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WEBINAR – NEW JERSEY’S PSB RESPONSE

WEBINAR – NEW JERSEY’S PSB RESPONSE

PRESENTED BY NCA AND NJCA!

NCA is presenting NJCA’s PSB team for a national webinar on “New Jersey’s Statewide Response for Addressing Youth Problematic Sexual Behaviors”!

September 10th 
12:00pm-1:30pm 

Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) across the nation report that 25%–35% of sexual abuse cases involve two minors. Research demonstrates that youth who complete evidence-based treatment designed to address problematic sexual behavior (PSB) successfully stop these behaviors. In addition, evidence-based treatment models minimize the need for foster care, residential care, and juvenile justice intervention, while fostering safer communities. 

Recognizing a critical gap in connecting youth who are engaging in PSB to specialized services, a multidisciplinary workgroup in New Jersey was established to address these concerns. This collaboration included leaders from child protective services, law enforcement, prosecution, victim advocacy, medical and mental health providers, and youth-serving organizations. The workgroup developed a statewide PSB Program emphasizing a collaborative approach, specialized evidence-based treatment, and increased access to services at no cost to families. 

 This webinar will discuss the development of a statewide response to addressing PSB. Insights and data will be shared from the program’s first 15 months, focusing on trends in service access and treatment engagement. Participants will explore how evidence-based approaches and collaborative strategies can inform efforts to address problematic sexual behavior and prevent harm. 

Learning Objectives: 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will: 

  1. Understand the theoretical underpinnings of evidence-based treatment for youth who engage in PSB and youth who are impacted by PSB. 
  2. Develop ideas about how to establish a statewide program to improve access to specialized services for youth who engage in PSB and youth impacted by PSB. 
  3. Learn about data that was helpful for evaluating the program’s effectiveness. 

SPEAKERS:

Nydia Monagas, Psy.D.

Director of Training and Statewide Initiatives

Nydia Y. Monagas, Psy.D., is the Director of Training and Statewide Initiatives with the New Jersey Children’s Alliance (NJCA), a statewide non-profit whose mission is to promote and support communities in providing a coordinated investigation and comprehensive response to victims of child abuse, neglect and family violence. Nydia serves as co-chair of the Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB) Statewide Response Workgroup, which established a statewide strategy to respond to cases involving PSB. Nydia is also an Associate Teaching Professor in the McCormick Center for Child Advocacy and Policy at Montclair State University, where she supervises the practicum experience for undergraduate Child Advocacy and Policy majors and teaches courses on child abuse and neglect, child advocacy, and other related topics. She serves on several statewide Boards, including the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect and the Child Advocacy Center-Multidisciplinary Team Advisory Board. In addition, Nydia served as the Director the Family Impact Seminars in New Jersey which provided state policymakers with nonpartisan, solution-oriented research on family issues. She previously conducted psychological evaluations and treatment for children and families involved with Child Protective Services. She completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.  She also has a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology and a Post-Bachelor’s Certificate in Child Advocacy from Montclair State University. In her free time, Nydia enjoys being a hockey/soccer/basketball mom, listening to audiobooks, and spending time with friends, family, and her pups! 

Maria Isabella Pontoriero (“MIP”), LMSW, MPH

Program Manager

New Jersey Children’s Alliance

Maria Isabella Pontoriero (“MIP”), LMSW, MPH, is a licensed social worker and forensic interviewer. MIP is Program Manager at the New Jersey Children’s Alliance, managing New Jersey’s statewide coordinated response to youth who are impacted by and/or initiate problematic sexual behaviors. MIP is also Founder and Consultant for Enhanced Choice Training & Consulting LLC, which provides specialized training, program development, and case consultation services to individuals and agencies who serve victims of crime and exploitation. In addition, MIP provides training and peer review feedback as a consultant on an as-needed basis for Modell Consulting Group and RADAR Child Forensic Interview Models. She previously served as Lead Social Worker for the New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center & Audrey Hepburn CARE Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans. There, she supervised the full-time and contract forensic interviewing staff and coordinated a child trafficking survivor services team called BRAVE (Building Resilience for All Victims of Exploitation). In partnership with the New Orleans Police Department, MIP developed Louisiana’s first proactive recovery planning team that provided rapid recovery and advocacy response to missing and exploited youth who have left home. MIP develops and delivers in-service and New Recruits child abuse curricula for the New Orleans Police Department Training Academy. In her spare time, MIP loves to bake, read, and celebrate Mardi Gras! 

