Endorsed Professionals Directory

The NYS-AIMH Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health® is intended to recognize experiences that lead to competency in the infant-family field.

Endorsement® is cross-sector and multidisciplinary including professionals from child and/or human development, education, nursing, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, social work, and others. Endorsement® indicates an individual’s efforts to specialize in the promotion/practice of infant mental health within his/her own chosen discipline.

Those who have earned Endorsement® have demonstrated that the individual has completed specialized education, work, in-service training, and reflective supervision/consultation experiences that have led to competency in the promotion and/or practice of infant mental health. Endorsement® does not guarantee the ability to practice as a mental health professional, although many who have earned Endorsement® are licensed mental health professionals.

Endorsement Categories

ECFSEarly Childhood Family Specialist
ECMHMCEarly Childhood Mental Health Mentor (Clinical)
IFAInfant Family Associate
IFRSInfant Family Reflective Supervisor
IMHMCInfant Mental Health Mentor (Clinical)
IMHMPInfant Mental Health Mentor (Policy)
IMHMRFInfant Mental Health Mentor (Research/Faculty)
IMHSInfant Mental Health Specialist
IFSInfant Family Specialist
RegionNameEndorsement CategoryLocation
xLeigh WardECFSSlingerlands, NY
5Wendy BenderECMHMCDelanson, NY
5Alana RussottiECMHMCRochester, NY
2Natalie Brooks Wilson, Ph.D., LCSW-RECMHMCIsland Park, NY
2Kenya MalcolmECMHMCSpencerport, NY
6Shannon FortranIFAAltamont, NY
4Angelica CariasIFABrooklyn, New York
xFranshel RodriguezIFABrooklyn, NY
2Suzanne DouganIFABrooklyn, NY
2Yvelisse JimenezIFABrooklyn, NY
5Maryann CiskalIFABuffalo, NY
DKim PumaIFABuffalo, NY
1Linsey VallettIFAEast Pembroke, NY
2Diana Bender-CarbucciaIFAGarden City, NY
2Beth FaulknerIFAJamestown, NY
4Ashley K MurrayIFAKingston, NY
5Jami FlynnIFAMonroe, NY
2Lisa PlaskettIFANew York, NY
5Cortney NornholdIFAOwego, NY
6Amanda MillerIFAPenn Yan, NY
6Tracy Lynn TravisIFAPenn Yan, NY
2Esther I. PIperIFAPlattsburgh, NY
5Chelsea PeckhamIFARochester, NY
5Rose ShufeltIFARochester, NY
5Stephanie DavidIFARochester, NY
2Jenny SpampinatoIFASpring Valley, NY
3Kelsey StoddardIFASwan Lake, NY
**Cori LesherIFAWatertown, NY
2Sheila TumielIFRSBuffalo, NY
7Lisa D'Orsi O'ConnorIFRSRochester, NY
5Chanel RigbyIFSBrooklyn, New York
5Gertrude AtongiIFSBrooklyn, NY
7Roxanne (Wilson) Munroe IFSBrooklyn, NY
1Marilyn CristofaroIFSElmira, NY
1Amy EngIFSFlushing, NY
2Cyndie HackettIFSHighland, NY
2Cassandra ElliotIFSIrvington, NJ
4Simone smithIFSMahwah, NJ
4Carin LeivaIFSManhatten, NY
4Rebecca DelgiudiceIFSniskayuna, NY
2Laura SigelIFSPeru, NY
2Colette RyanIFSQueensbury, NY
3Nancy J. GearhartIFSRochester, NY
4Patricia Caballero SchillaciIFSRochester, NY
4Kimberly Porter-HuttonIFSRochester, NY
4Lisa D'Orsi O'ConnorIFSRochester, NY
5Jennifer MuralIFSRochester, NY
5Amanda KochIFSRochester, NY
5Lanh DurlakIFSRochester, NY
5Megin InsalacoIFSRochester, NY
6Samantha ColsonIFSRochester, NY
6Valyn ReedIFSRochester, NY
DMirandia PipherIFSSeneca Falls, NY
DLeigh WardIFSSlingerlands, NY
4Shannon CraneIFSVictor, NY
7Sheila TumielIFSBuffalo, NY
xAnita BlackIFSInlet, NY
4Michele NeuhausIMHMCBayside, NY
2Bonnie CohenIMHMCBronx, NY
2Hazel GuzmanIMHMCBronx, NY
4Daria BestIMHMCBrooklyn, NY
2Marcy SafyerIMHMCChicago, IL
5Wendy BenderIMHMCDelanson, NY
xSally RexingIMHMCEast Elmhurst, NY
2Jeanette Sawyer CohenIMHMCHastings-on-Hudson, NY
5Gilbert FoleyIMHMCNew York, NY
5Joaniko KohchiIMHMCNew York, NY
2Susan ChinitzIMHMCNew York, NY
2Stacy KurtzIMHMCPlainview, NY
2Sarah FitzgibbonsIMHMCRochester, NY
2Jody ManlyIMHMCRochester, NY
7Megan SmithIMHMCRochester, NY
2Kenya MalcolmIMHMCSpencerport, NY
1Nancy ChapmanIMHMPNew York, NY
5Rochelle MacerIMHMPOceanside, NY
2Christy BezrutczykIMHMPPlattsburgh, NY
4Carol MorrisIMHMRFCobleskill, NY
6Debra FruchtmanIMHSAlbany, NY
4Wendy BenderIMHSDelanson, NY
2Layne RaskinIMHSHartsdale, NY
4Allison LieberIMHSJersey City, NJ
2Steffany NicholsIMHSNew York, NY
2Sydney Pollock-TobertIMHSNew York, NY
3Mary Anne AssiniIMHSNewtonville, NY
2Alana RussottiIMHSRochester, NY
2Megan SmithIMHSRochester, NY
4Kaitlin TownerIMHSRochester, NY
5Sarah KlimanIMHSRochester, NY
7Leah ElliottIMHSRochester, NY
7Vanessa FunfsinnIMHSSaranac Lake, NY
6Casey Root-CaronIFSPeru, NY
2Kelly HornbyIFSPlattsburgh, NY
2Krista DiasoIFSPort Washington, NY
1Miriam ArthurIFSSmithtown, NY
Last Updated: March 2023

