TFC Consultants, Inc.

Founded in 2002, TFC Consultants, Inc., is dedicated to the implementation of community-based programs that are cost effective and achieve positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. TFC Consultants, Inc., specializes in implementing model-adherent Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) programs. TFC Consultants, Inc., also provides consultation and technical assistance to existing MTFC programs and helps service providers, policy makers, and community leaders resolve issues related to the implementation of evidence-based practices.

The founders of TFC Consultants, Inc., include the MTFC program founder, Patricia Chamberlain, Ph.D., John Reid, Ph.D., Philip A. Fisher, Ph.D., and Gerard Bouwman.

Dr. Chamberlain developed and founded the MTFC model in 1983. She has conducted eight randomized clinical trials on MTFC with youth and families referred from the juvenile justice, mental health, and child welfare systems. Dr. Chamberlain has authored three books and over 60 journal articles and book chapters on evidence-based treatment approaches, treatment process, outcome research, methodology, foster care, and related topics. She is a senior research scientist at the Center for Research to Practice and the Oregon Social Learning Center. Until recently, she was the Executive Director of OSLC Community Programs (OCP), a private non-profit organization that delivers evidence-based treatment services in Oregon. She remains associated with OCP in an advisory capacity.

Dr. Chamberlain is a Fellow in the Academy of Experimental Criminology, a consultant to the Andrus Family Foundation, and a grant reviewer for the National Institute of Mental Health. In 2007 she received the Science to Practice Award from the Society for Prevention Research. She collaborates with researchers and the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center in San Diego, and with other researchers throughout the US and Sweden who are interested in examining methods for strengthening services in the child welfare, mental health and juvenile justice systems. She currently is the Principal Investigator on three grants, one funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and two by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Dr. Reid’s career has been dedicated to the research, treatment, and prevention of youth antisocial and delinquent behavior. Dr. Reid is a founder and immediate past Executive Director of the Oregon Social Learning Center. He is the Director of the Oregon Prevention Research Center, founded in 1990, and the Pathways Home - Reducing Risk in the Child Welfare System Center founded in 2003. Dr. Reid is also Executive Director of the Center for Research to Practice. Since receiving his doctoral degree from the University of Oregon in 1967, Dr. Reid has dedicated his career to the investigation of factors promoting and preventing antisocial behavior, observation methodologies, and the design of randomized intervention trials. His prevention program, Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT), has received national recognition as a Promising Program for Safe and Drug Free Schools. Dr. Reid has served on private, state, and federal task forces to study the most effective interventions for delinquency and antisocial behavior. Most recently, he has served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Representation of Minority Children in Special Education, the Planning Board and Peer Review section of the Surgeon General’s Report on Youth Violence, and was a Contributing Expert to the National Institute of Mental Health report, Taking Stock of Risk Factors for Child/Youth Externalizing Behavior Problems.

Dr. Fisher came to Eugene, Oregon, in 1989 to attend graduate school in psychology and to work in the MTFC programs. In 1996, he developed the MTFC-P program based on the recognition that the problems seen in older children with severe behavior disorders often have roots in early childhood. Dr. Fisher has been the Principal Investigator on a number of federally funded grants to evaluate the efficacy of MTFC programs. In addition, he is a member of an NIMH-funded network of researchers examining the effects of early stress on the developing brain, and the extent to which improved environmental conditions can improve neurobiological and behavioral functioning. He has conducted research on prevention in American Indian communities. Dr. Fisher is on a number of national advisory groups, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse workgroup of Native American Researchers and Scholars. He serves on a National Institutes of Health review committee to evaluate research proposals focusing on community-level health promotion. He is currently a research scientist at the Oregon Social Learning Center and a senior research scientist at the Center for Research to Practice.

Gerard Bouwman has worked with Drs. Chamberlain and Reid since 1980. Mr. Bouwman has a long history of collaborating with and supporting scientists and service providers in the mental health field. Since receiving his degree in International Business, Business Administration, and Sociology in 1972, Mr. Bouwman’s career has been focused on facilitating the work of organizations dedicated to research and intervention with youth and families. He served as the Chief Administrator for Oregon Social Learning Center for 17 years. In 1999, he facilitated the start-up of OSLC Community Programs (OCP) and until recently served as Administrator for that organization. He remains associated with OCP in an advisory capacity. In addition, he provides professional administrative consultation to several research organizations.

Staff working as consultants for TFC Consultants, Inc., are well versed in the MTFC model. Prior to becoming a consultant, all staff are trained, employed, and supervised by the program founders at the MTFC development site. By the time staff become consultants for TFC, they typically have filled multiple roles within the model. For example, many have been individual or family therapists prior to becoming program supervisors. Others have served many years as MTFC foster parents prior to becoming foster parent trainers. Key staff include:

Karla Antoine, Site Consultant
Kim Bronz, Ph.D, Site Consultant
Rohanna Buchanan, MS, Site Consultant
Kathy Clack, Office Manager / Foster Parent Trainer
JP Davis, Sr. Program Consultant
Ana Day, MA, Site Consultant
Michelle Fitz, MFT, Site Consultant
Rena Gold, MSW, Vice President of Implementations / Site Consultant
Beth Klein, LCSW, Site Consultant
Mary Laws, Foster Parent Trainer
Trina McCartney, LCSW, Site Consultant
Willow Mercer, Foster Parent Trainer
Keith Miller, Ph.D., Site Consultant
Kathleen Nutt, LCSW, Site Consultant
Cathy Smith, Operations Assistant
Dana Smith, Ph.D., Site Consultant
Anna Suski, B.S., WebPDR Administrator
Peter Sprengelmeyer, Ph.D., Sr. Clinical Consultant
Elisa Weber, MSW, Site Consultant
Sandy Welbon, Accounting Manager