About Us
Contact Information
The Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Technical Assistance Center (CJMHSA TAC) is located in the College of Behavioral & Community Science's Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida. The CJMHSA TAC is part of the Florida Mental Health Institute which is also in the College of Behavioral & Community Sciences.
Abby Shockley, MPH, Director
Email address: ashockley1@usf.edu
Abby is the Director of the CJMHSA TAC where she oversees CJMHSA TAC activities, contract compliance, and coordinates and provides training and technical assistance related to implementation of reinvestment grant programs throughout the state. Abby earned her B.S. in Health Sciences from Boston University and her Master’s in Public Health from USF. She is a board member of the Hillsborough Recovery Coalition and an adjunct faculty member for the USF Department of Mental Health Law & Policy. Prior to joining the TAC, Abby served as consultant for behavioral health programs, assisting with strategic planning, grant writing, development of compliance and business plans, and assessing programs for implementation of best practices for individuals with substance use disorders and mental illness. She previously served as a Senior Policy Analyst with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services where her work focused on several of the Department’s substance use disorder (SUD) initiatives, including substance use disorder policy analysis and development and expansion and oversight of Medicaid coveragefor SUD. During her time with NH DHHS, she also served as the Project Director for implementation of the State Opioid Response grant, including oversight of program development for delivering behavioral health services and expanding the use of Medication Assisted Treatment for individuals involved in NH’s criminal justice system. Abby has also worked with Federally Qualified Health Centers, hospital systems, and direct care behavioral health providers invarious roles with Bi-State Primary Care Association, the NH Alcohol and other Drug Service Providers Association, Healthy Start Coalition and the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative.
Katelind Melendez, M.A., M.S., Assistant Program Director
Email address: katelind@usf.edu
Katelind is the Assistant Program Director at the Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Technical Assistance Center (CJMHSA TAC). At the CJMHSA TAC, she is responsible for facilitation of technical assistance events for the DCF Reinvestment Grant Program, as well as technical report writing, for grant program reports written to inform the DCF and the Florida Legislature. She earned a Master of Arts in Criminology and a Master of Science in Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health at USF. Since starting at the CJMHSA TAC, Katelind has assisted in facilitation of over 17 Sequential Intercept Mappings across the state, which promote system-wide changes in the behavioral health and criminal and juvenile justice systems.
Beth Holland, MBA, Learning and Development Facilitator
Email address: holland75@usf.edu
Mary (Beth) is the Learning and Development Facilitator at the Criminal Justice, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Technical Assistance Center (CJMHSA TAC). Previously, she was in the multifamily housing industry as a social media and reputation manager for 10 years. Beth holds her Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Sullivan University. Her role is responsible for increasing the TAC’s capacity for grantee communications, information dissemination, and development and implementation of a learning collaborative to enhance peer to peer learning among grantees across the State of Florida.
Address:
CJMHSA TAC
Department of Mental Health Law Policy
Florida Mental Health Institute
College of Behavioral & Community Sciences
13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. MHC 2614A
Tampa, FL 33612-3899