About Us

National Network on Youth Transition (NNYT) for Behavioral Health

NNYT is the Purveyor of the TIP Model. Community agencies or a community collaborative interested in the implementation of the TIP model in their community would work with the National Network on Youth Transition for Behavioral Health (NNYT).

The mission of the National Network on Youth Transition for Behavioral Health (NNYT) is to improve outcomes for transition-age youth and young adults (14-29 years of age) with emotional and/or behavioral difficulties (EBD) through system development, program implementation, and research. The National Network is the only technical assistance resource that is exclusively focused on improving practices, systems, and outcomes for transition-age youth and young adults and their families. This population of young people experiences extreme challenges as they move in and out of our community child and adult serving systems (e.g., schools, foster care, mental health, detention, corrections) and have, almost without exception, the poorest post-secondary outcomes (e.g., employment, career-type education, homelessness, incarceration) of any of the disability groups.

We are establishing a national network of consultants, evaluators, and researchers who are qualified to represent the NNYT in working with agencies, communities, and states to advance their transition to adulthood efforts through system development, program implementation, policy reform, and evaluation/research. The NNYT also serves as the Purveyor of the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) model, an evidence-supported system that has been demonstrated to improve “real life” outcomes for youth and young adults with EBD.

The National Network on Youth Transition for Behavioral Health (NNYT) now has two “hubs” – one at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, FL and one at Stars Behavioral Health Group (SBHG) in Long Beach, CA. SBHG serves as the NNYT Purveyor for the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) model and operates the NNYT Stars Training Academy. Although both NNYT hubs are involved in evaluation and continuing quality improvement efforts, the USF hub has more of an exclusive evaluation/research emphasis.

Stars Behavioral Health Group

To bring vision, passion, and humanity to behavioral healthcare, social services, special education, and other human services
To help individuals and families use their skills and strengths to achieve positive change, resiliency, and lasting well-being
To provide effective and efficient services through evidence-based practices and highly-skilled, dedicated and culturally competent staff

Our Motto and Core Values

We offer a full continuum of community and facility-based programs, as well as special education in public and nonpublic schools. We deliver a complete array of therapeutic services — including outpatient, Day Treatment Intensive, and acute and sub-acute inpatient treatment — all of which are grounded in clinically sound, best practices. We provide our services through contracts with county mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice departments, as well as with public school districts. We employ evidence-based and other research-backed program models, and monitor client/family member satisfaction. We are innovators in using comprehensive Total Quality Management to support collaboration in day-to-day program management and service delivery throughout our organization. Together, these initiatives make us leaders among behavioral health-care providers.

Visit our website: Stars Inc.

Stars Training Academy

Through its STARS Academy, Stars Behavioral Health Group offers a wide range of training programs on research-based models of care for treating mental health and substance use problems, including interactive workshops, educational classes, coaching, and consultation services.

Our areas of expertise include the following evidence-based practices:

TIP (Transition to Independence Process)
EQUIP
EQUIP for Educators
SPARCS (Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress)
MI (Motivational Interviewing)

If you have any suggestions for improving our website or want to know more about our services for assisting agency and community sites with the implementation of the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model, please let us know.

Hewitt B. "Rusty" Clark
Director, NNYT

Peter Zucker
Director, NNYT Stars Academy

Joseph Solomita
Co-Director, NNYT Stars Academy & NNYT

Our Team

Peter Zucker, Ph.D.

As President and CEO of Clinical Services for Stars Behavioral Health Group, Dr. Peter Zucker is responsible for ensuring the quality and compliance of all clinical program services, including residential and community-based, in schools, and other settings. He has a particular interest in clinical training and supervision, outcomes and process research, QA and TQM, career development, and leadership and management training.
Two projects of current interest are the implementation of a comprehensive EMR, and the large scale implementation of Evidence Based Practices at multiple service delivery sites that STARS operates throughout the State.

