Merrill Rotter, MD

Merrill Rotter is a forensic psychiatrist with the NYS Office of Mental Health and on faculty at Albert Einstein College of Medicine In his OMH role, Dr. Rotter is Senior Forensic Advisor to the Commissioner of NYS OMH and Director of the Division of Forensic Services at Bronx Psychiatric Center. Dr. Rotter leads a program of teaching, research and clinical service for Einstein as well as for OMH. Dr. Rotter is creator and Project Director of SPECTRM, a research, training and treatment program aimed at helping to meet the needs individuals with mental illness who have a history of incarceration. He helped design and implement the curriculum for the CUCS Academy for Justice Informed Services, established in 2012 and provides clinical oversight for the mental health diversion, reentry and health home care coordination services at EAC, Inc. Dr. Rotter’s research interests include risk assessment, violence risk management, mental health diversion, assessing and addressing the medical, behavioral health, social service and engagement challenges of individuals with seriously mental illness and criminal justice contact, as well as the social determinant and social justice aspects that relate to all of the above areas.

Eugenia Dubus, Ph.D.

Dr. Dubus obtained her Ph.D. in forensic psychology from The Graduate Center, CUNY. She is experienced in the fields of diversion, re-entry and the assessment and management of violence and trauma. She has spent most of her career working with underserved populations in the context of the criminal justice and immigration system in New York City. She is an educator and trainer, having been adjunct faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the past decade. Dr. Dubus joined CUCS as a faculty member in 2018 and routinely teaches several of the Criminal Justice certificate trainings.

Melodie Foellmi, Ph.D.

Dr. Melodie Foellmi is a New York State Licensed Psychologist specializing in Forensic Psychology. She received her clinical and forensic training at Fordham University and Bellevue Hospital, and now works as a clinical forensic psychologist in several capacities. She is the Senior Clinical Director of New York City Forensic Mental Health at EAC, a non-profit organization that includes alternative to incarceration programs and jail re-entry programs for individuals with mental illness. Dr. Foellmi also works as a psychological evaluator in court cases involving questions surrounding mental health, where she evaluates individuals, writes reports for the courts, and testifies in court as an expert witness. Her clinical and research specializations include violence risk screening, assessment, and management, stalking assessment and treatment, alternative to incarceration, re-entry from correctional contexts, and clinical formulation in forensic contexts.

Helen “Skip” Skipper

Helen “Skip” Skipper has been working in Peer Support since 2009. She was instrumental in formulating The New York City Peer Workforce Coalition, holding the title of Executive Chair from inauguration of 2016 until 2019. Hired by DOHMH to lead Friendship Benches as the 1st Peer Supervisor in all of DOHMH she spearheaded the Friendship Benches – Thrive NYC team from inception in 2017 to late 2019 through several community crisis’s. In 2018 Skip completed the very first cohort of John Jay College of Criminal Justice – Institute for Justice and Opportunity (formerly the Prisoner Reentry Institute) – Navigator Certificate in Human Services and Community Justice and has since completed their Collective Leadership Supervisor Training. In 2019 Skip entered St. Francis College as part of their Post-Prison program seeking her Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in psychology/sociology. Now working in Criminal Justice as the Peer Coordinator of The New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Skip has designed, implemented and leads a team of 6 certified peers and credible messengers working in the Queens Supervised Release Program.

James Holmes, LCSW

James Holmes is the Director of the CUCS Academy for Justice Informed Practice. He has years of experience training behavioral health, legal and law enforcement professionals in the areas of mental health, crisis management and de-escalation. James also spent many years of his career working in, opening and running supportive housing programs. Prior to joining CUCS, James worked with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Senior Citizens and HIV Prevention programs. In addition to his role as the director, James is also an instructor for The Academy. Look for him in our offerings on Motivational Interviewing and Harm Reduction.

Jennifer Gholston, LCSW-R

Jennifer Gholston is the Director of the CUCS Institute. She oversees the CUCS Institute’s Training Department, Academy for Justice Informed Practice, and the Housing Resource Center. Prior to joining the Institute, Ms. Gholston served as Program Director for the CUCS Street to Home Outreach Program, helping to transform New York City’s homeless outreach services and pioneer a performance-based contracting model that holds providers accountable for moving homeless people off of the streets and into housing.  Ms. Gholston initially joined CUCS in 2005 as the Program Director of the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team, and before joining CUCS, served as the Social Work Supervisor of an interdisciplinary mobile crisis team serving homeless New Yorkers.  Ms. Gholston holds a BA from Rollins College and MSSW from Columbia University School of Social Work.