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Youth Service Providers Network
115 Warren Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
Phone: 617-427-0957
Fax: 617-442-1705
Email: yspninfo@bgcb.org
Jeff Butts, LICSW, ACSW, ABD
Executive Director
E-mail: jbutts@bgcb.org
Jeff Butts has been working with youth — most of them troubled and at-risk for a future of criminal activity — for 20 years. He admits they possess their own unique set of personal challenges, but that really they are like all kids. "They want adults in their lives who will have expectations for them, who will set limits, and who will hold them accountable," he says. "But, with these kids, unfortunately, the adults often let them down, resulting in kids who feel uncared for and unloved."
As executive director of the Youth Service Providers Network (YSPN) in Boston, Jeff sees youth who are at risk for abuse, truancy or delinquency. These troubled kids are identified and referred by police officers from the Boston Police Department, who are frustrated that arrest is often the only substantive action they can take when dealing with at-risk youth.
As a founding member of the planning group which created the YSPN in the spring of 1995, Jeff designed and implemented the social service model that enables police officers to refer youth and their families to social workers who work out of district station house. Jeff has also consulted as a program evaluator to community-based organizations, and has consulted with the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to establish a similar social work model. He was an Adjunct Associate Professor at Simmons Graduate School of Social Work where he taught courses in juvenile justice policy and clinical practice. He holds a Master Degree in social work and is a licensed independent clinical social worker. He is also ABD in Law Policy and Society at Northeastern University focusing on juvenile law policy.
Andrea Perry, LCSW
Director of Operations
Denise Kasrawi, LICSW
Clinical Director
Debbie Knell, LICSW
Senior Social Worker
Sarah Carson, LICSW
Senior Social Worker – Area B3 Mattapan
Rachael Kaplan, LICSW
Lead Social Worker – Area D4 South End/Lower Roxbury
Sara Brown, LCSW
Citywide Social Worker – Boston Cares
Rosemarie Kanaan, LCSW
Citywide Social Worker – YSVF/SPU
Charlene Luma, LCSW
District Based Social Worker – Area C11 Dorchester
Melisa Canuto, MSW
District Based Social Worker – Area C11 Dorchester
Janice Chen, LCSW
District Based Social Worker – Area B2 Roxbury
Jenese Brownhill, LCSW
District Based Social Worker – Area B2 Roxbury
Sarah Coughlin, LCSW
District Based Social Worker – Area A1/A15 Charlestown