Homme Treatment Team

Homme Youth & Family Programs are led by a combined team of effective leaders and clinicians who respect the youth in our care and work to administer programs, support and services with dignity. Our qualified staff members have experience in trauma-informed care, various therapy modalities, supervision, mental health, combating poverty and homelessness, intergenerational abuse, neglect, and more. 

Pamela Cotton, MA, CSW               

Program Director

Pam is the director Homme Youth and Family Programs since November of 2014. Prior to Homme, she had been working in child welfare in Wisconsin since 2001, primarily in ongoing child protective services and foster care and adoption in Milwaukee County. She has worked with a variety of issues facing families and youth in out-of-home care, including trauma, poverty and homelessness, lack of education, intergenerational abuse and neglect, as well as sex trafficking.

Pam earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and her master’s degree in Feminist Psychology from New College of California. She is certified as a social worker.

Pam is married with one adult daughter, and outside of work enjoys spending time working at her horse farm and competing in endurance riding.

Todd Malueg                                    

 Educational Manager

Todd graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and Sociology. He began his career with Lutheran Social Services in 1994. Previously he has served as a Unit Supervisor, Behavioral Management Specialist, and Dean of Students.  Since 2017 Todd has served as Homme’s Education Manager in Visions Junior and Senior High School, where he leads a team of teachers, teaching assistants, crisis intervention specialist, kitchen and maintenance staff in providing top-notch educational services to Homme residents in an environment focused on health and safety of residents and staff alike.

Todd is married with one child and active in his community. Todd serves as the President of the Grant Fire Department and is also a member of the Caroline conservation club and the Lions club.

Carrie Miller

Program Manager

Carrie started her career at Homme in 2008 as an Unlicensed Therapist, primarily working with the Nelson Hall youth.  She then worked for the Family Advocacy Program through LSS doing in-home therapy for 18 months starting in 2011. When that contract expired, Carrie came back to Homme in 2013 as an Unlicensed Therapist for another 2 years before accepting the Program Supervisor position. She worked in that position for another 2 years before accepting the Lead Supervisor role which she was in until she accepted the Program Manager position in 2019.  Carrie works closely with the Program Supervisors and unit staff members; she embraces the tenets of Servant Leadership.

Carrie earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Human Development from UW-Green Bay in 2005. She then earned her master’s degree in Educational Psychology from UW-Milwaukee in 2008. She also has an Associate degree in Accounting from NWTC in Green Bay.

Carrie is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and has two children. Her hobbies include watching basketball and the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

Stephana Andres

Program Supervisor

Stephana has worked at Homme since 2014, and in the supervisor role since 2019.  Prior to working at Homme, Stephana managed her own daycare for children in the foster care system for several years.  She is a creative, tireless advocate for youth with behavioral and emotional challenges.

When she’s not at Homme, Stephana enjoys the outdoors and camping with her family.

Erika DeNovi

Program Supervisor

Erika is a Program Supervisor at Homme since 2021. She has been working in the Adult caregiving world since 1998 and made the switch to children in 2015, where she worked at Homme as a Care Advocate until 2018. From 2018-2021 she tried her hand at caring for pets versus people, but ultimately returned to Homme in 2021 as a Program Supervisor.

Erika earned her bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration in 2014 from Kapela University.

Erika is married, has 3 adult children, 1 grandson and enjoys reading, fishing, hunting, camping, bonfires, and family time.

Shelley Strojny, APNP

Shelley is Homme’s  Board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.  She has been an RN since 1991 and a Psychiatric Mental Health NP since 2010.  She graduated from UW-Oshkosh with her BSN and Rush University in Chicago, IL with her NP.  She went on to complete her PhD in psychology in 2014, successfully defending her dissertation on panic disorder.  She published a Christian children’s book “Do you know Baily?” in 2016.  In addition to working with Homme Youth and Family Programs since 2017, Shelley works part-time at Empower Mental Health Clinic and remains active in academia and research, teaching in UW-Oshkosh’s nursing program.  She has special interests in women’s peri/postmenopausal mental health care, anxiety disorders, and alternative/holistic means to achieve mental health.  Shelley is a native to Central Wisconsin.  When she is not working she enjoys spending time with her husband Tom and dogs.  Hobbies include taking long walks, swimming, cooking/baking, flower gardening, and reading.

Danielle Cline, MS

Homme Therapist

Danielle has worked as a therapist at Homme since June of 2015.  She graduated in 2015 with a Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling degree from Capella University. She began at Homme Youth and Family Programs in January 2015 as a Youth Counselor, working with youth on their living units, giving her a unique perspective as a direct line staff and daily caregiver. Since transitioning to her clinical role, she has worked with both male and female youth and now primarily works with youth living in the Acceptance Unit. This living unit serves the older boys (aged 13 – 21) and she also works with youth younger than 13 years old. She is trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Danielle has worked with youth who have been adjudicated for sex offenses as well as other criminal offenses. She typically works through the positive psychology theory; helping youth to work through their traumas and behaviors to achieve a successful, and happy future.

Dr. Rita Berkley, PhD

Homme Therapist

Rita has worked as a therapist at Homme since November of 2017.  She has a BA in Art Education, an MA in Expressive Arts Therapies, an ATR art therapy registration and a PhD in Human Behavior. Her doctoral area of expertise is parents’ experiences of marginalization when their child receives a mental health diagnosis. Rita came to Homme with 20 years’ experience in the field of family therapy and 25 years as a Registered Art Therapist. She has worked at all levels of care from inpatient, residential, intensive in-home counseling, outpatient and crisis work.  Her practice disciplines include Existential Art Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Intervention (TF-CBT).

