NCFR is piloting a new local initiative to, each year, create and sustain bidirectional relationships with a few family-related agencies in each NCFR Annual Conference city.  

During this session, representatives from local agencies will discuss their program along with issues the program is facing and a description of program needs. The goal of the session is for conference participants to learn more about the agencies, their work and experiences of the families with whom the local representatives work, and to begin a dialogue and relationship between local agencies and NCFR members. There will be ample opportunity for panelists and audience members to participate, contribute, and interact with each other in meaningful ways.   

Panel:

Mervil Johnson, M.P.A., Workforce Collaboration Manager, Workforce Solutions Tarrant County 
Shalaina Abioye, M.A., Ed.D. (ABD), Director of Refugee, Veteran and Diocesan Services, Catholic Charities Fort Worth
J'Vonnah Maryman, Ph.D., MPH, Associate Director, Family Health Services, Tarrant County Public Health 

Chair & Moderator: Katia Paz Goldfarb
Introductions: Erron L. Huey 

Organized by: the Local Conference Planning Committee 

Presenter Bios:

Mervil Johnson, M.P.A.

Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County’s mission is to ensure the economic vitality of the community by building and maintaining a quality workforce development system that strengthens and provides economic, educational, and developmental opportunities for all people including children and youth.

Mr. Johnson’s primary responsibilities as Workforce Collaboration Manager entail overseeing the fatherhood initiatives and NCP (Noncustodial Parents) program.  NCP provides support to noncustodial parents in Tarrant County with their employment and training needs in order to improve their capacity to meet their child support obligations. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Fatherhood Coalition of Tarrant County, a 20+ group of agency representatives committed to improving outcomes for children by promoting responsible fatherhood. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Johnson was Project Director for the first comprehensive, county-wide fatherhood program in Tarrant County known as FACT (Fathers and Children Together). 

Shalaina Abioye, M.A., Ed.D. (ABD)

Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW) is an enterprising nonprofit with a belief that ending poverty is possible. Its diverse services, poverty solutions, and income-generating social enterprises help tens of thousands in the 28-county diocese each year, most of whom are the working poor. They strategically challenge the ways poverty is addressed nationwide by scrupulously testing its own case management methods through research partnerships, exporting its known solutions to other non-profits and serving as a resource for what works on Capitol Hill. They have a bold goal to end poverty for 10,000 families in the Fort Worth community by 2026.

Ms. Abioye oversees 17 programs under her leadership. In this session, she will focus specifically on one program serving refugee individuals and families called the Economic Advancement for Refugees & Immigrants program, also known as EARI. The purpose of EARI is to move refugee and other Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) eligible populations (asylees, victims of trafficking, Also they help Special Immigrant Visa holders and Cuban/Haitian parolees) out of poverty based on the agency’s Out Of Poverty metrics and through culturally competent service delivery.

 J'Vonnah Maryman, Ph.D., M.P.H. 

Tarrant County Public Health’s (TCPH) mission is to use its expertise to advance the community's health through accountability, quality, and innovation. Since its inception in the 1950s, TCPH has been a valuable local resource by providing services aimed at promoting, achieving, and maintaining a healthy standard of living to Tarrant County residents.

Dr. Maryman currently serves as the Associate Director of Family Health Services at Tarrant County Public Health. Family Health Service programs are primarily maternal child health focused and include:

(1) Nurse Family Partnership; (2) 17P Prematurity Prevention; (3) Fetal Infant Mortality Review; (4) Child Fatality Review; (5) Chronic Disease; (6) Community Youth Development