Joseph Solomita, MSW

Joseph Solomita, MSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years experience working with children, adolescents and families in a variety of residential, educational and clinical settings. Over the past ten years, Mr. Solomita served as Clinical Director of both Star View’s Adolescent Center, an inpatient treatment facility, and of Star View’s TEAMMATES Program, a community-based Wraparound Program.
Mr. Solomita currently is the Director of Clinical Training for Stars Behavioral Health Group and is responsible for overseeing clinical training services for SBHG programs throughout California. Mr. Solomita is also the administrator of the Stars Training Academy; a division of SBHG that provides leadership to outside agencies in the training, implementing and sustaining of evidenced-based practices.

Hewitt B. “Rusty” Clark, Ph.D., BCBA

Dr. Hewitt B. “Rusty” Clark is the Director of the National Network on Youth Transition for Behavioral Health (NNYT) and is a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Child & Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of South Florida. Dr. Clark has developed and researched various innovative programs and has published extensively, with five books and more than 125 professional publications to his credit. He is the lead-editor of the book entitled: Transition of Youth and Young Adults with Emotional or Behavioral Difficulties: An Evidence-Supported Handbook. His commitment to young people and their parents is reflected in his having them serve as co-authors for each of the chapters. Dr. Clark is also the developer of the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) model. He served as the Lead Guest Editor for a Special Issue on Transition to Adulthood Research, published in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research (October, 2008). Recently, he was also distinguished with the CFS Outstanding Achievement Award.

Review Dr. Clark’s Vitae
Review a more complete Biographical Sketch
View other photos of Rusty
Professional photos for use in programs

Nicole Deschénes, B.Sc., M.Ed.

Nicole Deschénes, B.Sc., M.Ed., is a Senior NNYT consultant at SBHG. Nicole is also a faculty member in the Department of Child and Family Studies, at the Louis de La Parte Florida Mental Health Institute in Tampa, Florida. She holds a bachelor degree in nursing from the Université de Moncton, Canada and a master’s degree in Education from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

Nicole has more than 30 years of experience as a community mental health nurse, educator, consultant and researcher. Throughout her career, Nicole has assisted local, national and international organizations in developing improved supports and services for individuals with emotional and or behavioral issues. She has learned from and consulted with a multitude of organizations addressing youth development, community development and the promotion of mental health. She has served on a variety of task forces in government and the nonprofit sectors and is the author or coauthor of various publications and reports. Her current interests and efforts focus on developing effective transition models for youth in transition.

Elijah McCauley, MA, CRC

Elijah is the lead Clinical Training Specialist at Stars Behavioral Health Group. He is a dynamic Clinical Trainer with 15 years experience in training and delivering therapeutic group services to youth with Emotional & Behavioral Difficulties (EBD). His expertise lies in Evidence Based Practice implementation and effective methods for dealing with difficult and resistant youth with EBD. He currently holds an M.A. in Health Science - Rehabilitation Psychology.

Elijah holds certifications as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRCC), Certified Trainer of Aggression Replacement Training/ TPS (CA Institute of Mental health), Certified Trainer of Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescence Responding to Chronic Stress (North Shore Jewish Hospital), and Certified Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model Implementation Consultant.

Coral Huntsman, LMFT

Coral Huntsman is the Clinical Training Specialist for Stars Behavioral Health Group. Coral received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology with an MFT emphasis from Pepperdine University and is currently a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. Coral has over 18 years of Human Services experience including 7 years working as a Wraparound Facilitator and Clinician delivering community-based services to youth and families in Los Angeles County.

As a Clinical Training Specialist with the SBHG Stars Training Academy, Coral specializes in creating and delivering interactive clinical trainings on various evidence-based/evidenced supported practices. She is a member of the Certification Board for the National Network on Youth Transition (NNYT), Certified Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model Consultant, , Certified Pro-Act Instructor and is certified by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

Karyn Dresser, Ph. D.

Karyn Dresser is the SBHG Director of Research and Program Practices (6 years). She is a graduate of UC Berkeley (BA Psychology), UC Santa Cruz (Ph.D. Social Psychology) and UC San Francisco (Post Doc Clinical Services Research). Her graduate focus was on organizational studies and institutional analyses. She has worked on large scale funded research grants and contributed expert testimony on the need for children’s mental health systems of care to the U.S. Congress. Over a professional career spanning thirty years, Dr. Dresser has worked primarily at organizational and institutional levels to affect the overall policies, quality and outcomes of human services. Her style is to build integrative approaches to organizational leadership of effective service delivery by coupling quality improvement with program evaluation and consumer outcomes using facilitative methods of participatory decision-making. In her work with the STARS Academy for TIP, Dr. Dresser helps with developing fidelity and evaluation methodologies and conducting program reviews for site certification.

Wayne Munchel, LCSW

Wayne Munchel, LCSW – is the Director of TAY (Transition Age Youth) Services at Stars Behavioral Health Group and oversees six TAY programs throughout California. He has over 25 years of experience working in the mental health field and was one of the founders of The Village, an innovative recovery model program serving adults with severe mental illnesses. He received his Masters in Social Work from UCLA in 1986.

Mr. Munchel was also the founder and Director of the Mental Health Associations’ Transition Age Youth (TAY) Academy from 2000 to 2009. The model program helps young adults (ages 18 to 25) with psychiatric disabilities obtain housing, employment and educational opportunities and learn independent living skills. The TAY Academy serves 100 young adults in the Long Beach community and was identified as a promising practice by the Department of Labor.

Shannon Doty, MFT

Shannon has worked for over 15 years with high-risk children, adolescents and transition age youth in community-based and residential programs. She is a native of San Jose and currently holds the position of Director of Training for Starlight Community Services in San Jose. Shannon earned her BA with a focus on child development and psychology from Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She earned her MA with a focus on feminist clinical psychology from New College of San Francisco.

Monika Green, MFT

Monika Green, MFT, has been involved in the mental health field since 1979, focusing on individual, group and family therapy with children. She is well versed in Day Treatment Intensive programming, particularly as it integrates with school settings. For the past five years she has specialized in quality assurance and clinical consultation at SBHG, providing auditing and consultative support for programs’ documentation, regulatory and clinical needs. Monika received her B.S. in Early Childhood Development from Tufts University and her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from San Francisco State University.

Patrice Fetzer, LISW-S

Patrice Fetzer, LISW-S, is a National Network on Youth Transition (NNYT) Certified Transition to Independence Process (TIP) Model Consultant. She has over 20 years of experience in developing and implementing quality and innovative programming, cross- system collaborations, and system change efforts at the local and state levels that engage and empower individuals and families with mental, emotional, behavioral, and societal challenges. She has been a strong advocate for better services and supports for youth and young adults in transition within the behavioral health system from her years of experience as an independent living facilitator, case manager, supervisor, agency administrator and now as a board administrator. She provides local, state, and national presentations and consultations on best practices for serving the youth and young adult population and has co-authored a chapter entitled “Driving the System Through Young Adult Involvement and Leadership” in Transition to Adulthood: A Resource for Assisting Young People with Emotional or Behavioral Difficulties, Clark, H.B. & Davis, M. (2000). She co-authored a position paper for the Ohio Department of Mental Health entitled, “Paving the Way for a New Day for Young Adults in Ohio’s Mental Health System” (2008) and worked with a team of partners across the state of Ohio to build the consensus and capacity necessary for system change to better support this population. She is the Manager of Service Delivery for the Mental Health & Recovery Services Board of Stark County and resides in North Canton, Ohio.

Marc Fagan, Psy.D

Marc Fagan, Psy.D. is a Certified Consultant for NNYT, and provides training and technical assistance in the TIP Model and Associated Practices. Specializing in issues related to young adults, child welfare, mental illness, trauma, and organizational change, Dr. Fagan’s creative and engaging approach to training has attracted audiences locally and nationally.

Dr. Fagan is also the Associate Director for the Youth Programs at Thresholds in Chicago, the oldest and largest mental health agency in Illinois. He oversees comprehensive services for young adults with mental illness and traumatic histories who have grown up in the child welfare system. His programs, featured in the Clark & Unruh (2009) Transition Handbook, include residential and apartment programs, therapeutic schools, and services for teen parents, homeless families, and young children. Dr. Fagan participates in numerous studies and state workgroups dedicated to improving the outcomes for transitioning youth and for young people in the child welfare system. Dr. Fagan recently spoke at a Congressional Briefing in Washington DC in support of the Healthy Transitions Act for youth with mental health needs. Additionally, Dr. Fagan is a Master Trainer in Aggression Replacement Training (ART®) and an Associate Trainer in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI).