About Us: The Community Living Exchange Collaborative : Boston College Graduate School of Social Work

Boston College Graduate School of Social Work

Kevin J. Mahoney, PhD | Lee Bezanson, RN, JD | Brenda Vitale, MSW | Angela Sutkaitis, MBA

Kevin J. Mahoney, PhD

is a faculty member at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work where he serves as Associate Professor as well as National Program Director for the Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation, a policy-driven evaluation of one of the most unfettered forms of consumer direction of personal assistance services, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. During his 25 year career in gerontology and long-term care, Dr. Mahoney has served in a number of policy making and administrative positions in the state governments of Connecticut and California. Prior to coming to Boston College in 1999, he held academic appointments at Yale University, the University of Connecticut, the University of California- San Francisco and the University of Maryland. From 1978 to 1987, Dr. Mahoney served as Chief of Research and Program Development at the Connecticut Department on Aging where he was responsible for that state's home care programs for the frail elderly. From 1987 to 1995, Dr. Mahoney developed and implemented innovative partnerships between private insurance and Medicaid to finance long-term care -- first in the State of Connecticut and then in the State of California. An expert on state government and long-term care innovation, he speaks and writes extensively on consumer direction, the roles of the public and private sectors in financing long-term care, long-term care insurance and care management. Most recently, Kevin J. Mahoney became Deputy Director of the Home and Community-Based Services Resource Network established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Lee Bezanson, RN, JD

is Associate Research Professor at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, the Director of the Community Living Exchange Collaborative Clearinghouse, and a member of the management team for the Exchange at ILRU. She provides technical assistance to state and Independent Living Center grantees with a focus on consumer-directed initiatives and model community approaches to systemic change in the delivery of supports to individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Ms. Bezanson is a co-author of the three-part series, "Making Accessibility Real: A Guide for Planning Meetings, Conferences and Gatherings." Ms. Bezanson was formerly the National Project Director of the HCBS Resource Network and served as Co-Chair of the HCBS Resource Network Board. She was a faculty member for the national Olmstead trainings sponsored by ILRU. Ms. Bezanson is a former Medicaid Director for the State of New Hampshire. As Director of Long Term Care in New Hampshire, she directed New Hampshire's Medicare/Medicaid Integration Program for dual eligibles.

Both a psychiatric nurse and an attorney by training, Ms. Bezanson has a broad and eclectic background in the human services field. She has been the Director of a Senior Citizens Law Project, an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Connecticut, a member of the Ethics Committee for the federal Bar in Connecticut, a Charge Nurse in a chemical dependency unit for adults with dual diagnoses, and the Legal Coordinator for the state of New Hampshire Division of Human Services.

Ms. Bezanson served on the Executive Committee for the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NASMD) and as Chair of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Long Term Care Technical Advisory Group. A founder of the New England States Consortium Systems Organization (NESCSO), Ms. Bezanson also served on its Board of Directors. Ms. Bezanson currently serves on the Board of Directors of Granite State Independent Living.

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Brenda Vitale, MSW

is the Information and Program Specialist for the Community Living Exchange Collaborative Clearinghouse. Ms. Vitale provides day-to-day content management, research and document review for the Clearinghouse. She provides training and technical support to contributors and will be responsible for disseminating electronic correspondence to all site subscribers. Before coming to Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, Ms. Vitale worked with the Alzheimer's Association, Massachusetts Chapter coordinating many of their technical needs namely developing a dynamic helpline caller database and referral center and implementing a friend to friend personalized fundraising page for the Memory Walk website. Ms. Vitale has worked in a variety of different home and community based settings where she designed and provided unique services to allow seniors to live independently. She has her Masters of Social Work from Boston College (1999) and a Bachelors of Social Work from the University of Southern Colorado (1994).

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Angela Sutkaitis, MBA

is the Assistant Director of the Community Living Exchange Collaborative Clearinghouse. Ms. Sutkaitis is responsible for the planning, development and management of www.hcbs.org. Before joining the Clearinghouse, Ms. Sutkaitis worked with two growing engineering research centers successfully managing numerous programs and projects including workshops, classes, site visits, annual reports and grant submissions. In addition, she created and managed the content of two research center websites. She has an MBA from Northeastern University (2005) and a BS in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (2001).

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