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APSAC Fellowship

Read Current Fellow Bios Here
APSAC Fellow Logo

Benefits of Becoming a Fellow

  • Use of Post-Nominals (FAPSAC)
  • Recognition on APSAC’s Website
  • Recognition at annual Colloquium
  • Access to Fellow Facebook Group
  • Certificate of Recognition

APSAC Fellowship

APSAC Fellow status is given to APSAC members who have shown evidence of professional growth and development through attendance at APSAC sponsored events and in recognition of their support for the advancement of APSAC’s mission to prevent child maltreatment.

Apply Here

Pathways

Requirements to Qualify for the General Pathway:

  • Current paid APSAC Membership and 8 or more years of membership (does not have to be consecutive years of membership)
  • Attendance at 2 or more APSAC Colloquiums
  • 50 or more hours of APSAC hosted trainings
  • 2 References
  • 250 word Contribution Summary of your work in the field of child maltreatment
  • CV/Resume

Requirements to Qualify for the Publications Pathway:

  • Current paid APSAC Membership and 7 or more years of membership (does not have to be consecutive years of membership)
  • Attendance at 2 or more APSAC Colloquiums
  • 40 or more hours of APSAC hosted trainings
  • at least 1 APSAC Publication (Child Maltreatment, APSAC Advisor, or APSAC Alert)
  • 2 References
  • 250 word Contribution Summary of your work in the field of child maltreatment
  • CV/Resume

Requirements to Qualify for the Board Pathway:

  • Current paid APSAC Membership and 6 or more years of membership (does not have to be consecutive years of membership)
  • Attendance at 4 or more APSAC Colloquiums
  • 30 or more hours of APSAC hosted trainings
  • at least 1 term of service on APSAC Board
  • 250 word Contribution Summary of your work in the field of child maltreatment
  • CV/Resume

Requirements to Qualify for the Pioneer Pathway:

  • Current paid APSAC Membership and 20 or more years of membership (does not have to be consecutive years of membership)
  • Attendance at 1 or more APSAC Colloquiums
  • 2 References
  • 250 word Contribution Summary of your work in the field of child maltreatment
  • CV/Resume
Updated APSAC Fellow Requirements 10.2

APSAC Fellows

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Darrell L. Armstrong, EdS-MFT, MDiv, DDiv, FAPSAC

Headshot Leslie Brand MA FAPSAC

Leslie Brand, MA, FAPSAC

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Ernestine Briggs-King, PhD, FAPSAC

Chiocca Ellen 300x300 2 1

Ellen Chiocca, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC, FAPSAC

Headshot Betty Wade Coyle

Betty Wade Coyle, MA, FAPSAC

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Theodore Cross, PhD, FAPSAC

Headshot David L. Corwin MD FAPSAC

David Corwin, MD, FAPSAC

Headshote Debra Esernio Jenssen

Debra Esernio-Jenssen, MD, FAAP, FAPSAC

Headshot Kathleen Coulburn Faller

Kathleen Coulborn Faller, PhD, ACSW, DCSW, LMSW, FAPSAC

Headshot Tricia Gardner JD

Tricia Gardner, JD, FAPSAC

Headshot Hannah Gilbert MCHSM MBA

Hannah Gilbert, MSHCM, MBA, FAPSAC

Headshot Paul C. Graf MS FAPSAC

Paul Graf, MS, FAPSAC

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Susan Hardie, MN, PhD, FAPSAC

Gail Horner

Gail Hornor, DNP, CPNP, SANE-P, FAPSAC

Headshot Ronald Hughes PhD FAPSAC

Ronald Hughes, PhD, MSSA, FAPSAC

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Julie Kenniston, MSW, LISW, FAPSAC

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Barbara Knox, MD, FAAP FAPSAC

  • View Bio
DSC 6135 Ernestine Briggs King

Linda Laras, MD, MPH, MS, FACOG, PAG, FAPSAC

  • View Bio
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Stacie Schrieffer LeBlanc, JD, MEd, FAPSAC

Headshot Laura Merchant FAPSAC

Laura Merchant, MSW, LICSW, FAPSAC

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Darcey Merritt, MSW, PhD, FAPSAC

