Executive Leadership

Steven Elson, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer

Steve was hired in March of 1994 while the Casa Pacifica campus was still under construction.  Under his leadership programs have grown substantially and the number of children and families served annually has increased tenfold since opening in July of 1994.  He has encouraged program innovation and excellence and Casa Pacifica has received state and national recognition, most recently as the 2009 “Exemplary Program of the Year” award at the annual conference of California Mental Health Advocates for Children & Youth.

Steve began his career in child and family services as a staff psychologist at Klingberg Family Centers in New Britian, Connecticut and held a number of managerial positions there before coming to California as the executive diretor of The Sycamores, a residential treatment center in Altadena.  Steve is a graduate of Westmont College.  He received his doctorate in counseling psychology from Michigan State University.  He has published a number of papers/articles and has been active in public policy efforts benefiting children in foster care and other public service systems.  Steve is the immediate past-president of the American Association of Children’s Residential Centers. He has served as President of the California Alliance of Child & Family Services, the California Coalition for Mental Health, and California Mental Health Advocates for Children & Youth.  He is the current secretary of the California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies.  He also serves on a number of local Commissions and Task Forces concerned with child and family well being.
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Michael Redard, CPA, Chief Financial Officer

Prior to joining Casa Pacifica, Michael spent over 20 years as a financial executive, general manager, and independent consultant.  For the better part of his career he has helped a variety of high growth, technology based manufacturing and distribution companies achieve success in industries ranging from consumer products to medical devices.

Michael held VP, CFO and GM positions with several private equity and venture backed businesses including a leading provider of medical diagnostics, a manufacturer of emission control products, a producer of home health care equipment, and a fabricator of military/industrial components.  Earlier experience includes management roles with Pepsi Cola and in public accounting. 

Michael has been a guest lecturer at the USC graduate school of business and is a frequent speaker on finance transformation.  He is a Certified Public Accountant and received his B.S. in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

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Vicki Murphy, Chief Advancement Officer & Director of Alumni Services

Vicki began her work with Casa Pacifica as a volunteer teaching girls in the Residential Treatment Program how to cook.  She was hired in 2000 to work in the development office and soon moved into the role of Director of Development.  Under her leadership each year has seen an increase in donations over each preceeding year, keeping pace with growth of the agency and providing 10% of all revenue annually.  She launched an “alumni association” in 2006 and now, in addition to her development responsibilities, oversees Casa Pacifica’s growing programs for transition age youth. 

Prior to her employment at Casa Pacifica, she worked for Berkeley Hall School in Los Angeles, where she served for many years as the Second Grade teacher and Department Chair.

Vicki was recognized as a “2010 Woman of the Year” by the California Legislature.  She is a past recipient of the Ventura County “Community Advocate of the Year” award, and of the “Bravo” award from the National Association of Business Women. She also received Ventura County’s 2001 “Dynamic Woman of the Year” award.  Vicki volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and served on the Board in 2006.  She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Discovery Center for Sciene & Technology.

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Myra Saltoun, Ph.D., Director of Campus Services

Myra began her work at Casa Pacifica shortly after the doors opened in August of 1994 as a licensed psychologist.  In 1999 she was appointed Director of Clinical Services and more recently took on the role of Director of Campus Services.  Under her direction mental health services grew and a competitive post doctoral program and a pre-doctoral internship professor accredited by the American Psychological Association were established.  Myra is responsible for bringing many of the program innovations and evidenced based practices to campus which have been recognized at the state and national level.  She has presented at many state and national conferences, published articles/papers and has been active in professional organizations.  Currently, Myra is a board member of the Ventura County Psychological Association.

A graduate of UCLA, Myra began her career as an elementary school teacher.  She became a mentor teacher and taught teacher preparation classes at University of Southern California.  In 1984 she obtained her doctorate in Educational Psychology at USC and was awarded Best Dissertation of the Year.

Myra worked at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where she helped establish , Padres Contra El Cancer, the first organization in the country dedicated to providing bilingual psychoscocial services to Latino children with cancer and their families. 
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Jody Kussin, Ph.D., Director of Community Programs - Ventura County

Dr. Jody Kussin, clinical psychologist and author, is the Director of Community Based Services, Ventura County, for Casa Pacifica.  She coordinates Wraparound, Therapeutic Behavioral Services (TBS), Supportive Behavioral Services (SBS), Children’s Intensive Response Team (CIRT), and Kindle Family Connections (Family Finding), supervising a staff of 90 and providing services to 430 children monthly.  She acts as clinical supervisor for all clinicians, as well as serving as mentor to staff and graduate students. 

Her favorite thing about her work at Casa Pacifica is the time she spends with staff, and being able to work with the community, in the community, and for the community.  Jody’s area of professional expertise is parenting and parent-child relations.  She is the author of Catch Them Being Good: A Guide to Positive Parenting, recipient of the LA County of Mental Health’s model program award for the ‘90s.  She loves to write, having had a column in the East Valley editions of the LA Times, called “Family Matters,” for five years.  She is also a speaker at local and state meetings.

