfurt.