TONI BANKSTON, LCSW, BACS

Chief Executive Officer

Toni Bankston, LCSW, BACS currently serves as the Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center. She is a Louisiana Master ACES trainer and serves on the Governor’s Advisory Board for Human Trafficking and the LA. Children’s Cabinet Advisory Board.

A native of Baton Rouge, she has been a child and family psychotherapist for 30 years in the area of trauma and resiliency. She is a co-author of professional journal articles focusing on work with children impacted by trauma and disaster. Toni serves as needed with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, D.C. as a member of the U.S. Faculty and Global Trauma Relief Team in Haiti, Israel and Gaza, Sonoma(wildfire disaster), Houston(Gustav), and Broward County(Stoneman Douglas school shooting). In this capacity she has worked to develop programs and train other healthcare professionals in trauma recovery, with an emphasis on programs for youth and secondary stress in their caregivers and providers. Locally, her work in Louisiana has included bringing wellness programs to disadvantaged populations, including the street homeless in Baton Rouge, children in urban school-based settings, and working with Coastal residents in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Isaac and the Horizon BP Oil Spill. She has also served as Adjunct Faculty at the LSU School of Social Work. Toni is a wife and mother of four adult children.

Sid Bowden

Chief Financial Officer

TANYA HAASE

Chief Operations Officer

Jessica Castillo, Psy.D.

Clinical Director

Jessica is from Puerto Rico and has been living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for almost 5 years. She started working at the CAC in April of 2019. She is an experienced mental health clinician with a background in Clinical Psychology. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Louisiana State University in 2009, later pursued her graduate degree in Puerto Rico where she completed her master’s and doctorate (PsyD) in Clinical Psychology from an APA accredited program, Carlos Albizu University. Jessica has worked with children, teens and families with a diverse range of mental health problems, mostly stemming from traumatic experiences. She has a passion for promoting and valuing diversity. Jessica has a strong interest in improving the welfare of the Hispanic/Latino community in the United States and helping them overcome the multiple traumas they experience using evidence-based practices.

KALIKO HARRIS

Lead Family Advocate & Forensic Interviewer

Kaliko Harris holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Services from University of Phoenix and is currently working towards her master’s degree and licensure in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Walden University. Kaliko joined the team initially after obtaining training and certification as a Forensic Interview Specialist through the National Children’s Advocacy Center. She has since received training through the National Organization for Victim Assistance for her current position as Child and Family Advocate. Kaliko also works as the children’s sexual assault group facilitator at the Center. Kaliko, who is an Army veteran, hails from Hawai’i and brings more than ten years of experience working with children, families and military veterans who have experienced trauma. She is dedicated to providing coordinated services to best support children and families and is passionate about empowering people to find and use their voice.

Maria-Elena Allgood, LMSW

Child and Family Therapist

Maria Elena Allgood is currently a licensed master social worker. She received her master’s degree from Louisiana State University, as a Behavioral Health Workforce Education & Training (BHWET) Scholar.

While working on her masters degree, Maria Elena gained valuable experience interning at Heritage Ranch and then at LSU Mental Health Services (MHS). She also served as president of LSU’s Social Work Student Association (SWSA) and worked with professors and student colleagues on multiple projects. All of this helped kindle her passion for helping others.

During her time at Heritage Ranch, Maria Elena developed vital skills, and she enjoyed rewarding opportunities to serve, while working with adolescents and families who were in crisis. Maria Elena particularly enjoyed caring for this population, as she has always enjoyed helping children and their families. She participated in behavioral and therapeutic interventions using evidence-based techniques. Maria Elena also served as a supportive member of an interdisciplinary team and frequently provided assistance in an academic environment.

Additionally, Maria Elena enjoyed participating with the interdisciplinary team at LSU MHS. At LSU’s Mental Health Services unit, Maria Elena provided individual and group therapy services to University students, whose ages ranged from 17-30 years old. She also provided therapy services as a member of the multi-disciplinary Eating Disorder Treatment Team (EDTT).

A Baton Rouge native, Maria Elena is passionate about serving the community and facilitating healing processes among its youth. Moreover, she believes in helping others through a strength-based approach, encouraging them to build on their strengths while striving to improve their mental health, emotional health, behavioral health, sense of empowerment, and overall wellness.

JENNIFER LEIGH, MS

Prevention Education Specialist and Consultant

Jennifer currently serves as a Prevention Education Specialist and Consultant for the Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center.  She earned her Master of Science Degree from Louisiana State University, and is a Veteran of the United States Air Force where she served as a Military Police Officer (Security Forces).

A native of Baton Rouge and a survivor of child abuse, Jennifer has a vested interest in the well-being and mental health of the Baton Rouge community, with a special devotion to protecting and educating our children.

