The 2023 OPEN MINDS Children’s Services Executive Summit

The world has sustained a massive shift, and children have been disproportionally affected. In this all-day summit focused exclusively on children’s services, we will explore the most pressing issues facing children today. Join our experts as we hear about innovative programs serving children with complex needs and learn how your organization can incorporate new opportunities for service line expansion into your strategic plan for successful sustainability.
* Indicates An OPEN MINDS Leadership & Management Course With Course Hours
2023 Summit Agenda
Best Practices In Working With Payers For Children With Complex Needs
The challenges of working with a population as vulnerable as children and youth with complex needs create the necessity for payers and providers to work together to improve processes. This session will discuss how one payer created successful partnerships with providers and with school districts to agree on a set of quality, efficiency, and/or patient satisfaction metrics by which they were able to measure performance.

Holly Cunningham, MBA, M.Ed., LCMHCS

Holly H. Cunningham, MBA, M.Ed., LCMHCS, is the Director of Contracting and Value-Based Purchasing at Trillium Health Resources in Greenville, NC. She earned a Master of Business Administration Degree specializing in Healthcare Management from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a Master of Education Degree in Counselor Education from Pennsylvania State University. Holly holds a license as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor. She has over 30 years of experience working in community, school, residential, and managed care settings in mental health and substance use. She demonstrates leadership by overseeing the Practice Management Unit, which creates and implements innovative value-based purchasing initiatives and alternative payment models that drive the quadruple aim of healthcare.
Holly is speaking during Best Practices In Working With Payers For Children With Complex Needs.
Tamra Williams

Dr. Tamra Williams is a Clinical Psychologist and a results-driven public service and behavioral healthcare executive with. Her areas of expertise include managed care operations, large-scale clinical program design and implementation, and children’s mental health.
Dr. Williams oversees the Montgomery County, PA Department of Health and Human Services where she engages in short and long term strategic planning blending health, social services and managed care solutions. She brings over 15 years leadership experience in managed care, county government, and non-profit settings to the department. Prior to that, Dr. Williams was the Chief Clinical Officer for a behavioral health managed care organization representing over 700,000 lives. In this role, she oversaw a number of initiatives related to children’s behavioral health including development of Medicaid funded school-based treatment programs, value-based contracting, integrated care, and development of a quality and accessible continuum of care.
Dr. Williams obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida with a minor in public health policy & management and completed her pre-doctoral training at Yale University’s School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry and post-doctoral training in the Division of Law & Psychiatry.
Tamra is speaking during Best Practices In Working With Payers For Children With Complex Needs.
Kimberly Bond, MS

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA

Sharon Hicks has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Programs For Addressing The Needs Of Children & Teens With Physical & Mental Health Service Needs
Having a child with a serious medical condition is a stressor for families and caregivers. Practical work on behalf of these families requires an accurate interdisciplinary approach that serves the needs of the family, caregivers, and the identified client. During this session, hear from organizations using an integrated system for children and teens with complex mental and physical health needs and how they make it work.
Juliana Harper

Juliana Harper has over 25 years working in a wide range of health and human services. Her experience includes strategic planning, program development and implementation of sustainable behavioral health and medical rehabilitative programs. Juliana has been with Easterseals MORC in a leadership role since 2008. As the Chief Program Officer, she leads operations in the development, implementation and monitoring of effective services that support and promote recovery and resiliency of individuals/families with behavioral, cognitive, and developmental disabilities from birth to beyond. Juliana holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work from Wayne State University. She is a licensed master level macro and micro clinical social worker and certified advanced addictions counselor in Michigan.
Juliana is speaking during Programs For Addressing The Needs Of Children & Teens With Physical & Mental Service Needs.
Uriel Stephens

Uriel currently serves as the Director of Family Services for Easterseals MORC. She has worked with both adults and children in a variety of behavioral health settings in both Michigan and Texas. She is deeply invested in children and families who have experienced psychological trauma and is a master trainer in the promising practice of Intergenerational Trauma Treatment model.
Uriel is speaking during Programs For Addressing The Needs Of Children & Teens With Physical & Mental Service Needs.
Kimberly Bond, MS

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA

Sharon Hicks has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Successful Models For Serving Children With Complex Needs
Complex care in children’s health is a growing clinical focus and expertise area. This population is generally defined as a person, from birth to adulthood, with physical, behavioral, and social care needs. Given the complexity and scope of the issues facing these children and families, it is unlikely that any profession can provide the full scope of high-quality, competent care across all service lines. During this session, industry experts will discuss how specific agencies have created professional relationships to provide adequate care to this vulnerable population.