While at Homme, Rita developed the Fast Track Program. In this program residents who meet certain criteria of motivation, accountability and parental/ family involvement move through our sexual offender treatment in 3-6 months as opposed to the traditional 9-12 months. So far we have had 7 fast track residents with only one incident of recidivism (client was re-hospitalized for mental health reasons not linked to his sexual offenses).

Other programs Rita has pioneered are the Performing Arts Workshops (PAW) and Performing Arts Internship (PAI). PAI involved recruitment of a performing arts major from a local university (UWGB) who created a program for her capstone project. She taught theatre, dance and drumming to residents in a summer intensive program.

The PAW program is based in the principles of Trauma Theory and provides the residents performing opportunities and cathartic experience. The PAW program has resulted in five productions to date. In addition to a yearly summer workshop we created another intensive PAW and used it to create a unique holiday experience for the residents who were not allowed to go home due to the COVID 19 outbreaks. This program augmented the ongoing process of family reunification by sharing the recording of the performance families were able to participate at least partially with their resident in the season.

Rita is an exhibiting artist and has two adult daughters both active in the performing arts in their communities. She spends her free time attending their performances, traveling and training her therapy dogs.

 

Denise Behm, MA

Homme Therapist

Denise has worked at Homme since December 2019, starting as a Care Advocate Specialist, then a Crisis Intervention Specialist and recently transitioned to a therapist role.  Denise received her master’s degree in Psychology in 2013 from Capella University as an adult learner while working full time as a Firefighter/EMT where she retired after 18 years of service.  She continues to serve on the Fire and Ambulance Department as a volunteer where she lives and has been active for 34 years.  Denise is married with 3 adult children and 6 grandchildren who she loves spending time with camping and just being with.  She also enjoys riding her Harley with her husband and UTV rides. When she is not doing bookwork for the fire department or the fundraising corporation raising money for children with debilitating illness or their business that her and her husband own, she enjoys reading a good book and just chilling!  Denise enjoys working at Homme trying to help in the lives of the residents who are here.

Brandon Nite, MSW

Homme Trauma/Evening Therapist

Brandon graduated in December 2021 with his Masters of Social Work from Northwest Nazarene University in Boise, Idaho. His program emphasis centered around clinical mental health and addiction. This program granted him the opportunity to provide counseling services for students at BYU-Idaho. As such, he offered individual counseling with a variety of students and co-facilitated a same-gender attraction support group for male students along with a group workshop centered on grief. He earned a Bachelor’s in Social Work from BYU-Idaho in April 2019. This presented him with the opportunity to work with the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team in Rexburg, Idaho assisting clients with chronic mental illness to live more independently in the community. The ACT team gave Brandon exposure to mental health court along with the opportunity to co-facilitate the “wellness recovery action plan” (WRAP) and “untangling relationships” group assisting clients in their ability to cope with and move on from codependent relationships. Additionally, he served as an undergraduate intern for the Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Idaho Falls providing a safe environment for clients to detox and receive acute crisis interventions. During this time Brandon assisted with case management and helped formulate quarterly reports for the crisis center.

Outside of his education, Brandon has served in a variety of different occupational capacities. He worked for many years within the assisted living community serving as a caregiver, cook, manager, and residential care administrator for Homestead Assisted Living both in Rexburg and Saint Anthony, Idaho. He loved this opportunity as he developed a special love for older adults. His most recent job involved serving as a “behavioral intervention professional” for Riverside Services in Idaho Falls. This granted Brandon opportunities to utilize ABA therapy with children and youth both at home and in the public school system. All of his clients exhibited behaviors associated with developmental disabilities, trauma, and a variety of unique stressors and challenges.

Brandon served a 2-year Spanish-speaking church service mission in Long Beach, California. He has been married for 7 years and finds joy in raising his 2-year-old son. One of his greatest passions is to provide addiction and trauma-based services for youth in Wisconsin. He is currently pursuing his LCSW license.

Sarah Bradley

Homme Case Manager

Sarah began her career with Homme Youth & Family Programs in the fall of 2019 as the Case Manager.  Prior to her work at Homme, she was the Victim Witness Coordinator for 9 years in Langlade County, giving her a strong working knowledge of the criminal justice system.  She was involved in both juvenile and adult cases and uses her knowledge to help explain legal issues and the juvenile justice process to residents.  Sarah has also worked in the field of interpersonal violence, working at a shelter in Langlade County providing community education and outreach, support groups, and legal advocacy.

Sarah is currently pursuing her master’s degree in forensic psychology through the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.  She hopes to graduate in the spring of 2024.  She will apply to be a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in the state of Wisconsin.

Sarah has 3 children – 2 adults and 1 teenager.  She enjoys spending time with all 3 of her children and her 2 dogs.  She has been a volunteer and advocate for JDRF since her youngest child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a toddler.

Beth Breske

Administrative Assistant Sr.

Beth has been with Homme Youth and Family Programs since 1988.  She grew up in Wittenberg and received her degree in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  She has a long history of serving in many roles, starting back in the mid 80’s when she volunteered at the NYPUM Rally when still in high school.  Over the years she has held many titles: Youth Counselor, Human Services Professional, Lead Therapist, Unit Supervisor, Recruiter, Medication Liaison, Support Service Secretary, and others.  These days her time is focused on billing, admissions, and providing support to the clinical team and the entire program.  Her favorite part of the workday is building relationships with the youth over lunch!

Dinah and Halston

Certified Therapy Dog and her small understudy!

Dinah, the Golden Retriever, is certified therapy dog with Therapy Dogs International. She has been working at Homme several days a week as a trauma and comfort dog since 2019. As Dinah is nearing retirement at the age of 11, Halston has recently joined the team and he will begin his obedience training in January of 2023.  The little guy has BIG shoes to fill.