She is a certified middle and high school educator with five years of teaching experience in local private and public schools.  She also served as a public and private lands and wildlife biologist & management consultant, advocating for threatened & endangered wildlife and resources in Louisiana.

She is a certified facilitator of Darkness to Light: Steward’s of Children (adult education program: child sexual abuse awareness & prevention), and a certified facilitator of Child Help: Speak Up Be Safe (child abuse prevention education curriculum) where she currently teaches adults & children in local private and public schools on how to recognize the signs of abuse & unsafe situations, how to build resistance skills, how to build a responsive safety network with safe peers and adults, and how to report abuse.

Jennifer is a dedicated christian, wife, and mother of two beautifiul children.

GINO J. BERTUCCI, LCSW-BACS

Contract Therapist

Gino graduated from Tulane University in 1994 with a Master’s Degree in Social Work. He also earned a MHA from the University of St. Francis. Presently, he is employed as the Program Director at The Secured Forensic Facility for the State of Louisiana. He also has maintained a private practice for the last 15 years and has been a contracted employee with the BRCAC for the past 5 years. He has extensive experience over the past 25 years working in the area of sexual trauma with both children and adults, including working with minors with problematic sexual behaviors.

Suzanna Drewery

Annex Program Coordinator

Suzanna Drewery began volunteering at the Children’s Advocacy Center before being offered a full time position in July 2020. Prior to joining the team at BRCAC, she served on the board for Baton Rouge Area Victims Empowered, providing assistance to victims of violent crime in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas. Since being a survivor of child abuse herself and having two young children of her own, she has gained a passion for working with children and helping others during traumatic times in their lives. Suzanna has also been an active participant in our very own Celebrity Waiter Event here at the CAC since 2012.

Matt Miyagi

Program Coordinator

Matt Miyagi is a Baton Rouge native and a recent graduate from American University in Washington, DC with a degree in Business and Entertainment.  During his college career, he served as the Vice President of Sexual Violence Prevention and Awareness on American University’s Greek Wellness Coalition along with being the Financial Director for the American University Rude Mechanicals, a student-run classical theatre troupe.  Matt was also worked as a Marketing Intern for IMP at the 9:30 Club in DC.  Prior to joining the BRCAC, Matt was volunteering in the box office at Theatre Baton Rouge.

Lawana J. Mabry, DBH

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Lawana Jackson Mabry is a Doctor of Behavioral Health as well as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker-Board Approved Clinical Supervisor. She earned her doctorate degree from Arizona State University and earned her Master of Social Work degree from Louisiana State University in 2008. She has been practicing in many social work arenas since then.  Dr. Mabry is the clinical director of an outpatient behavioral health agency located in multiple cities throughout the state of Louisiana. Her extensive work history also includes inpatient psychiatric social work, school social work, trauma-focused therapy, medical social work as well as child protection.

Dr. Mabry has been grateful to receive invitations and requests to present to different audiences, including undergraduate social work students at Southern University, graduate level social work students at LSU, volunteers with Big Buddy, small church groups and schools throughout the parish. She takes pride in engaging in volunteer work that is centered around hands-on activities within the mental health/social work communities and looks forward to helping to strengthen and encourage upcoming mental health professionals in order to help members of the community normalize the talk about mental illness, mend the wounds of sexual abuse and secure needed resources.

Perhaps one of Dr. Mabry’s most treasured role was as a contract therapist with the Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center. Prior to her recent return to this agency, Dr. Mabry served as a counselor for trauma-exposed children with the CAC for approximately 3 years. She has since returned to this position to help fulfill her passion for direct service and while helping abused children heal.

Gwen Jackson, LCSW, BACS

Contract Therapist

Gwen is a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, Southern University at New Orleans, and Hope Bible Institute.  Her employment opportunities have included state and local agencies, both public and private.  She has offered counseling, behavioral health and other therapeutic services to individuals and families for forty years.  She has specialized training and experience in the treatment of survivors of childhood physical and sexual abuse.  Her employment has included an assignment to a sexual assault trauma unit for children and adolescents.  She has also received specialized training through the YWCA Rape Crisis Program.  She has been awarded opportunities to positively impact the lives of others.  She has served in a variety of settings, such as educational, community health, home health, hospitals and clinics, community based therapeutic programs, emergency response teams, and private therapeutic programs.  Her employment experience also includes assignments with the Department of Health (formerly Department of Health & Hospitals, New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, Department of Children & Family Services), and the Coordinated System of Care (CSoC).  She is now retired from the State of Louisiana and currently serves as a Coach, Consultant, Trainer, Therapist, and Parent Educator.

Bridgette Webster, LCSW, BACS

Contract Therapist