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
| ECFS | Early Childhood Family Specialist |
| ECMHMC | Early Childhood Mental Health Mentor (Clinical) |
| IFA | Infant Family Associate |
| IFRS | Infant Family Reflective Supervisor |
| IMHMC | Infant Mental Health Mentor (Clinical) |
| IMHMP | Infant Mental Health Mentor (Policy) |
| IMHMRF | Infant Mental Health Mentor (Research/Faculty) |
| IMHS | Infant Mental Health Specialist |
| IFS | Infant Family Specialist |
| Region | Name | Endorsement Category | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| x | Leigh Ward | ECFS | Slingerlands, NY |
| 5 | Wendy Bender | ECMHMC | Delanson, NY |
| 5 | Alana Russotti | ECMHMC | Rochester, NY |
| 2 | Natalie Brooks Wilson, Ph.D., LCSW-R | ECMHMC | Island Park, NY |
| 2 | Kenya Malcolm | ECMHMC | Spencerport, NY |
| 6 | Shannon Fortran | IFA | Altamont, NY |
| 4 | Angelica Carias | IFA | Brooklyn, New York |
| x | Franshel Rodriguez | IFA | Brooklyn, NY |
| 2 | Suzanne Dougan | IFA | Brooklyn, NY |
| 2 | Yvelisse Jimenez | IFA | Brooklyn, NY |
| 5 | Maryann Ciskal | IFA | Buffalo, NY |
| D | Kim Puma | IFA | Buffalo, NY |
| 1 | Linsey Vallett | IFA | East Pembroke, NY |
| 2 | Diana Bender-Carbuccia | IFA | Garden City, NY |
| 2 | Beth Faulkner | IFA | Jamestown, NY |
| 4 | Ashley K Murray | IFA | Kingston, NY |
| 5 | Jami Flynn | IFA | Monroe, NY |
| 2 | Lisa Plaskett | IFA | New York, NY |
| 5 | Cortney Nornhold | IFA | Owego, NY |
| 6 | Amanda Miller | IFA | Penn Yan, NY |
| 6 | Tracy Lynn Travis | IFA | Penn Yan, NY |
| 2 | Esther I. PIper | IFA | Plattsburgh, NY |
| 5 | Chelsea Peckham | IFA | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Rose Shufelt | IFA | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Stephanie David | IFA | Rochester, NY |
| 2 | Jenny Spampinato | IFA | Spring Valley, NY |
| 3 | Kelsey Stoddard | IFA | Swan Lake, NY |
| ** | Cori Lesher | IFA | Watertown, NY |
| 2 | Sheila Tumiel | IFRS | Buffalo, NY |
| 7 | Lisa D'Orsi O'Connor | IFRS | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Chanel Rigby | IFS | Brooklyn, New York |
| 5 | Gertrude Atongi | IFS | Brooklyn, NY |
| 7 | Roxanne (Wilson) Munroe | IFS | Brooklyn, NY |
| 1 | Marilyn Cristofaro | IFS | Elmira, NY |
| 1 | Amy Eng | IFS | Flushing, NY |
| 2 | Cyndie Hackett | IFS | Highland, NY |
| 2 | Cassandra Elliot | IFS | Irvington, NJ |
| 4 | Simone smith | IFS | Mahwah, NJ |
| 4 | Carin Leiva | IFS | Manhatten, NY |
| 4 | Rebecca Delgiudice | IFS | niskayuna, NY |
| 2 | Laura Sigel | IFS | Peru, NY |
| 2 | Colette Ryan | IFS | Queensbury, NY |
| 3 | Nancy J. Gearhart | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 4 | Patricia Caballero Schillaci | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 4 | Kimberly Porter-Hutton | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 4 | Lisa D'Orsi O'Connor | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Jennifer Mural | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Amanda Koch | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Lanh Durlak | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Megin Insalaco | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 6 | Samantha Colson | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| 6 | Valyn Reed | IFS | Rochester, NY |
| D | Mirandia Pipher | IFS | Seneca Falls, NY |
| D | Leigh Ward | IFS | Slingerlands, NY |
| 4 | Shannon Crane | IFS | Victor, NY |
| 7 | Sheila Tumiel | IFS | Buffalo, NY |
| x | Anita Black | IFS | Inlet, NY |
| 4 | Michele Neuhaus | IMHMC | Bayside, NY |
| 2 | Bonnie Cohen | IMHMC | Bronx, NY |
| 2 | Hazel Guzman | IMHMC | Bronx, NY |
| 4 | Daria Best | IMHMC | Brooklyn, NY |
| 2 | Marcy Safyer | IMHMC | Chicago, IL |
| 5 | Wendy Bender | IMHMC | Delanson, NY |
| x | Sally Rexing | IMHMC | East Elmhurst, NY |
| 2 | Jeanette Sawyer Cohen | IMHMC | Hastings-on-Hudson, NY |
| 5 | Gilbert Foley | IMHMC | New York, NY |
| 5 | Joaniko Kohchi | IMHMC | New York, NY |
| 2 | Susan Chinitz | IMHMC | New York, NY |
| 2 | Stacy Kurtz | IMHMC | Plainview, NY |
| 2 | Sarah Fitzgibbons | IMHMC | Rochester, NY |
| 2 | Jody Manly | IMHMC | Rochester, NY |
| 7 | Megan Smith | IMHMC | Rochester, NY |
| 2 | Kenya Malcolm | IMHMC | Spencerport, NY |
| 1 | Nancy Chapman | IMHMP | New York, NY |
| 5 | Rochelle Macer | IMHMP | Oceanside, NY |
| 2 | Christy Bezrutczyk | IMHMP | Plattsburgh, NY |
| 4 | Carol Morris | IMHMRF | Cobleskill, NY |
| 6 | Debra Fruchtman | IMHS | Albany, NY |
| 4 | Wendy Bender | IMHS | Delanson, NY |
| 2 | Layne Raskin | IMHS | Hartsdale, NY |
| 4 | Allison Lieber | IMHS | Jersey City, NJ |
| 2 | Steffany Nichols | IMHS | New York, NY |
| 2 | Sydney Pollock-Tobert | IMHS | New York, NY |
| 3 | Mary Anne Assini | IMHS | Newtonville, NY |
| 2 | Alana Russotti | IMHS | Rochester, NY |
| 2 | Megan Smith | IMHS | Rochester, NY |
| 4 | Kaitlin Towner | IMHS | Rochester, NY |
| 5 | Sarah Kliman | IMHS | Rochester, NY |
| 7 | Leah Elliott | IMHS | Rochester, NY |
| 7 | Vanessa Funfsinn | IMHS | Saranac Lake, NY |
| 6 | Casey Root-Caron | IFS | Peru, NY |
| 2 | Kelly Hornby | IFS | Plattsburgh, NY |
| 2 | Krista Diaso | IFS | Port Washington, NY |
| 1 | Miriam Arthur | IFS | Smithtown, NY |
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.