Headshot Vince Palusci FAPSAC

Vincent Palusci, MD, MS, FAAP, FAPSAC

Headshot Mary Kelly Persyn

Mary Kelly Persyn, JD, PhD, FAPSAC

Mary Pulido

Mary Pulido, PhD, FAPSAC

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Judith Rycus, PhD, MSW, FAPSAC

Headshot Mel Schneiderman PhD FAPSAC

Mel Schneiderman, PhD, FAPSAC

Patti Toth JD FAPSAC

Patricia A. Toth, JD, FAPSAC

Headshot Viola Vaughan Eden PhD MSW MJ FAPSAC

Viola Vaughan-Eden, PhD, MSW, MJ, FAPSAC

Leslie Brand, MA, FAPSAC

Leslie Brand M.A. joined The World Childhood Foundation USA in September of 2024 as the Development Grant Manager. Leslie started her career as a Prevention Specialist and then the Program Coordinator for The New York Foundling’s Child Abuse Prevention Program (CAPP) where she taught elementary school students in NYC how to recognize, resist, and report child abuse. She was the Director and then the Assistant Vice President of the New York Foundlings of the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection, which is a nationally renowned leader in the field of child welfare and child abuse prevention. Leslie attended the University of Georgia and
received her Bachelor of Science in Education with a major in Special Education. She completed her master’s at Teachers College, Columbia University in the Intellectual Disabilities and Autism program with an emphasis on Severe and Multiple Disabilities among Teachers. She served on the board of directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and on the executive board as the Treasurer for APSAC. Leslie is currently the President of the New Your Chapter of The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC-NY).

Ernestine Briggs-King

Dr. Ernestine Briggs-King, PhD, is a distinguished clinical/community psychologist and Associate Professor with tenure at Duke University School of Medicine, where she also serves as the Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Over the last 28 years, in her numerous leadership roles with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Center for Child and Family Health (CCFH), National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), and the UCLADuke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS), Dr. Briggs-King has significantly advanced the fields of child welfare, child maltreatment and child traumatic stress. 

In her roles at MUSC, CCFH, and the NCCTS, Dr. Briggs-King participated in and led groundbreaking research initiatives (e.g., National Survey on Adolescents, LongSCAN, NCTSN Core Data Set) aimed at improving outcomes for children and families affected by abuse and trauma. Her work has been instrumental in the implementation, dissemination, and evaluation of evidence-based treatments, with a particular focus on refining definitions of abuse and neglect; addressing family and community violence; improving outcomes; and reducing mental health inequities. Her commitment to APSAC in the early years of her career were dedicated to translating research for the field (e.g., APSAC Advisor Journal Highlights, Child Maltreatment Editor and Reviewer)while also implementing and evaluating interventions that enhanced access to care for underserved youth and communities, ensuring that vulnerable populations received the support they need. 

As President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), Dr. Briggs-King has played a pivotal role in shaping policies and practices that protect children and

support professionals in the field. Her leadership in APSAC reflects her dedication to fostering a multidisciplinary approach to child welfare, promoting best practices, and advocating for systemic changes to prevent child abuse and neglect. 

Through her extensive research, advocacy, and leadership, Dr. Briggs-King has made a profound impact on the lives of countless children and families, cementing her reputation as a leading figure in the fight against child maltreatment. 

Ellen Chiocca, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC, FAPSAC

Dr. Chiocca is an Assistant Teaching Professor with the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing in Columbia, Missouri. She has taught the nursing of children for over 30 years, while maintaining her clinical practice as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She has published over 30 articles in nursing, in addition to one nursing textbook, which was the first-place recipient of the 2020 American Journal Book of the Year Award in Child Health. She also co-authored the NAPNAP position statement, “Utilizing Positive Parenting to Eliminate Corporal Punishment. Dr. Chiocca is a board member of the U.S. Alliance to End the Hitting of Children, the National No Hit Zone Committee and Arkansans Against School Paddling.

Betty Wade Coyle, MA, FAPSAC

Betty Wade Coyle is the Executive Director Emeritus of Prevent Child Abuse Hampton Roads.  . Although officially retired, Ms. Coyle continues to serve on numerous boards and committees such as the Hampton Roads Child Fatality Review Team, Norfolk Social Services Advisory Board and Family Assessment and Planning Team and the advocacy committee of Families Forward, the Virginia Prevent Child Abuse affiliate.

She is a past chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, and was a member of the Virginia Family and Children’s Trust (FACT) Board,  the Virginia State Child Fatality Review Team, and the Virginia Commission on Family Violence Prevention.

Since becoming a professional child advocate in the early 1990s, Ms. Coyle always considered the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) the best organization on the issue in the country. She was impressed with the inclusion of all of the various disciplines and prevention levels of the organization. Additionally, she was inspired by the amicus briefs and other advocacy work that APSAC did. She frequently attended the APSAC National Conferences and presented at a number of them particularly regarding court involvement with children abused in custody cases and child fatality review. She helped start the first Virginia chapter of APSAC and is now working to resurrect that effort

Ms. Coyle continues to train, mentor and support others advocating for children and is an occasional spokesperson on local media and guest columnist for the Virginian Pilot.

Theodore Cross, PhD, FAPSAC

For 35 years, Theodore Cross has been conducting research on the system response to child abuse and neglect. He is the 2018 recipient of the Mark Chaffin Outstanding Research Career Achievement Award from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of APSAC, chairs the Publications Committee, is the Associate Editor of the APSAC Advisor, and serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Child Maltreatment. Dr. Cross directed the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children’s Advocacy Centers, the largest, most rigorous study of CAC impact. He was the principal investigator on two grants from the National Institute of Justice to conduct social science research on the use and impact of biological evidence in child, adolescent and adult sexual cases. He has co-authored numerous articles on investigation and prosecution of child maltreatment. Dr. Cross was the PI for pioneering research on the impact of Child Advocacy Studies Training (CAST), a national movement to provide education on child maltreatment to graduate and undergraduate students in child-serving disciplines. He is leading ground-breaking research on an innovative training method using simulations of child protection interventions to provide experiential learning for caseworkers in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Dr. Cross has also played a substantial role in studying child welfare processes and outcomes, using both national and state data on child protective services involvement and child well-being.

David Corwin, MD, FAPSAC

Dr. Corwin is a Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Forensic Services in the Pediatrics Department at the University of Utah. He is a Past President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), the Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA) and the California Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (CAPSAC). Since 1986, Dr. Corwin helped to found five professional societies addressing child maltreatment and interpersonal violence including: CAPSAC and APSAC founded in 1986, the Ray E. Helfer Society in 1999, the AVA which was formed in 2004, and the National Health Collaborative on the Violence and Abuse (NHCVA) that emerged from and after the American Medical Association’s National Advisory Council on Violence and Abuse was discontinued in 2009. He joined the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Child Abuse and Neglect Committee at its origin in 1992 and chaired it from 2001 to 2007. Dr. Corwin is the author or co-author of numerous articles, commentaries, and chapters, addressing child sexual abuse, custody disputes, childhood trauma, childhood abuse memory, professional practice addressing child sexual abuse, and the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES). Dr. Corwin produced several videos addressing childhood trauma, the ACE Study, an eleven-part series featuring video clips illustrating the USA’s child maltreatment field evolution over the past 70+ years that is posted on the APSAC website, and a film celebrating CAPSAC’s and APSAC’s founding in 1986.

Debra Esernio-Jenssen, MD, FAAP, FAPSAC

Debra Esernio-Jenssen is retired as a a Professor of Pediatrics at the Morsani College of Medicine and the former Section Chief of Child Protection Medicine for the Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, PA. Debra minored in Business at Harpur College and graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. As the previous Medical Director of the Child Protection Team at the University of Florida, Gainesville she richly developed the skills of countless medical professionals, case coordinators, and law enforcement personnel. She is an active member of the Ray E. Helfer Society, APSAC, ISPCAN, and works tirelessly in her publication, education and teaching activities.

Kathleen Coulburn Faller, PhD, ACSW, DCSW, LMSW, FAPSAC

Kathleen Coulborn Faller, Ph.D., A.C.S.W., D.C.S.W., is Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor Emerita of Children and Families in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan. She is also Co-Director of the Family Assessment Clinic at Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw Co., MI. Since 1997, she has been Principal Investigator on seven Children’s Bureau grants and numerous other grants. She is involved in research, clinical work, teaching, training, and writing on child sexual abuse, child welfare, and the child welfare workforce. She has conducted over 300 juried conference presentations at state, national, and international conferences and over 250 workshops. She is the author, editor, or co-editor of ten books. She has published over 100 research and clinical articles. She has been a member of American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) since its inception and served on the APSAC Board of Directors 1991-1997 and the APSAC Executive Committee 1992-1997. She served on the APSAC Advisory Board 1998-2008 and was Co-chair of the Guidelines Task Forces 1994-2000 and continues to review Guidelines. She also served on the Michigan Chapter APSAC (MIPSAC) Board of Directors 1997-2001. She has been presenter at a number of APSAC Forensic Interview Clinics and presents regularly at the APSAC Colloquium. She wrote the APSAC Studyguide: Interviewing Children Suspected of Having Been Sexually Abused. She was a member of the APSAC Board (2013-2019) and the Executive Committee (2014-2019). She chaired the Practice Guidelines Committee (2013-2016). She also served as chair of the Publications Committee (2015-2021) and the APSAC Awards Committee (2016). Finally, she is lead author on the APSAC Position Paper on Allegations of Interpersonal Violence in Divorce and Relationship Dissolution and was the lead author on the APSAC Position on Parental Alienation.



Tricia Gardner, JD, FAPSAC

Tricia Gardner, JD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in the Department of Pediatrics, and a licensed attorney. She currently serves as the Administrator of the Section of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and Director of the Interdisciplinary Training Program on Child Abuse and Neglect (ITP). She is also a member of the National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth Training and Technical Assistance Team, focusing on working with Senior Leaders and is a member of an Oklahoma County Post-Adjudication Review Board. Ms. Gardner is the Past-President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). She has served on the APSAC Board two times (2000 – 2002, 2010 – 2020) and continues to participate on the Development and Training Committees. She has been a member of APSAC since 1993. In the past, Ms. Gardner also served as Director of the Child Welfare Training Program for the State of Oklahoma and Administrator of the Oklahoma Child Death Review Board. In addition, she has been an Adjunct Professor for the University of Oklahoma College Of Law and a member of the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Child Protection Committee.

Paul Graf, MS, FAPSAC

Paul C. Graf MS, APSAC Board member, and a member of APSAC for the last 28 years, also served as the President of APSAC–Rhode Island for 11 years. Paul is a retired, 33-year Senior Special Agent of NCIS, and a child abuse investigative specialist for 26 years of that career. Paul was an undercover operator of the RI ICAC task force and a member of its Board of Directors. He developed 3 separate, highly successful undercover operations for NCIS, targeting offenders sexually exploiting children, resulting in over 100 felony arrests/convictions and the recovery of thousands of images of CSAM. One offender was the first US citizen to be convicted under Federal law for traveling overseas (Thailand) with the intent to sexually molest a child. Paul testified in Federal and State courts as an expert witness. He learned much of the medico-legal science of child abuse investigation directly from the premier child abuse pediatric expert, Dr. Carole Jenny MD, MBA, FAAP, as a member of RI’s Child Protection and Child Death Review Teams. After NCIS, Paul ran an award-winning security services company, conducting child custody investigations involving physically abused children. Paul then became the first Senior Investigator of the US Center for SafeSport, investigating the most serious/complex allegations of child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault within the US Olympic Community. Today Paul works as an independent consultant of child abuse investigative matters to private investigators, law firms, and State Attorney offices for their Conviction Integrity Review Units. Mr. Graf was the recipient of APSAC’s “Outstanding Front Line Professional Award” for 2019.  

Susan Hardie, MN, PhD, FAPSAC

Dr. Susan Hardie holds a doctorate in Education and Child Development and Masters in Psychiatric and Community Mental Health Nursing from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her career spans almost five decades caring for abused children and children with developmental disabilities and their families, as well as adult survivors of sexual abuse and offenders. Dr. Hardie has held numerous administrative, academic and clinical positions, maintained a private practice, and conducted research on children’s eyewitness testimony and suggestibility. She was on the faculty of the UCLA School of Nursing, UCLA Extension, and the Graduate Schools of Psychology at Pepperdine and Antioch Universities. Dr. Hardie also was the director of Stuart House, a multidisciplinary child advocacy center for abused children and their families in Santa Monica, California for 15 years. She is the immediate past president of the California Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and serves as secretary on the board of directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.