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Tom Sodergren, Director of Community Programs, Santa Barbara County

Tom Sodergren has over 25 years experience working with children and families in the mental health field and has overseen community based programs for Casa Pacifica for the past ten years. Tom started as the first Therapeutic Behavioral Services (TBS) Program Manager for Casa Pacifica in Ventura County (2001) and later for Santa Barbara County (2003), where he was responsible for the development and growth of TBS. To this day, the programs are the sole contracted providers for both counties and serve an average of 100 to 130 children and families on any given day.

Casa Pacifica’s TBS Programs in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties have consistently met and surpassed the utilization rates set forth by the California Department of Mental Health and have been recognized as a model for fidelity and best practice by independent auditors.  In April of 2008, Tom was invited to participate on the federal court’s Emily Q. vs Bonta Settlement Team as a TBS Practitioner representing the perspective of TBS providers. As part of the court settlement and under the guidance of the California Department of Mental Health, Casa Pacifica was contracted to provide TBS trainings throughout the state. Tom and his staff have conducted these trainings in five separate counties and have produced a two part webinar for small counties. 

In 2008 Tom was promoted to Director of Community Services for Casa Pacifica in Santa Barbara County, overseeing three community based programs whose main objective is to provide help and hope to at risk children/youth to keep them with their families in their community where possible. On October 13, 2011 Tom was recognized for his outstanding work as a member of the statewide Emily Q Settlement Implementation Team, which is working to ensure that children in California receive necessary therapeutic behavior services.
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Scott Mastroianni, Director of Educational Services

Prior to joining Casa Pacifica in 2008, Scott spent over 10 years as a teacher, coach and school administrator.  He has spent most of his educational career in Ventura County, however he has been fortunate to live and work globally in both Thailand and Italy.  His work experience also includes a diverse range from upper elementary through high school as well as post graduate university.  Additionally, Scott is an adjunct professor for Azusa Pacific University in the Department of Education.  For the better part of his administrative career he has helped schools improve their performance and experience growth in both public and private settings.

Scott has earned two masters degrees from Azusa Pacific University, one in Educational Technology and the second in School Administration.  He holds professional clear credentials in both administration and single subject teaching.  Scott received his Bachelor’s Degree in US History from California Lutheran University. 
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Cathy Sever, MD, Medical Director

Cathy came on board as the medical director of the Casa Pacifica Health Clinic in March, 2004.  She brought with her an expertise in Type1/juvenile diabetes as well as several years experience as a full scope family practitioner.  Since her tenure here, Casa Pacifica campus has admitted several children with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.  In addition, Casa Pacifica has also admitted and cared for children with a wide range of chronic illnesses from asthma, cancer, seizure disorders, cardiac anomalies to growth hormone deficiency, metabolic syndrome and gun shot wounds.

Cathy received her undergraduate degree at San Jose State University, her pre-med post-baccalaureate studies at Mills College, and her medical degree at UCLA.  She completed a rigorous internship and residency at Ventura County Medical Center in Family Medicine and went on to do a fellowship in adult and pediatric diabetes.  In addition to working as the medical director of the Casa Pacifica Health Clinic she also runs the Youth Diabetes Clinic for Ventura County Medical Center’s Pediatric Diagnostic Clinic and conducts her family practice with Las Islas Family Medical Group.
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James Freeman, Director of Training

James Freeman, MA, CYC-P has served as the Director of Training at Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families since 2006 and has been committed to improving the lives of children, youth, and families for over twenty years.  He holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Biola University.  He is a board member on the national Child and Youth Care Certification Board and has presented at numerous state and national conferences on best practices in youth work and is often training or consulting with like-minded agencies around the country. 

James collaborates as a trainer for the Life Space Crisis Intervention Institute, the Academy for Competent Youth Work, and the Upside Down Organization.  He is also a member of the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice and the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. 
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Donna Chandler, Co-Director, Human Resources
Stephanie McNutt, Co-Director, Human Resources

Stephanie and Donna joined Casa Pacifica in a job-share capacity in September 2001.  Between them, they have over 35 years of experience in human resources management.  Prior to joining Casa Pacifica, Stephanie and Donna worked together for a company known for its progressive employment practices and rated amongst the top 10 employers for working mothers.

Stephanie and Donna both hold a B.A. in Psychology and held a shared interest in working with youth in some capacity.  They were thrilled to have the opportunity to bring their experience and knowledge from the corporate world to an agency with such a meaningful mission.  Their priority is to create a culture that attracts and retains the best of the best by recognizing employees are our greatest asset.  Their philosophy is, if you take care of your employees, they will be better equipped to take care of the children and families we serve.