Lori Poston, LCSW, AADC, CS

Lori is the Vice President of Clinical Services for the Northeast region of Arisa Health, the largest provider of mental health services for the state, covering 41 counties in Arkansas. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she leads all clinical programs and services for the 11 counties in the Northeast region of the state. She has 27 years of experience, serving our most vulnerable persons who struggle with mental health and substance use issues, both in direct service provision and administrative roles. Lori has served her agency in several roles: school-based therapist, consultant/trainer with schools in Positive Behavior Supports under a SAMHSA grant, collaborated with Craighead County to create a Juvenile Drug Court program, and now works to help grow Arisa’s outpatient and residential treatment programs. Additionally, she is certified as an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (AADC) and Clinical Supervisor (CS) for Counselors in Training in Arisa’s substance use programs.
Lori is speaking during Successful Models For Serving Children With Complex Needs.
Walter Philips

Walter Philips has had a passion to work with troubled youth that stems from his own immigrant experience growing up in Los Angeles. This passion led him to receive his Master’s in Social Work from SDSU. Since first working on the streets of Southeast San Diego with gang kids in the 1980s, he made it his life goal to save one kid at a time. Walter was fortunate to become the CEO of San Diego Youth Services (SDYS) in July 2000. SDYS serves over 20,000 homeless, abused and at-risk youth and their families each year. Walter has worked for almost 40 years in San Diego as a social worker, including over 30 years in administrative leadership positions in community based non-profits. In addition, he has served on numerous local and statewide committees and boards. This includes serving as the immediate past Chair of the California Coalition for Youth, which is the main voice and advocate for homeless youth at the State level. Because of his leadership in the San Diego community, Walter has received numerous awards, including Social Worker of the Year (2002), Most Admired CEO for large Nonprofits (2011), and Behavioral Health Person of the Year (2018). In addition to raising their own two biological children, Walter and his wife have been foster parents to a son who experienced homelessness and incarceration in the juvenile and adult correctional system. Walter is an avid endurance athlete who has combined his passions by raising funds and awareness for at-risk youth through several running/biking endurance events.
Walter is speaking during Successful Models For Serving Children With Complex Needs.
Sharon Hicks, MSW, MBA

Sharon Hicks has more than 30 years of experience in the health and human service field. She has extensive experience and wide range of expertise in health plan management, in clinical operations management, and technology.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Hicks spent two decades in a number of executive positions within the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) system and within its health plan division. Ms. Hicks served as the Chief Operating Officer for Community Care Behavioral Health, a managed behavioral health organization. She was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s operations including fiscal, information systems, the claims processing department, and the design of clinical systems. In addition Ms. Hicks managed the day-to-day operations of including human resources, facilities, purchasing, and security.
Ms. Hicks also served as the Vice President, Internet Strategy, UPMC Insurance Services Division and, since 2002, as the Chief Executive Officer of Askesis Development Group, Inc. since May of 2002. In this role, Ms. Hicks was responsible for the growth of the company, profitability of the company, and the direction of software development.
Ms. Hick started her impressive health care career as a psychiatric social worker before being promoted to Assistant Director of Social Work. Prior to her executive promotions, Ms. Hicks served as a Clinical Administrator for both Ambulatory Services and Emergency and Intake Services at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. In this role, Ms. Hicks managed the behavioral health division, the budgets for all departments, and implemented new software replacing paper billing for clinical services.
Ms. Hicks received both her Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. Before pursuing her graduate education, Ms. Hicks received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Kimberly Bond, MS

Kimberly Bond, MS, LMFT, brings more than 30 years of experience providing behavioral health treatment in the public and community settings to the OPEN MINDS team. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Business Development. In this role, Ms. Bond focuses on growing the OPEN MINDS client portfolio across all nine verticals of OPEN MINDS business.
Prior to joining OPEN MINDS, Ms. Bond served concurrently as a Program Coordinator III and Clinical Manager of Adult Services and a Program Coordinator II and Clinical Manager of Recovery Services for the Ozark Guidance Center. In these roles, Ms. Bond was responsible for the administrative and clinical oversight of the adult outpatient and adult intensive mental health services on the Springdale Campus as well as the adult recovery/co-occurring services, including domestic violence and anger management treatment.
Prior to joining the Ozark Guidance Center, Ms. Bond served as the Executive Vice President of Center Point, Inc, a large substance abuse provider agency in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the clinical and administrative supervision of all community-based programs as well as the women and children residential programs. In addition, Ms. Bond also managed budgets, interacted with funding agencies, and built positive relationships with all stakeholders. Ms. Bond was also in charge of proposal and grant writing, staff management, and training, facilities’ licensing and certifications renewals. Additionally, she prepared and submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports to various funders.
Previously, Ms. Bond served as the President and CEO of Mental Health Systems, Inc. Ms. Bond was very instrumental in growing the agency from $12 million in annual revenue to more than $100 million and becoming one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in California. In this role, Ms. Bond was responsible for the strategic, clinical, financial, and administrative health of the agency, including direct supervision of Senior Executive Staff. In addition, Bond ensured contract compliance of the agency’s 125 different contracts across federal and state agencies and eight counties.
Ms. Bond received her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with honors, and her master’s degree in counseling education from San Diego State University. She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in both California and Arkansas.