Carol W. Cecil, Executive Director
Carol W. Cecil has a master’s degree in special education from Eastern Kentucky University and taught in a variety of settings for thirteen years. Over the past twenty-one years, she has become an advocate for families that have children with emotional, behavioral and/or mental health challenges. Carol and her husband are the proud parents of four children; their two older children were “handpicked” in 1990 from the Special Needs Adoption Program and her two younger were home-grown. Carol feels honored to work at KPFC and is passionate about helping other families that have children with behavioral health diagnoses.
E-mail: cwcecil@kypartnership.org
Joy Varney, Associate Director
Joy Varney was a Family Liaison in the Salt River region for many years and participated as KPFC’s board chair for two years in 2007 – 2009. She is the parent of four children, one of which has co-occurring disabilities. Joy is able to share her struggles in parenting with other family members that are going through similar circumstances. She is strong leader in the family-driven and youth-guided system of care movement.
Email: joy@kypartnership.org
Laura Beard, KY SEED Lead Family Contact
Laura Beard worked as a Family Liaison with Kentucky’s previous system of care cooperative agreement. She worked in Pendleton County with families that had young children with social/emotional delays. Laura has a great understanding and ability in working with families that have children prenatally to five years old. She is also a lead for the KY SEED Evaluation Team.
Email: laura@kypartnership.org
Janet Boughter, Training Coordinator
Janet Boughter has a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. Janet served in the United State Army for 8 years (1989-1997) and has over 17 years of management experience. She is a step- parent and a nana. Janet’s husband and step-son are both bipolar and her step-son and step-daughter both have substance abuse issues, which is what brought her to KPFC. Janet currently serves as KPFC’s Training Coordinator which allows her to utilize her organizations skills and parent perspective.
E-mail: Janet@kypartnership.org
Mary Chicoinesmith, Office Support Staff
Mary Chicoinesmith completed her Bachelors’ degree in Early Childhood Education. She raised a son with ADHD and learned bookkeeping as a single parent in San Diego. Mary is quite adventurous and loves to ride her motorcycle, go kayaking on Elkhorn Creek, and learning new skills. As Office Support Staff, Mary is able to utilize her bookkeeping skills and organizational talents to keep KPFC running.
E-mail: kpfc@kypartnership.org
Barbara Greene, Project Coordinator (Kentucky Family & Youth Movement)
Barbara Greene is a parent, step-parent, and grandparent; she is in the process of raising her third generation of kids with behavioral health issues and speaks from first hand pain and healings of doing so. She is currently working with a group of volunteers who established a formalized support system for parents in the Cumberland River region which is called Creating Opportunities for Parents Everywhere (COPE house). Barbara comes from a social justice background and brings the sense of succeeding against all odds. Her two most favorite sayings are, “If you ain’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem” and “sometimes you just have to behave your way into thinking.”
E-mail: barbara@kypartnership.org
Michael Karman, KY SEED Lead Family Contact
Michael Karman graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.A. in English. He has four children, three of which have special needs. He is “at KPFC because I believe that parents of children with special needs require an ally who understands what they are going through and can help them not only to navigate through the systems that serve our children but to take a leadership role in that activity. I believe in the family movement and believe that peer support is as valuable and perhaps more powerful than clinical interventions.”
Email: mike@kypartnership.org
Carmilla Ratliff, Youth Empowerment Specialist
Carmilla Ratliff is a graduate of Kentucky Partnership for Families and Children, Inc. (KPFC) statewide Youth Council. In 2002 Carmilla received the Patricia Ratliff Youth Leadership Award for her dedication, consistency and leadership skills on the statewide Youth Council. After her graduation from the Youth Council, she worked part-time for KPFC as a youth voice and youth organizer. In 2010 Carmilla became a full-time employee with KPFC.
E-mail: carmilla@kypartnership.org
Kate Tilton, Program Coordinator
Kate Tilton has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Northern Kentucky University and worked as an IMPACT Service Coordinator for eight and a half years in the Bluegrass Region. She is also a trainer for Service Coordination 101 and is a vocal advocate for utilization of the Wraparound Philosophy. Kate strongly believes that parents have the right to guide treatment for their children and that children with behavioral health challenges have a much greater chance of success when their parents are treated as equal partners and experts on their children. Kate currently lives with her husband and their two daughters on the side of a sixteen acre hill in Washington County.
E-mail: kate@kypartnership.org
