Staff Change at the Center for Learning

Jeanne Hackett, who has served as the Center for Learning’s manager for the past eight years has retired. She will continue to work with us part-time for the summer as she winds down her projects. We thank her for her service and wish her a wonderful retirement!

Dr. Emily Stultz is the newest member of the Center for Learning, where she serves as the Principal Investigator for the Behavioral Health Workforce program at the Catherine Cutler Institute at the University of Southern Maine. In this role, she leads initiatives aimed at strengthening Maine’s behavioral health workforce.

Dr. Stultz began her journey in the behavioral health field in 2016 as a provisional MHRT 1 in a PNMI setting, later advancing to a provisional MHRT/C. She then obtained her Licensed Social Worker—Conditional (LSX), which allowed her to serve as a Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities Targeted Case Manager. Following this, she transitioned to the role of Child Protective Case Worker, where she earned her LSW while completing her master’s degree. After finishing her degree, Dr. Stultz obtained her LMSW-cc and progressed to her LCSW, working as an outpatient co-occurring clinician specializing in trauma, PTSD, and substance use disorders. Most recently, she earned her Doctor of Social Work from the University of Kentucky in May 2024, where her research focused on understanding the biopsychosocial impacts of PTSD in aging female veterans.

Beyond her research, Dr. Stultz plays a key leadership role as the Chairman of the Maine Prevention Certification Board, where she oversees the credentialing of substance use prevention professionals throughout the state. In this capacity, she also serves as the regional prevention representative to the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC).

Dr. Stultz is also the founder and owner of Kennebec Counseling Services, a practice specializing in trauma, PTSD, and substance use disorders. Her clinical expertise enriches her teaching as a part-time faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, where she teaches courses in the Master of Social Work (MSW) degree program, including substance use diagnostics, research methodologies, statistics, and internship seminars. Additionally, she is a part-time faculty member at the University of Southern Maine, where she will be teaching undergraduate courses in the social and behavioral sciences (SBS) degree program.

New Pathway A Program

The Center for Learning continues to review college programs towards the MHRT/C knowledge competencies. Our newest program approved starting the fall 2024 semester is the MHRT-track program at the Maine College of Health Professions in Auburn. You can find the downloadable list of their courses and a list of the other 31 approved Pathway A programs in Maine on our Academic Programs page.

REMINDER: Residential Care Specialist No Longer Accepted for MHRT I

REMINDER: As we first notified you in our March 2024 Newsletter, any staff who earned their MHRT I with Residential Care Specialist (RCS) have until September 30, 2024 to complete the current Mental Health Support Specialist (MHSS) training or meet one of the substitutes listed in the March Newsletter. RCS will no longer be accepted as of October 1, 2024. We have a list of upcoming MHSS trainings available.

Please let us know if you have questions or comments about any of this information by emailing cfl@maine.edu. Thank you and enjoy the rest of the summer!