Chris Groeber has spent the past 20 years providing direct service and program development in human service agencies at the local, state and national level. Chris’ primary focus has been child and family welfare, violence prevention and collaborative practice. Chris has served in both frontline and administrative positions throughout his career. He has provided direct mental health and child welfare services to children in rural Eastern Kentucky. He has provided training to public child welfare staff, developing numerous initiatives that focused on the professionalization of child welfare. Chris became faculty at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work and during his tenure developed a nationally regarded child welfare and foster parent training center. Chris has successfully written numerous state and federal service and research grants. Mr. Groeber has served administratively in both the public and private sectors.

Chris has served on numerous boards and committees, all with the focus of improving accountability and practice. Chris has recently become CEO of the Center for Human Entrepreneurship Services (CHES) Solutions Group with the focus on supporting dynamic, accountable change in human services.

Chris has published articles focused in practice improvement and the professionalization of social worker and has spoken all over the nation regarding issues in child welfare. Chris and his wife have been foster parents and worked in Russia and South and Central America with children and their families.

Chris received is Bachelors degree from Anderson University, his MSW from the University of Kentucky and has completed 56 hours post Master work in education and social work.

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Dr. Jean Elder has a distinguished career, spanning 30 years of senior policy leadership in health and human services with an emphasis on child welfare, developmental disabilities and children’s mental health. Jean K. Elder is President and CEO of Jean K. Elder & Associates and serves as a Senior Research Affiliate to the University Of Michigan Ford School Of Public Policy.  Her expertise on reducing reliance on institutional forms of care, system privatization and the importance of accreditation is regularly drawn upon by public and private executive officials, advocacy organizations and legislatures.  In her eight years as Commission, Administration for Developmental Disabilities at Health and Human Services, Elder shaped the supported employment and supported education policy, working intensively with members of Congress, advocacy groups and the national media to promote the expansion of community based alternatives for all underserved populations. During her tenure as Assistant Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services she focused on the expansion of Head Start, person centered planning, system integration and the importance of national accreditation on behalf of all  underserved populations.

Elder has  served on the National Boards  of the American Association on Mental Retardation,  The International Association for Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency, American Association of Mental Health Administration, and the American Association for Training and Development.

The recipient of numerous awards and appointments,  including appointments to two Presidential Committees, The Presidents Committee on Mental Retardation and the Presidents Commission on White House Scholars, she also has makes numerous presentations at professional conferences, various state legislatures, the U. S. Congress, foundation and business groups and  consults for both government and private agencies. She continues to play a significant role in the development, passage and implementation of major child welfare, children’s mental health and developmental disabilities legislative reforms.

Elder received her BA, MA and PhD from the University of Michigan and completed post doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin.

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David DeStefano has extensive experience in health and human services arena.  His range of experience includes program evaluation, development and use of software and database applications, SACWIS Review, Assessment and Requirements, maximization of federal revenues, federal compliance, external evaluation and reporting, random moment sampling, rate setting, cost reporting, proposal and grant writing, project management and analysis and implementation of federal, state and local polices.  His primary areas of work have focused on program analysis and practice integration, external program evaluation, workflow development, rate setting, Title IV-E cost reimbursement, child welfare, and assessment of community based services. 

DeStefano has written and evaluated numerous state and federal grants as well as providing consultation to various national and state human service agencies. He has facilitated analysis of organizations providing them with “balanced score cards” on best practice preparedness. He has lead the re-design of SACWIS systems as well as other cost allocation projects.

As a former service provider, David applies these experiences to his work with agencies and systems. He is a presenter for numerous national conferences and trainings, while working closely with CEOs and frontline staff to improve overall outcomes for families.

David received his B.A. in Psychology for Purdue University.