Gail Hornor, DNP, CPNP, SANE-P, FAPSAC

Gail Hornor, DNP, CPNP, SANE-P is a nurse practitioner working in the field of child maltreatment. For over thirty years she was a member of the child abuse program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. At Nationwide Children’s she was a part of a multi-disciplinary team caring for children with concerns of sexual abuse in a hospital-based child advocacy center, primary care provider for children in foster care, provided consultation for children admitted to the hospital for physical abuse concerns, and coordinated a team of sexual assault nurse examiners in the Emergency Department. She retired after 41 years of service at Nationwide Children’s to be close to her new grandson and joined staff at the International Association of Forensic Nurses where she continues to support the forensic nursing role in child maltreatment. She has authored over thirty articles discussing child maltreatment in peer-review journals and several book chapters. She is currently a member of APSAC Board of Directors. Here

Ronald Hughes, PhD, MScSA, FAPSAC

Dr. Ronald C. Hughes has been a thought leader in the child protection and child maltreatment fields for over 4 decades.  In 1977 he co-founded and has served as Executive Director of the Institute for Human Services (IHS) in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to improving child welfare practice through large-scale capacity building in the organizations that serve maltreated children and their families. Ron co-founded and is Director of the Child Maltreatment Policy Resource Center, which applies best available evidence to help resolve the many challenges and dilemmas in the child maltreatment field.

Ron is a widely published author, having written books, book chapters, policy white papers, journal articles and training materials on a wide variety of child welfare topics. For 35 years, he directed operations of the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program – Ohio’s statewide child protective services training system – and he provided consultation to help develop child welfare training programs throughout North America and internationally.

Between 2011 and 2013, he served as the United States representative to the Civil Society Committee of the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission and was instrumental in planning and hosting three Russian-American Forums for Child Welfare. He has received numerous commendations and awards for his work.

Ron has been a member of the APSAC Board of Directors since 2008, was President from 2010-2012, and is currently President Emeritus.  Ron has a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the Ohio State University and a Masters in Applied Social Sciences from Case Western Reserve University.  He is a licensed psychologist and licensed social worker.

Julie Kenniston, MSW, LISW, FAPSAC

Julie Kenniston, MSW, LISW is a Deputy Administrator for the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College and a contract forensic interviewer for the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center. Julie has conducted well over 3,000 forensic interviews. She is a faculty member for the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) Forensic Interview Clinics. Julie contracted with the states of Wisconsin and Kentucky to create and implement their statewide child forensic interview training. A former APSAC 2-term board member, she co-chairs and volunteers for APSAC forensic interviewing committees and assisted in the update of the Forensic Interviewing of Children Guidelines. She has worked 15 years in child protective services and has trained nationally and internationally on topics such as: interviewing children and adolescents in child abuse, exploitation, and witnessing violence cases; sexual abuse dynamics; internet crimes cases; child sex trafficking and domestic violence issues; interdisciplinary teamwork, safety assessment, case management and planning; and peer and mentor review. Julie co-authored Handbook on Questioning Children: A Linguistic Perspective, 3rd edition with Anne Graffam Walker, PhD. Julie has been a member of APSAC since 1993 and a Board Member of the Ohio APSAC Chapter from January 2004 to December 2010.

Stacie Schrieffer LeBlanc, JD, MEd, FAPSAC

Stacie LeBlanc, JD, MEd is CEO and co-founder of The UP Institute, a think tank for upstream child abuse solutions and the executive director of UP for Champions, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) providing programs and services to child maltreatment professionals.

Ms. LeBlanc began her career as a child abuse prosecutor more than 25 years ago. She opened Child Advocacy Centers in rural and urban parishes in Louisiana, became the chief of the Felony Child Abuse Division, and began the Family Violence Program. She received the “Outstanding Prosecutor Award” from Victims and Citizens Against Crime for the unit’s 94% conviction rate and the prosecution of a 20-year-old child rape case, which garnered national media attention.