Valeria M. Vila, PhD

Social Scientist

New Jersey Children’s Alliance

Valeria M. Vila, PhD, is a social scientist dedicated to leveraging data to inform evidence-based practices that promote community safety, reduce harm, and expand access to critical services for vulnerable populations. As part of the New Jersey Children’s Alliance (NJCA), she works to advance healing and justice for youth affected by child abuse by using data to inform programs and policies impacting children across New Jersey. Valeria’s work focuses on maintaining and analyzing data related to the Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB) program, identifying key trends and service outcomes, and developing actionable policy recommendations to enhance program effectiveness. In addition to her work with the PSB program, Valeria has extensive experience designing and leading research projects that explore the impact of psychosocial resources on social judgments. Her expertise includes managing large datasets, performing advanced statistical analyses using tools like SPSS, and communicating findings to diverse audiences through data visualizations and presentations. Her research has been published in leading psychological journals, such as the Journal of Social and Political Psychology and Current Directions in Psychological Science, and she has presented her work at national conferences, including the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Conference. Valeria is deeply committed to using data-driven insights to strengthen programs, inform policy decisions, and help ensure vulnerable populations receive the care and support they need. 

Geoff Sidoli, MSW, LCSW

National Training Fellow, The Institute For Better Mental Health OUtcomes

National Children’s Alliance

Geoff Sidoli, LCSW, is the current National Training Fellow and past Coordinator for the National Children’s Alliance Institute for Better Mental Health Outcomes.  He assists CACs around the country developing, implementing, and sustaining mental health services including ones for children and youth exhibiting problematic sexual behavior (PSB).  Prior to coming to NCA, Geoff was the founding director of the Mountain CAC in Asheville, NC where he supervised a clinical department that assessed and treated trauma and PSB utilizing multiple evidence-based/supported models, including a PSB model that he developed.  Geoff is a national trainer in the Care Process Model-Pediatric Traumatic Stress screener and co-developed and trains an enhancement of TF-CBT for PSB.  He is a clinical member of the Association for the Prevention and Treatment Sexual Abuse (ATSA) as well as a Fellow.  He sits on ATSA’s child and adolescent committee as well as the ethic’s committee.  He also trains and consults regionally and nationally on the topic of sexual abuse, assessment, and treatment.  Geoff is also NCA’s Training and Technical Advisor for PSB and facilitates NCA’s youth with problematic sexual behaviors national work group.  

Sign up here through NCA Engage: NCA Engage: New Jersey’s Statewide Response for Addressing Youth Problematic Sexual Behaviors

(remember, every county’s CAC and MDT in NJ is a member of NCA and can use their resources through their NCA Engage portal. If you need help with access, please let us know!) 

Valeria Vila, Ph.D.

PSB Program Data Specialist

Valeria is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and communicating about data related to the PSB program.
A trained social scientist, Valeria received her PhD in Social Psychology from Rutgers University, and she is passionate about using data to drive positive change. During her free time, Valeria likes to watch sports, read, cuddle with her dogs, and spend time with her partner and family.

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Jack’s Story

Jack was eight years old when he was sexually abused by his aunt for a year. His mother reached out to Ginnie’s House, the Sussex County Child Advocacy Center, in search of support for Jack, and it was found that the family as a whole needed services all around as each member was individually impacted by the sexual abuse and disclosure.

Ginnie’s House was not only able to provide Jack with therapeutic services, but Jack’s sister was able to process her feelings with a therapist as well. Jack’s parents received family advocacy services, where they were educated on the impact of trauma and how they can best continue to support Jack during this time. With a lot of strength and resilience, Jack completed TF-CBT (trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy) with his clinician and confidently read his trauma narrative, thus taking ownership over his own story.  

As services were ending Jack’s mother asked how he felt and he told her, “I’m really ok now! I know what happened was her mistake, and that it wasn’t my fault.” Jack’s parents have learned how to remain patient and work with Jack throughout his therapeutic treatment and they “graduated” services being able to support Jack’s healing now and in the future.

Rhea’s Story

“At first I was extremely terrified because I was in the car with my abuser when he had found out that we were being summoned to Union County CAC. But at that point, unbeknownst to me, I was ready to share something because I was tired of the façade. Sofia, the detective in my case, felt like an auntie I had not met yet and I was able to speak to her about something that I hadn’t said aloud ever.

It was a long time between when I disclosed the abuse and when my abuser was convicted in a trial and sentenced. The team members checked in with me and when I was fully ready to speak, they were able to help me find my voice in the sea of cacophony that surrounded my trial process.           

After the conviction, I was going through a rollercoaster of feelings: for the first time, I was going to free of something that had become a part of my identity for so long. I don’t remember much of what I said on the witness stand but I know that I spoke from the depths of my heart without reason and rationale, just strict emotions. I remember telling my mom that I was raped for five years, proved it for four years, and I wanted to live and, in all honesty, that is what I wanted most. I wanted to be a teenager. I wanted to understand life and not feel my life in relation to pain and sorrow. I was and still am committing to becoming my best self despite what I have gone through. That trial was my rebirth and my catalyst for change.

