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Center for Child Advocacy


CHILD ADVOCACY AND POLICY

Faculty

 

Cathy Brown

Cathy Brown

Professor
Center for Child Advocacy
Child Advocacy and Policy

Education: JD, Columbia University School of Law; MS, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; BA, Wesleyan University

Office:
Legge House
RM 26
2nd Floor

Phone:
973-655-7845

E mail: Brown

Hours:
M 8:00-9:00 am /
12 pm -3 pm
R 8:00-9:00 am

And
By Appointment

 Biographical Sketch:

Ms. Brown received her Bachelor’s Degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.  After attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and graduating from the Bergen County Fire Academy, she was the first woman in the country to be awarded a Master’s of Science in Fire Protection Management.  Her research explored the impact of the Americans’ with Disabilities Act on fire protection strategies, for which she won the Hawley Award for Writing and Community Service.  Ms. Brown, formerly a practicing attorney, graduated from Columbia University School of Law.
At New Jersey Institute of Technology, she has taught “Reading, Writing and Thinking”.   Currently, she is enrolled in the Family Law LLM program at Hofstra University.  Her research there concerns the proper child advocacy response to pregnant women who ingest dangerous substances.

 

Michele Cascardi Michele Cascardi, PhD

Professor
Center for Child Advocacy
Child Advocacy and Policy

Education:

Office:
Legge House
RM 24
2nd Floor

Phone:
973-655-4089

E mail: Cascardi

Hours:
T 1-3 pm
R 1-2 pm

And
By appointment

 Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Michele Cascardi is an Associate Professor in the Center for Child Advocacy at Montclair State University. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University and obtained her master’s and doctoral degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in clinical psychology. She completed a post doctoral fellowship in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida where she received clinical training in civil and criminal forensic psychology.

She has 30 publications in peer reviewed journals on post traumatic stress disorder, dating violence prevention, domestic violence, battered women, civil commitment, and informed consent. Dr. Cascardi has functioned as a forensic and clinical psychologist for the last fifteen years, with particular focus on post traumatic stress disorder, battered woman syndrome, child custody, and personal injury claims. She currently serves on the editorial board for Psychological Assessment, critically evaluating the psychometric and validation studies of instruments related to personality styles, post traumatic stress disorder, and interpersonal violence. Her current research interests include identifying genetic predisposition toward post traumatic stress disorder, using an animal model of brain circuitry and risk assessment to inform human studies.

Nancy Coba Nancy Coba, PsyD

Professor
Center for Child Advocacy
Child Advocacy and Policy

Education: PsyD, Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University; Psy.M., Psychology, Rutgers University; M.A., Educational Psychology, Montclair State University; BA, Psychology, Summa Cum Laude, Montclair State University

Office:
Legge House
RM 25
2nd Floor

Phone:
973-655-7845

E mail: Coba

Hours:
M 1pm - 2 pm
W 1:30 - 4:30 pm

And
By appointment

 Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Coba completed her Master of Arts in Educational Psychology (concentration in Child/Adolescent Clinical Psychology) at Montclair State University, and subsequently completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University- Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. During her doctoral education, Dr. Coba worked with underserved, inner-city, low-income children, adolescents and families (primarily African American and Latino), in outpatient settings, as well as school settings (preschool, elementary, middle/high schools, and college counseling center). More recently, Dr. Coba worked at St. Clare’s Hospital Center for the Protection of Children, where she conducted psychological evaluations and treatment with children, adolescents and families involved with the Division of Youth and Family Services. Dr. Coba’s clinical interests are in the areas of Latino mental health and child abuse/neglect. Dr. Coba’s bicultural heritage, coupled with her knowledge of emotional/behavioral difficulties and treatment modalities, gives her a unique perspective on and sensitivity towards the issues of assimilation and acculturation, as well as their impact on mental health.

 

Pauline Garcia-Reid

Pauline Garcia-Reid, Ph.D.

Professor
Center for Child Advocacy
Child Advocacy and Policy
Family and Child Studies

Education: Ph.D., Fordham University; MSW, BA, Rutgers University

Office: University Hall, RM 4186

Phone:
973-655-6846

E mail: Garcia-Reid

Hours:

 

 Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Garcia-Reid is an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Family and the Child Studies and the Center for Child Advocacy.   She is a N.J. State Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 10 years of clinical experience in inpatient, outpatient, partial care, and community-based programs. In both her research and clinical work, she has demonstrated a commitment to working with at-risk children and families.  Her recent publications, which have appeared in Education and Urban Society and the Journal of Primary Prevention, focus on ways of improving school outcomes for Latino youth and preventing risky behaviors among urban minority adolescents.  In April of 2007, Dr. Garcia-Reid was appointed to the New Jersey Crime Plan Task Force, Prevention Coordinating Sub-Committee, by Lisa Thorton, Chief of Staff, The State of New Jersey, Department of Law & Public Safety, Office of the Attorney General to develop a statewide strategy focused on ways to deter at-risk youth from becoming gang involved.

 

Nydia Monagas, PsyD

Professor
Center for Child Advocacy
Child Advocacy and Policy

Education: PsyD, Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University; Psy.M., Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University; M.A., Educational Psychology, Montclair State University; Post-B.A. Certification, Child Advocacy, Montclair State University; B.A., Psychology, Summa Cum Laude, St. Mary’s University

Office:
Legge House
RM 25
2nd Floor

Phone:
973-655-7826

E mail: Monagas

Hours:
M 9-11 am
W 4-5:00 pm

And
By appointment

 Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Monagas completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.  She also has a Post-Bachelor’s Certificate in Child Advocacy from Montclair State University and has completed the NJ Child Sexual Abuse Case Consultation Project.  Dr. Monagas previously worked at the St. Clare’s Center for the Protection of Children and at the Dorothy B. Hersch Regional Diagnostic Center where she conducted psychological evaluations and treatment for children and families involved with the Division of Youth and Family Services.  She also served on the Board of The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) from 2001-2009. 

 

Lucy Takagi

Lucy Takagi, PsyD

Professor
Center for Child Advocacy
Child Advocacy and Policy

Education:

Office:
Legge House
RM 25
2nd Floor

Phone:
973-655-2135

E mail: Takagi

Hours:

Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Takagi earned her Master’s in Educational Psychology with a concentration on Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology from Montclair State University in 1999. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University. She has worked clinically with inner-city, ethnically, financially and culturally diverse populations and with adult and child victims of sexual abuse. Dr. Takagi is a trained forensic evaluator and has worked at the Audrey Hepburn Children’s House at Hackensack Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey doing assessment and treatment of children and families impacted by allegations of abuse and/ or neglect. Additionally, she has also worked as an extern during her doctoral training at the Metropolitan Regional Child Abuse Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Newark, New Jersey. She has testified as an expert and fact witness in New Jersey’s civil courts. Dr. Takagi is a licensed psychologist in NYC. She is also a Past-President of the GSAPP Alumni Association at Rutgers University and a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), of the Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of APA, of the New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA) and of the Latino Psychological Association of NJ (LPANJ).