Ms. LeBlanc serves on several state and national boards including as Immediate Past-President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. She was the Founding Director of the New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center and Audrey Hepburn CARE Center, two nonprofit programs for Children’s Hospital New Orleans that treat more than 1,500 children annually. She serves on the executive committee of the National Initiative to End Corporal Punishment and as Chair of the National No Hit Zone Committee.

Stacie regularly teaches on the prevention of child sexual abuse. In 2017, she launched the Child Advocacy Studies Training (CAST) Program as an adjunct professor at Tulane University. CAST is a nationally recognized curriculum training students how to effectively respond to child maltreatment utilizing a multidisciplinary approach.

Stacie has received numerous recognitions for her advocacy and was recognized for 11 successful legislative amendments. In 2008, she was named the Champion for Children for Policy and Legislation by Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana. In 2010, the Health Care Hero Award by New Orleans City Business and in 2012, received the FBI Directors and Community Leadership Award. Stacie was honored by Victims and Citizens Against Crime with the Lifetime Achievement Award (2015) for her contributions to the field of child maltreatment. Most recently, Stacie is the 2022 recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy Award by the APA Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice.

Stacie has a Juris Doctorate from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law and a Master of Education in Early Childhood Development from the University of New Orleans.

Laura Merchant, MSW, LICSW, FAPSAC

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Darcey Merritt, MSW, PhD, FAPSAC

Darcey Merritt has extensive experience as a practitioner in private and public child welfare systems, and her empirical scholarship is informed by the lived experiences of those impacted by child welfare systems. Her research portfolio centers on child maltreatment prevention, specifically neglect, and parenting in socio-economic context, considering the impact of working memory on parental decision-making. She is dedicated to elevating the voices of systems-impacted parents and children in the discussion of prevention methods and service delivery in the context of systemic racism and racialized poverty. Merritt is nationally and internationally recognized for her expertise in child welfare, having presented research and provided guidance on child protective services design and supports for vulnerable families in many places across the world. A Research Affiliate of Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), she is also a Co-Editor in Chief for Children and Youth Services Review, an editorial board member for Child Maltreatment, and Social Service Review, and serves on the boards of the Child Welfare League of America and American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Dr. Merritt earned her MSW and PhD in social welfare from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Social Welfare, and her BA from Sarah Lawrence College with concentrations in sociology and psychology.

Vincent Palusci, MD, MS, FAAP, FAPSAC

Vincent J. Palusci, MD, MS, FAAP is Board certified physician in both general pediatrics and the subspecialty of child abuse pediatrics.  He is currently Professor of Pediatrics at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.  His research has focused on epidemiologic and health services for child abuse victims, and he has provided extensive training for professionals working in the child maltreatment field.  He has co-edited books and written over a hundred articles, book chapters, and reports for pediatric and child welfare publications on topics related to abusive head trauma, child maltreatment fatalities, and the identification, reporting, and prevention of child maltreatment. 

Dr. Palusci is board president for Prevent Child Abuse–New York and is an appointee to the American Board of Pediatrics. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children for two terms (2008-2014) and is currently a member of the APSAC Amicus Committee. He has held leadership positions with the American Academy of Pediatrics and Michigan’s child death review program, having chaired its fatality citizen review panel. He is currently editor in chief of APSAC’s journal Child Maltreatment and previously edited APSAC’s quarterly publication, The APSAC Advisor. Dr. Palusci has provided both clinical care and training in the fields of general and child abuse pediatrics and has developed hospital-based programs to help families develop positive parenting skills and to prevent child maltreatment.

Dr. Palusci has been honored with the Christine Nelson Outstanding Professional Award for Service to Children in Kent County in 2001 and the Ray E. Helfer Award for child abuse prevention in 2004 from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Alliance for Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds. He was on the APSAC President’s Honor Roll in 1998 and 2000 and received the APSAC Outstanding Service Award in 2018.

Mary Kelly Persyn, JD, PhD, FAPSAC

Mary Kelly Persyn is founder and principal attorney of Persyn Law & Policy. Her advocacy leverages children’s rights in the courts and strives to expand the field’s concept of child maltreatment. She has been a member of the Amicus Committee since 2017 and its chair since 2021. Mary Kelly leads APSAC’s amicus efforts in a broad range of state and federal courts. In 2019, APSAC and over 30 allied individuals and organizations filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in support of the children of DACA recipients, and that support continued in 2024 in Texas v. United States in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Since 2022, Mary Kelly has focused intensively on protecting the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming youth through her work with APSAC, including briefs in Doe v. Abbott and PFLAG v. Abbott in Texas, and the American Bar Association Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Commission, including contributing to multiple policy resolutions. Relevant articles have appeared in APSAC Alert (with Dr. Vincent Palusci), LA County Lawyer, and the Poverty and Race Research Action Council magazine. She writes and provides education to lawyers and judges about child trauma, ACEs, toxic stress, and the impact of positive childhood experiences. As an elected member of the American Law Institute, she was part of the Members Consultative Group for the Restatement of Children and the Law. Mary Kelly holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Washington and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Mary Pulido, PhD, FAPSAC

Mary L. Pulido, Ph.D. joined The World Childhood Foundation USA as the Executive Director in October of 2023.  Prior to that time, she served as the Executive Director of The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the first child protection agency in the world. She has held senior management positions at the Child Protection Center of Montefiore Medical Center (a Child Advocacy Center), the Children’s Village, and at Covenant House/Under 21.

Dr. Pulido’s protocol for crisis debriefing following child fatality and critical incidents is utilized throughout the New York City Child Protective Services system. Dr. Pulido is a member of the Medical Reserve Corps of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She serves on the National Board of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and is President of the NYS Chapter of the APSAC Board and is Chair of their Public Policy Committee.

In 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Dr. Pulido to the New York City Child Fatality Review Team (CFRT) where she served until 2015.  She recently served as a principal investigator on a project to design a child sexual abuse prevention curriculum for elite, Olympic gymnasts, coaches and parents following the child sexual abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar.

Dr. Pulido holds a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the City University of New York, and Master’s Degrees in Social Work from Hunter College School of Social Work and in Teaching from Sacred Heart University. She is an adjunct Assistant Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.  In 2019, she received the Trailblazer Award from the Silberman School of Social Work at CUNY for her contributions to the greater good of the people in NYC. In 2022, she was named one of the “Responsible 100” citizens by City and State New York, for her contributions for improving the lives of children in NYC.

She has published in the areas of detection and prevention of child abuse and neglect, providing supervised visitation services, crisis debriefing, child sexual abuse prevention and preventing secondary traumatic stress. She has been featured on WNBC, The New York Daily News, NY1, WPIX-TV, ABC News, cbsnews.com, Inside Edition and is a dedicated blogger on issues of child protection for Huffington Post and Medium.

Judith Rycus, PhD, MSW, FAPSAC

Dr. Judith S. Rycus is Program Director and Director of International Child Welfare at the Institute for Human Services (IHS) in Columbus, Ohio, an organization she co-founded in 1977, and Senior Policy Analyst with IHS’ Child Maltreatment Policy Resource Center. She has worked as a program developer and evaluator, organizational development specialist, policy analyst, training system developer, and training manager in the child maltreatment and child protection fields. She is a skilled facilitator and has led teams of child welfare professionals in planning and implementing strategic change initiatives. Internationally, she has worked with professionals in several nations to promote family-based care for children residing in orphanages and other childcare institutions, including cofounding an NGO in Ukraine to build staff capacity in child protection.

Dr. Rycus is a widely published author, having written books, articles, training curricula and policy white papers on a broad range of child maltreatment related topics. She is the lead author of the Field Guide to Child Welfare, a four-volume resource textbook that has been widely used throughout the United States and Canada and around the world in Russian and French translations.  She served for 7 years as co-editor and editor of the APSAC Advisor. Dr. Rycus was instrumental in orchestrating APSAC’s participation in three Russian-American Child Welfare Forums between 2011-2013.  She has received several APSAC awards for her contributions to APSAC and the child maltreatment field.

Dr. Rycus has Doctorate degree in developmental psychology from the Ohio State University (1990) and a Masters degree in social work from Wayne State University (1972).

Mel Schneiderman, PhD, FAPSAC

In 1986 while working at the New York Foundling as the chief psychologist, I founded the first child sexual abuse treatment program located in a child welfare organization in the nation. In 1997 I co-founded with Dr. Vincent J. Fontana the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection. I also served as the Senior Vice President of Mental Health Services at the New York Foundling from 2006 to 2015. I currently serve on the American Psychological Association, Advocacy Coordinating Committee and on the Advisory Board of the World Childhood Foundation. I served on APSAC’s Board of Directors from 2015 to 2022 and I was Vice President of the APSAC Board of Directors from 2020 to 2022. I served on APSAC’s State Chapter Committee, Training Committee and Membership and currently serve as chair of APSAC’s Membership committee. I was the prime mover to form the partnership between APSAC and the New York Foundling benefiting both APSAC and the Foundling. I co-founded and served as the Chair of the National Initiative to End Corporal Punishment Executive Committee from 1017 to 2023 and co-founded the New York State Initiative to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and the Psychological Maltreatment Alliance. I have served on several Board of Directors including the American Professional Society on the Abuse of the Children-New York and Prevent Child Abuse New York. I authored and co-authored over twenty peer review articles and with Dr. Amy Baker published the book, bonded to the Abuser: How Victims Make Sense of Childhood Abuse.

Patricia A. Toth, JD, FAPSAC

Patti Toth manages and is part of the core faculty fortheChild Forensic InterviewClinicsof the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC).Patticurrently provides consultation, training and expert testimony related to sexual assaultand child abuse interviewing and investigation. She recently retired from the WA StateCriminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) where, for over 20 years, shewasresponsible for development and delivery of Washington’s statewide child forensicinterview training. Patti started her career in 1980 as a WA State prosecutor, where shetried many child abuse and sexual assault cases,andgained experience interviewingnumerous child victims and witnesses.She then served as the first Director of NDAA’sNational Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse, and later as a trial attorney in the USDOJ’s Child Exploitation Section. Patti has provided training nationally andinternationally, is a past president of APSAC, and previously served ontheExecutiveCouncilof the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect(ISPCAN).Shewasco-author oftheWA State Child Interview Guide,was committeeco-chair responsible for APSAC’s 2012Practice Guidelines on Forensic Interviewing inCases of Suspected Child Abuse, and is one of 4 members of thead hoc APSACForensicInterviewing Practice Guidelines Committeethat produced APSAC’s 2023Practice Guidelines on Forensic Interviewing of Children. Patti received APSAC’s 2007Outstanding Service Awardandthe 2008 J. Pat Finley Child Protection LifetimeAchievement Award.

Viola Vaughan-Eden, PhD, MSW, MJ, FAPSAC

Viola Vaughan-Eden, PhD, MSW, MJ is a Professor and the PhD Program Director with the Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work at Norfolk State University.  She is also the President and CEO of UP For Champions, a non-profit in partnership with The UP Institute, a think tank for upstream child abuse solutions.  As a forensic and licensed clinical social worker, she serves as a consultant and expert witness in child maltreatment cases – principally sexual abuse.  She has evaluated and/or consulted on more than 3000 child abuse cases and provided expert testimony more than 700 times. She is also a Child Welfare Advisor to the National Family Violence Law Center at George Washington University.  Dr. Vaughan-Eden is President Emerita of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, President Emerita of the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence, and Past-President of the National Organization of Forensic Social Work. She lectures nationally and internationally on child and family welfare to multidisciplinary groups of professionals.  She is co-editor of the 2012 and 2023 APSAC Practice Guidelines on Forensic Interviewing Children and is one of the editors-in-chief of the six-volume 2022 NPEIV Handbook on Interpersonal Violence.  Dr. Vaughan-Eden is the recipient of several honors including the 2023 Outstanding Individual in Academia from the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy, the 2020 NOFSW Sol Gothard Lifetime Achievement Award, 2018 APSAC Outstanding Service Award, and the 2012 National Association of Social Workers-Virginia Chapter Lifetime Achievement Award. APSAC Member since 1996. See www.violavaughaneden.com