I want to tell my multidisciplinary team ‘Thank you!’ I don’t know where I would be if you all weren’t in my life. I remember taking that leap of faith that I would write my story in my classroom journal and in my mind, that was my release—nothing more, nothing less. You all showed me the true power in words and actions; I became an educator because of what you guys showed me through the four years. I am committed to changing lives from what you all did for me!”

Brenda’s Story

“I remember walking to Deirdre’s House, the Child Advocacy Center, and it was what I imagine is like what your grandma’s house feels like. There’s books, and it’s cozy, and it’s comfortable, and for sure safe.”

In the moment I disclosed my abuse, I felt like I had a rope to climb out of the deep well of water. Once I started sharing my story, I realized it was very empowering to take control – knowing that the story is mine to tell. It’s my warrior story.

Having my family far away most of the time, and not really telling the specifics of my story to them because I didn’t grow up being close to them, led me to lean on the prosecutor team and investigators for support. I see them now maybe once every couple of years, but they are near and dear to me and I feel like they are my family, and they made me feel like I was their family. Usually I would drive from Delaware to NJ for the proceedings and my family couldn’t be there, but the team was there for me. The investigator and one of the interns was there for me during the verdict, holding my hand. They helped me keep my head up; they were my grounding force. Every time I came in, it was like reuniting with friends. They asked me how I was, how school was, how my daughter was. They treated me like a friend – person-to-person – there was no elephant in the room. Whether it’s a family member, a friend, or a professional in the field, the best thing they can do for a survivor is help them feel like a person again. I didn’t need the hugs or the sympathy, I just needed a reason to smile, and they did that for me.

Everybody tells you it’s not your fault, and of course that’s true, but beyond that, it’s not even personal. There are sick and evil people out there, and they don’t do things to you because you’re you, they do things because they’re them. Even though I learned that people can do extreme harm, I came across this family of truly beautiful people who go out of their way to protect those like me.”

Sara Miao, M.B.A.
Program Coordinator, Finding Words/Child First
Sara has been coordinating the logistics of the Finding Words/Child First forensic interviewing protocol training program in NJ since 2022. Prior to joining NJCA, Sara worked for over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry.
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Claire Henderson

Director of Finance & Operations

Claire graduated with a B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University. Prior to joining NJCA, she worked as an AVP in the Equity Prop Trading department at Deustche Bank. During the 13 years she was away from the working world to raise her three children, she has volunteered at numerous charity organizations. During her free time she likes to travel, read, and spend many days at her kids’ sporting and theatre events.
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Victoria Rutigliano

Finance and Operations Associate

Victoria assists in tracking and documenting NJCA’s grants and other financial operations. She holds a B.S.W. from Monmouth University, and has previously worked in the child welfare field in Denver, CO, as well as served in the role of Training and Outreach Coordinator with NJCA. 
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Maria Isabella Pontoriero (MIP), M.S.W, L.S.W.

PSB Program Manager

Maria Isabella Pontoriero (“MIP”) is a licensed social worker and forensic interviewer. MIP is Founder and Consultant for Enhanced Choice Training & Consulting LLC, which provides specialized training and case consultation to individuals and agencies who serve victims of crime and exploitation. She also provides training and peer review feedback as a contract Consultant for Modell Consulting Group LLC and faculty member for RADAR Child Forensic Interview Models. MIP previously served as Lead Social Worker for the New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center & Audrey Hepburn CARE Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans. There, she supervised the forensic interviewing staff and led a child trafficking survivor services and proactive recovery planning team called BRAVE (Building Resilience for All Victims of Exploitation). In addition, MIP develops and delivers in-service and New Recruits child abuse curricula for the New Orleans Police Department Training Academy. In her spare time, MIP loves to bake, read, and celebrate Mardi Gras!
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Joanna (Joey) Lucas

Communications & Outreach Manager

Joey graduated from Rider University in 2018 with a degree in Elementary Education & Psychology. Joey spent over five years developing and implementing special education curriculums in K-12 public schools before deciding to pursue her passion for community outreach and development outside of the classroom. She has always enjoyed volunteering and working with nonprofit organizations to support children and families in need, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to do so in her role at NJCA! In her free time, Joey enjoys reading, travelling, and hosting dinner parties for her friends and family.

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Olga Aramini, M.S.W., M.B.A., L.S.W.
Director of Communications and Outreach
Olga joined NJCA in 2018, and currently serves as Director of Communications, focusing on raising awareness and support for Child Advocacy Centers and NJCA, as well as educating communities about child abuse prevention, recognition and reporting. She holds an MSW from Rutgers University along with a Certificate in Interpersonal Violence and Trauma, as well as an MBA with a concentration in Organizational Development from George Washington University. She is also a mental health clinician, providing treatment to children and families through the Children’s System of Care. Outside of work, Olga enjoys spending time with her husband, three sons and floppy-eared hound dog, as well as art, photography, travel, and audiobooks.
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