Regions

NYS-AIMH has representation from these 7 geographic regions of NYS.

Endorsement involves a standardized process to determine that a professional has accumulated specialized experiences in the infant and early childhood field and has signed a Code of Ethics.

All applicants receive a copy of the Code of Ethics. An applicant’s experiences are documented by the submission of an application that details competency-based training, specialized work experiences, and for most, reflective supervision/consultation (RSC) experiences.

The application also includes official transcripts and three reference ratings. Endorsees as Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist and Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor have passed an exam that includes measures of theoretical knowledge, direct service skills, and their capacity to apply these principles into practice. This exam is scored by a team of two reviewers who are blind to the identity of the examinee.

To maintain Endorsement also requires ongoing training and, in the cases of Infant/Early Childhood Family Specialist, Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist and Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor-Clinical, ongoing RSC. Endorsees are also required to re-commit to upholding the Code of Ethics annually. Beginning in January of 2022, this commitment includes signing an attestation that the endorsee has not been sanctioned by a licensing board.

Endorsement is not a professional license or a certificate. 

NYS-AIMH Endorsement cannot guarantee the quality of service of any endorsed professional.  NYS-AIMH Endorsement  does not include a process by which complaints or concerns regarding ethics can be filed.  If NYS-AIMH becomes aware of possible ethics violations by an endorsed professional, complainants are encouraged to, when applicable, contact the individual’s professional licensing board. 

The NYS-AIMH Endorsement does not offer monitoring for ethics violations, however if NYS-AIMH learns that an endorsed professional has been sanctioned by a licensing board, the individual’s name is moved to the Inactive Endorsement Registry.  Those professionals will follow the policy for reactivation to the Active Endorsement Registry once the licensing board’s sanctions have been lifted.

Organizational NYS-AIMH Members

We welcome all organizations that share our mission of supporting the mental health of young children.

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