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Our Team
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COURTS
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Judge John Phillips, J.D.,
earned his doctor of jurisprudence degree from
the South Texas College of Law and is a native
Houstonian. Judge Phillips has an extensive
background in practicing law, beginning as an
Assistant District Attorney (1981 – 1985) and
moving on to a private practice for nearly two
decades until 2002, when he was elected to the
314th District Court. Judge Phillips was
re-elected to the bench in 2006, and currently
serves as the Administrative Judge of the
Juvenile Division. He is co-chair of the Harris
County Juvenile Board, and Chair of the Casey
Foundation Juvenile Detention Alternatives
Initiative (JDAI) Management Oversight
Committee. Judge Phillips presides over the
Harris County Juvenile Mental Health Court (MHC)
in the 314th District Court, and considers it
highly rewarding and one of his proudest
accomplishments. |
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Perry
Jo McCollum, J.D., earned her
bachelor’s degree from University of
Texas-Austin, and her doctor of jurisprudence
degree from the University of Houston Law
Center. She has worked for the District
Attorney’s Office for more than two decades as
an Assistant District Attorney. Currently, she
is the Chief Prosecutor in the 314th District
Court of Harris County. Ms. McCollum has
extensive experience prosecuting all levels of
offenses from misdemeanors to felonies. As the
Chief Prosecutor, she is responsible for
handling cases where juvenile offenders are
alleged to have committed a range of offenses
from minor drug offenses and misdemeanors to
aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault,
murder and capital murder. As a member of the
MHC team, Ms. McCollum is responsible for
approving transfer of cases to the MHC docket;
she reviews the cases under consideration and
makes a determination based on the alleged
offense and related facts. |
PROBATION
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Michelle Blount, B.S.,
earned her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice
from the University of Houston-Downtown. She is
currently pursuing a master’s degree in the
administration of justice and security. She has
worked for Harris County Juvenile Probation
Department for 11 years in a number of
capacities. Ms. Blount has experience working
with both regular probation and intensive
supervision caseloads. She has extensive
experience in the field as well as in court. As
a member of the MHC Team, she functions as
Mental Health Court Manager, supervising the MHC
Specialized Probation Officers, and coordinating
administrative functions. |
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Estrellita Rubio, B.S., earned her
bachelor’s degree in psychology from the
University of Houston Downtown. She has been
employed with Harris County Juvenile Probation
Department for 2 years and during that time has
acquired experience working with challenging
populations such as female offenders under
intensive supervision in the Female Intervention
Program. Prior to working for the department,
she was employed by Mental Health and Mental
Retardation (MHMRA) as a telephone crisis
counselor. As a Team member, Ms. Rubio functions
as a Mental Health Court Specialized Probation
Officer, conducting regular field visits and
working closely with the treatment team. |
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Stephanie Acker, B.S., earned her
bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in
criminal justice from Stephen F. Austin State
University. Ms. Acker has experience working as
a court officer for Harris County Juvenile
Probation. Previously, she was employed with The
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Sex
Offender Treatment Program, as a Case Manager;
prior to that, Ms. Acker worked for the Gregg
County Sheriff Department, as a Correctional
Officer. As a team member, Ms. Acker functions
as a Mental Health Court Specialized Probation
Officer, conducting regular field visits and
working closely with the treatment team. |
TREATMENT & SERVICE PROVIDERS
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Laura
Cohen B.A., LCSW, ACSW, earned her
bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington
University in St. Louis and her master’s degree
in social work from Loyola University in
Chicago. During her 18 years as a licensed
clinical social worker, she has enjoyed a
diverse tenure in both the public and private
sector and within a variety of treatment
settings. As a MHC Team member, Ms. Cohen serves
as the Clinical Supervisor for the Multisystemic
Therapy (MST) program which provides intensive,
home-based treatment for juvenile offenders and
their families. |
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Iris
Lewis, B.S., M.S., earned her
bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s
degree in administration of justice and
security. She has been working with Harris
County Juvenile Probation Department for 10
years and serves as the Supervisor for the
Mental Health Unit (MHU). She has previous
experience as Casework Supervisor at the
Psychiatric Stabilization Unit (PSU), and began
her work in the Institutional Aftercare Program,
where intense supervision was given to
adjudicated youth released from Harris County
institutions. As a MHC team member, Ms. Lewis is
the Supervisor of the Special Needs Program (SNP),
where intense supervision and weekly in-home
treatment and rehabilitation are delivered to
youth with mental health impairments.
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Stephanie Pecora, B.S., received her
Bachelor’s degree in criminology and corrections
from Sam Houston State University. Stephanie is
employed by Harris County Protective Services
for Children and Adults, and serves as Criminal
Justice Supervisor for Systems of Hope (SOH), a
SAMHSA funded program for severely emotionally
disturbed youth. She is a committed liaison
between SOH and Harris County Juvenile
Probation, and serves as the Supervisor of SOH
teams that work with youth in the Mental Health
Court. |
CLINICAL PROGRAM OVERSIGHT
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Olivia
D. McGill, M.S., earned a bachelor’s
degree in psychology from Hampton University and
a master’s degree in clinical psychology from
Saint Louis University; she will soon complete
her doctorate in psychology. She has enjoyed
working with juvenile offenders for nearly a
decade. Ms. McGill began working with youth in a
grant-funded program within the urban schools in
Saint Louis, then moved to Texas and worked with
juvenile delinquents placed at the Texas Youth
Commission’s (TYC) Al Price facility. Following
that, she has spent seven years working for the
Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority (MHMRA)
in the Juvenile Forensic Department at Harris
County Juvenile Probation. As a member of the
team, Ms. McGill serves as a Mental Health Court
Clinician and helps to shape the process and
procedure of the MHC, while working to identify,
assess, and monitor youth participating in the
MHC. |
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K. C.
Kalmbach, Ph.D., received her doctorate
from Sam Houston State University in clinical
psychology with forensic specialization. Dr.
Kalmbach had her first opportunity to work with
juvenile offenders while conducting evaluations
for Harris County Juvenile Probation during
graduate training. She found the experience so
rewarding, she has returned as a Mental Health
Court (MHC) Clinician. Over the past decade, she
has held a number of positions in forensic
mental health, including consulting, teaching
and administration. As a member of the team, Dr.
Kalmbach helps to shape the process and
procedure of the MHC, as well as to identify and
evaluate participants, make treatment
recommendations, coordinate service provision
and report to the Court on the progress of each
youth and family. |
PROJECT DIRECTOR
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Rebecca de Camara, J.D., received a
Doctor of Jurisprudence from The University of
Texas at Austin. Prior to attending law school,
Rebecca worked as a case manager for Travis
County Mental Health Mental Retardation. Her
experience working with severely mentally ill
individuals fostered an interest in developing
innovative policy and programming designed to
benefit those living with a mental health
disorder. Following graduation from law school,
Rebecca was hired by Mental Health America of
Greater Houston as the Director of Juvenile
Justice. She simultaneously served as the
Project Manager for the Integrated Juvenile
Information Network (IJIN), an information
sharing effort spearheaded by County Judge
Robert Eckels' Office. Currently Rebecca serves
as Assistant Deputy Director of the Court/Intake
Division for the Harris County Juvenile
Probation Department. Rebecca’s role with the
Harris County Juvenile Mental Health Court was
to develop and implement the program and ensure
ongoing fidelity. |
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