Faculty

Jennifer Stuber

Jennifer Stuber

Co-Founder and Executive Director

Jennifer Stuber is a faculty member at the UW School of Social Work and the founder of Forefront Suicide Prevention, which she directed for 10 years before launching BHCore. She is passionate about helping people who have lost hope due to trauma and mental health challenges. Jenn has extensive experience developing effective suicide prevention programs for youth, healthcare professionals and men in the middle years of their lives. The breadth of her training development expertise has expanded into developing training programs in behavioral health for crisis responders. She is an unwavering advocate for mental health system reform, prioritizing people-first approaches and transparency and accountability for state tax dollars. Jenn has helped to shape and to advocate for numerous state laws for more than a decade. Jenn believes that anything is possible with partnership and a growth mindset, including a unified, well-functioning crisis response continuum for people experiencing mental health challenges.

Stephanie Butler

Stephanie Butler

Training Director

Stephanie is a licensed clinical social worker currently serving the cities of Snoqualmie and North Bend as a Mental Health Professional and Co-Responder. Early in her career, she established a private practice dedicated to supporting youth and children facing behavioral health challenges stemming from childhood trauma. With a strong foundation in compassion and advocacy, she has developed a robust expertise in crisis intervention and trauma-informed care. Stephanie recognizes the critical importance of collaboration among mental health professionals, fire departments, law enforcement, and other first responders in crisis situations. She advocates that connection is the most valuable tool on the scene, and emphasizes that active listening leads to identifying the least restrictive environment for individuals in distress. In addition to her clinical work, Stephanie has extensive experience in curriculum development and instruction. As the lead architect for the BHCore's Co-Response Training Academy at the University of Washington, she has played a pivotal role in shaping training programs that enhance the effectiveness of crisis response teams.

Kim Hendrickson

Kimberly Hendrickson

Co-Founder and Program Manager, Fire Department Innovation Grants

Kimberly Hendrickson is the Director of the City of Poulsbo's Housing, Health and Human Services Department where she works on projects increasing access to healthcare, housing and social services. She oversees the City's Recovery Resource Center, a friendly, low barrier hub for health and recovery services in North Kitsap County. Kimberly helped to develop the City of Poulsbo's police navigator program, the Poulsbo Fire Department's CARES program and Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue's CARES program. She encouraged the growth of co-response programs throughout the state through the Co-Responder Outreach Alliance (CROA) from 2018-2023. She is the co-founder of the University of Washington's BHCore Center and promotes fire department-based behavioral health initiatives.

Mandy Owens

Mandy Owens

Training Associate

Mandy is an assistant professor at the Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute in the UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her work focuses on the intersection between substance use and the criminal legal system, including research and implementation efforts with law enforcement and other first responders, jails and prisons. A current project uses codesign to develop local solutions to crisis response with law enforcement in seven Washington state counties. She also has projects related to shared decision- making for alcohol and opioid use disorders, treatments for family members of people with substance use disorders, and adolescent behavioral health. Mandy is a licensed and practicing psychologist working with people with substance use disorder and their loved ones and has been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers since 2014.

Staff

Marie Bolstad

Marie Bolstad

Finance and Operations Administrator

Marie brings her extensive knowledge and skills in UW operational processes and finance management to BHCore operations. She is the finance and operations administrator for three research and innovation centers at the UW School of Social Work, including BHCore. Marie holds a BA in German language from Gonzaga University and an MPA from the UW's Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.

Anya Brennan

Anya Brennan

Administrative Assistant

Anya supports operations and outreach efforts in her roles as an administrative assistant. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Services from Western Washington University and brings experience in organizational support and customer service to this role. With a background in behavior analysis, she has served a diverse population of children, youth, and families impacted by disabilities. She has built collaborative relationships with colleagues to support client and customer outcomes. She is also detail- oriented and enjoys event coordination. Anya is eager to contribute to the center's mission in support of public service professionals.

Jen Kitajo

Jen Kitajo

Continuing Education Coordinator

Jen manages logistics for BHCore's educational offerings. She brings more than 20 years of experience in operational support and event coordination to ensure a high quality educational experience for crisis responders around the state. Her previous experience includes 10 years of training coordination for the Northwest Institute for Children and Families, as well as 12 years of administrative and operational support with Partners for Our Children, a UW School of Social Work research and innovation center.

Miriam Vishniac

Research Scientist

Miriam uses her extensive skills in data analysis to assist the BHCore team. As part of her groundbreaking doctoral research into the crisis of unsupported incarcerated menstruation, she founded and runs The Prison Flow Project - the first and only compendium of rules around the provision of menstrual products in women’s prisons in the U.S. Before obtaining her Ph.D. in Social Policy from the University of Edinburgh, Miriam received her Master’s in Public Policy from George Washington University and BA in Biochemistry from Oberlin College.

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