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Team Member Biographies Click to view information on a team member/agency DIRECTOR, Elder Abuse Forensic Center
Laura Mosqueda, MD is a board-certified family physician and geriatrician. She is the Director of Geriatrics at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine where she is also a Professor of Family Medicine. One of her major areas of interest is in elder mistreatment. At the local level, she was the founder of a medical response team that provides consultation on abuse cases, an elder abuse forensic center, and an Elder Abuse Prevention Coalition. On the national front, she was the co-chair of a Department of Justice forensic forum on elder abuse, and served on a National Academies Panel that published Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in an Aging America. Dr. Mosqueda has extensive experience in developing, implementing, and teaching courses on elder abuse for physicians, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors. She directs an Elder Mistreatment Training Institute funded by the UniHealth Foundation. Her areas of research are in abuse of persons with dementia and forensic markers of elder mistreatment.
Mary Twomey, MSW is the Co-Director of the Center of Excellence. Before taking this position, Mary directed the San Francisco Consortium for Elder Abuse Prevention, a program of the Institute on Aging. Formerly, Ms. Twomey was Director of Social Services at the Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She spent eleven years with the national office of AARP in Washington, DC where she coordinated the National Guardianship Monitoring Program. [ back to top ]
ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES
Carol Mitchell is the Program Manager of Adult Protective Services. She has been with APS for six years and previously with Children and Family Services for twelve years. Carol has fifteen years of supervisory experience in the Social Services Agency and has also worked in Program Development and Quality Assurance. She has a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Cal State University, LB and has been a licensed MFT since 1986.
As Deputy Director, Wendy Aquin has overall responsibility for program and policy development, as well as all program operations, for Adult Protective Services, In-Home Supportive Services, and the Multipurpose Senior Services Program. She has worked for the Social Services Agency for 20 years and previously worked for the Social Security Administration. Before joining Adult Services, her experience includes a broad range of administrative assignments, including facility design and management, purchasing, personnel management, legislative analysis, policy development, contract management, and information management. She is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. [ back to top ]
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES
Mark Odom is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been Service Chief II of Orange County Behavioral Health Services Older Adult Services (OAS) since 1999. In this capacity Mr. Odom supervises a team of multidisciplinary staff who provide mental health and substance abuse services to community dwelling older adults with behavioral health issues and unmet medical needs. Mr. Odom is also responsible for promoting mental health services for seniors by developing partnerships and collaborative opportunities with community based senior service organizations in Orange County. Selected assignments during his tenure at OAS include: Project Director, Orange County Senior Hoarding Intervention Project; Chair, Orange County Task Force on Hoarding; Consultant, Orange County Fiduciary Abuse Specialist Team; Member, Orange County Multidisciplinary Treatment Team. Prior to his current assignment he was Service Chief of the LPS Mental Health Unit located at the Office of the Public Guardian where he supervised a team of clinicians providing mental health services to over 300 of Orange County’s most severely and persistently mentally ill older adults. Mr. Odom received his Master of Social Work degree with studies in gerontology from San Diego State University and has been working in the mental health and aging field since 1988. [ back to top ]
COMMUNITY SERVICES PROGRAM
Ms. Roberts holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Administration. She has worked in customer service for a number of years. Ms. Roberts has been with the Domestic Violence Assistance Program (Community Services Programs), serving as the Elder Abuse Specialist, for almost a year. She works with the senior population and Dependent Adults in need of restraining orders. She assists with the court paperwork, court support, and offers referrals as needed. Ronda works out of the Lamoreaux Justice Center in the city of Orange.
Kelly Sheline has been employed by Community Service Programs, Inc., a non-profit agency that assists crime victims, since December 2005. She has been the elder abuse specialist at their Domestic Violence Assistance Program since July 2006, assisting clients in obtaining restraining orders. Ms. Sheline has a degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton and is working on her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy at California State University, Fullerton. [ back to top ]
COUNSELING: FAMILY/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Carol Tryon is a geriatric social worker who received her Master’s in Social Work from California State University, Long Beach. Her Master’s thesis was on Emergency Health Service Providers Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs about Elder Abuse and Interdisciplinary Team Referrals. Her undergraduate degree from California State University, Fullerton was in psychology with a minor in women’s studies and gerontology. She has been working with seniors exclusively since receiving her Master’s. In 2000 Ms. Tryon was hired by Human Options: Alternatives for abused women and their families to research and develop a program to meet the special needs of older battered women and victims of elder abuse. Safe Options for Seniors is a one of a kind program that helps seniors break the cycle of violence in their families. Ms. Tryon was the past chairperson of the Orange County Family Violence, Elder Abuse committee where she developed and presented training on family violence and elder abuse to law enforcement, probation and social service agencies. In addition she regularly presents domestic elder abuse training for the Statewide California Coalition for Battered Women and for other domestic violence agencies. For the past two year Ms. Tryon has been a member of the planning committee for the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma’s International Family Violence conference. Ms. Tryon is a member of the Orange County Elder Abuse Prevention Coalition, Orange County Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST), National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, and American Society on Aging. [ back to top ]
DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Craig M. Cazares has been employed as a Deputy District Attorney for the County of Orange for the past 15 years. He currently heads the Elder Abuse section of the Family Protection Unit where he handles all felony cases involving the physical or financial abuse of elders and dependent adults that occur in Orange County. While serving in this position, he has prosecuted over 200 cases involving the physical, financial abuse or neglect of elders or dependant adults from their caregivers or family members. Mr. Cazares is active in the education and training of law enforcement, prosecutors, and other professionals that handle Elder Abuse cases. He also is active in the community education through outreach activities, presentations, and participation in various discussion panels. Mr. Cazares is a graduate of Santa Clara University, and the University of San Diego School of Law.
Steve Howe brings 22 years of experience as a sworn officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. During his career with LAPD, Investigator Howe worked a variety of assignments which included undercover narcotic investigations, gang enforcement, juvenile investigations, surveillance of organized auto theft and big-rig hijacking rings, and patrol. Since joining the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in 2002, Detective Howe spent two years working financial crimes where he investigated major fraud cases involving complex financial crimes and sophisticated scams. In 2004 Howe was reassigned to the Family Protection Unit where he spent two years investigating felony Domestic Violence cases. In 2006 Howe was offered a position as the sole investigator in the Elder Abuse Unit. In his current assignment, Howe works closely with victims, witnesses and police officers to aid in the prosecution of persons who have committed crimes against the elderly. He is closely involved in all phases of the prosecution and enjoys helping victims of physical and financial abuse. [ back to top ] Click here for additional team member biographies. |
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