Meet the Team
JILL WILLIAMS, M.D.
Medical Director
Dr. Williams is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School and Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry in New Jersey. Dr. Williams is an expert in tobacco addiction and treatments and has conducted several biobehavioral, translational, and clinical trials regarding smoking in individuals with serious mental illness. She has extensive experience leading training sessions on tobacco treatment and
designing organizational change models to promote smoking cessation at behavioral health agencies.
NANCY COVELL, PH.D.
Program Director
Dr. Covell is also the Project Director for the Focus on Integrated
Treatment (FIT) Initiative and the Associate Director for
Implementation Support Systems for the Center for Practice
Innovations and Associate Professor of Clinical Medical
Psychology (in Psychiatry) Department of Psychiatry, Columbia
University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist with more than 20 years of experience supporting behavioral healthcare programs as they implement integrated treatment for co-occurring mental health conditions and substance use, including tobacco.
FORREST “RUSTY” FOSTER, M.S.W, C.P.R.P
Senior Implementation Specialist
Mr. Foster is also the Senior Implementation Specialist for the
Focus on Integrated Treatment (FIT) Initiative at the Center for
Practice Innovations. In addition to co-facilitating the Addressing
Tobacco Learning Collaborative with NYS-operated agencies, Mr.
Foster is a highly sought-after Motivational Interviewing trainer.
Mr. Foster has also provided training and implementation
support around integrated treatment to behavioral health
programs and State Mental Health Authorities in Connecticut,
Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Minnesota, Oregon, New York,
New Jersey and Virginia.
DWAYNE MAYES, M.S.
Implementation Specialist
Mr. Mayes is also an Implementation Specialist for the Focus on Integrated Treatment (FIT) Initiative. Prior to joining CPI’s staff, Mr. Mayes held multiple leadership positions, including 5 years as Director of Howie the Harp and 8 years as Program Director at Mental Health Association of Westchester, where he oversaw the recovery network and peer training. In these roles, Dwayne has accumulated a wealth of experience in training and supervision, with particular emphasis on peer providers. In addition to holding a Masters in Mental Health Counseling, Dwayne brings to every role his living experience as a person in recovery managing behavioral health and health conditions, including tobacco.
MELISSA HINDS, MSN, RN
Nursing Director
Ms. Hinds serves as the Associate Director for Health and Technology and the Director of the Online Assistance Unit at the Center for Practice Innovations (CPI). Since 2018, she has also held the position of Adjunct Assistant Professor and Nursing Clinical Instructor at CUNY, where she specializes in psychiatric nursing. Throughout her 16 years at CPI, Ms. Hinds has been a strong advocate for integrating health, health disparities, and social determinants of health into training and technical assistance activities. She has developed a highly interactive, self-paced training module designed to help providers understand the social determinants of health and their impact on overall well-being. This module highlights the connection between unmet social needs related to social and structural determinants of health and health outcomes. It also provides tools and resources for addressing these needs among the populations they serve. Additionally, Ms. Hinds is revising self-paced training materials focusing on recognizing and treating common health conditions in behavioral healthcare settings, with a significant emphasis on tobacco use.