HVRP Technical Assistance Center

“Substance Abuse and Employment of Homeless Veterans”

Regional Conference Call Agenda

January 25-26, 2010

Mary Huber, Ph.D.,

Deborah A. Joseph M.Ed., LPCC, LICDC,

Melissa R. Jones MRC, PCCS, LICDC

1. Welcome and Introduction of the Guest Speakers (2 min)

2. Overview of the Problem – Mary Huber (15 min)

  • Background and statistics
  • Unique injuries of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan

3. Employee/Employer Relations – Deborah Joseph (15 min)

  • Employment and substance abuse
  • Case examples
  • Strategies to use in approaching employers to provide a context for hiring homeless veterans with disabilities

4. Supervising Strategies – Melissa Jones (15 min)

  • Supervising and motivating staff to work with dual-diagnosis populations
  • Review of training materials and resources for clinicians and administrators

5. Q&A (10-15 min)*

6. Closing Comments (2 min)

*This conference call may be recorded for the purposed of archiving the call online. The audio and transcript files will be available to the public. By speaking on the call you are authorizing Virginia Commonwealth University to use your name and/or voice on the archived call and the transcript. If you would like to ask a question without speaking on the call, please email it in advance to Cameron Carter, .
Presenter Bios

Mary Huber Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Research at the Substance Abuse Resources & Disability Issues (SARDI) program at Wright State University. She received her Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. She then practiced as a CRC counselor in Seattle, working with persons with traumatic brain injury. She went back to school and received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Washington. She completed two post-doctoral training fellowships at the University of Michigan; one with the Addiction Research Center (UMARC) and the other with the Department of PM&R. She has had numerous consulting positions in including Washington Research Institute, National Rehabilitation Hospital, NIDRR, Michigan Rehabilitation Services, and PVA. Dr. Huber has worked in various capacities with persons with disabilities for the past 20 years. She is a member of the NRCA and other various rehabilitation and medical associations. She has over 25 publications in the field.

Deborah A. Joseph M.Ed., LPCC, LICDC is the Program Manager of The Traumatic Brain Injury Network (TBI Network) at The Ohio State University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Addictions and Family Assistance at Ohio University in Athens, OH. She then practiced at Parkside Lodge working with persons who had drug/alcohol issues and then The TBI Network working with persons with traumatic brain injury and drug/alcohol issues. She also received her Master’s degree in Community Counseling at Ohio University while working at The TBI Network. She was trained by Deborah Becker and Dr. Robert Drake, the creators of the IPS Model of employment, at Dartmouth University, and currently runs the vocational program at The TBI Network. She is also a contract counselor for People Resources, Inc., an EAP agency, in Columbus, Ohio. She volunteers her services at her Church and was previously in private practice.

Melissa R. Jones MRC, PCCS, LICDC, is the Clinical Director for the Consumer Advocacy Model in Dayton, Ohio. She received her Master’s Degree in 2000 from Wright State University, specializing in chemical dependency counseling. Ms. Jones is a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor (LICDC), with supervision endorsement. She is also a Professional Clinical Counselor with the state of Ohio with supervisory endorsement (PCCS). She has been providing direct care, clinical supervision for counselors, case managers, and recovery technicians in both outpatient and residential chemical dependency treatment programs for twelve years. Her specialty areas include family and adolescent counseling, chemical dependency counseling, treatment of mental and emotional disorders, and clinical consultation and training. Additionally, Ms. Jones is an adjunct professor with Wright State University’s College of Education and Human Services, in the Rehabilitation Department.