Annual Report Archives

CCAR Board of Directors

William C. Leary, President

See recent Connecticut Law Tribune article by William C. Leary "A Beacon of Light for Troubled Attorneys".

William C. Leary is Judge of Probate for the District of Windsor Locks and an attorney in private practice. He is a former member of the Connecticut State Legislature.

Bill is the Chairman of the Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers-CT, Inc., a non-profit organization which assists members of the legal community overcome addictions and other mental health problems. He is also a member of the Windsor Locks Substance Abuse Task Force and is active with the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs.

He is the treasurer and a director of the Enfield Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, past president of the Providence College National Alumni Association, past president of the Windsor Locks Lions Club and was a board member of the former non-profit Communities Law Center in Hartford.

Bill was chairman of the Windsor Locks Savings and Loan Association and now sits on the Board of Enfield Federal Savings and Loan Association as well as New England Bancshares, Inc.

He has received a number of awards for recovery and community service including: Providence College Exemplary Citizen Award, Connecticut General Assembly Citation for work on behalf of Public and Lawyers, Concerning Substance Abuse/Mental Health Issues, Capital Area Substance Abuse Commission Treatment Services Award, Connecticut Supreme Court Law Day Award for work to establish Lawyers Assistance, Program for Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment.

John Hamilton, Vice President

John Hamilton is the CEO for Recovery Network of Programs Inc., a non-profit behavioral health agency serving the greater Bridgeport community. Mr. Hamilton holds licenses in Alcohol and Drug Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy and has worked in the field of addiction prevention and treatment since 1981.

Currently, John is President of the New England Association of Drug Court Professionals and serves as Past President of the Southwest Connecticut Mental Health Board. John is a permanent appointee for the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Steering Committee and Research Utilization Committee. John serves on the Advisory Board for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and is actively involved in community prevention councils in Fairfield County.

Previously, John was the Chair of the Ethics Committee for the Connecticut Certification Board and Chair of the Dissemination Committee for the NIDA Clinical Trials Network.

Mary Painter, Treasurer

Mary Painter is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor. She is the Clinical Director at Morris Foundation, a large not for profit behavioral health agency specializing in substance abuse and mental health treatment located in Waterbury, Connecticut. Ms. Painter has been a clinical supervisor and administrator for many years and is especially committed to bringing the concept of Co-occurring Care to the substance abuse treatment environment. She has spent much of her career specializing in the treatment of women with substance abuse and mental health issues. She is active in many community projects and is an adjunct faculty at Manchester Community College. She is, most importantly, a person in recovery since 1992.

Roberto Garcia, Secretary

Hi, I am Roberto Garcia, a member of CCAR, and a Behavioral Health Specialist from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. I have been involved in the mental health and addictions field since 1976. I have been a gang mediator, a coordinator of training, the state coordinator for the ARROWS (AIDS Risk Reduction Outreach Workers) program, a member of CSAT Recovering Community Planning Board, and most recently I was named the DMHAS employee of the year.

I live in the community which I serve, I identify myself as a grass-roots leader, and I believe that grass-roots leaders are amply qualified to lead a war against poverty, substance abuse, violence and other social ills that have become part of our communities. I also believe that grass-roots leaders should live in the communities and should constantly be on call. We don’t “parachute in” during business hours and then leave. I believe that the root causes of social pathologies are ultimately spiritual in nature and rehabilitation is temporary unless the heart and soul is transformed.

Gregory Atterberry

I am a graduate of The University of Connecticut class of 1975. I have been married for 14 years and have a 7 year old daughter named Mia. My wife is a school teacher and her name is Nancy. I have been in recovery since 1983. I was born and raised in Stamford, CT. I presently own Clean & Sober, LLC which has four Sober Houses under it's umbrella. I am part owner in "Buy this Home" Inc, which restores and rehabs houses as well as an active investor in realestate.

Kim Turner-Haugabook

Kimberly Turner-Haugabook is a Community Relations Manager for Stonington Behavioral Health. A behavioral health provider serving communities throughout New England. Mrs. Haugabook holds a B.S. in Public Policy & Government and a M.P.A. (Masters Public Administration).

Kim has been affiliated with CCAR since 2002, working in various capacities. She and New London volunteers successfully opened CCAR’s 2nd Recovery Community Center in Connecticut, Seaport of Recovery in Waterford, Connecticut.

Prior to her employment with CCAR Kim was the Education & Policy Coordinator for LifeWorks program through Christian Community Action, Inc. in New Haven.

Kim is a woman in sustained recovery since August 13, 1997, she is married to John W. Haugabook Jr, and they have 4 children, Jobron, Gibran, Tiffany, and Monae and 1 grandchild, Mya. They reside in New London, Connecticut.

Thomas A. Kirk, Jr., Ph.D.

Thomas Kirk is a health care executive with over 35 years’ nationally recognized operational and leadership experience in large public and private mental health and substance abuse care agencies. His early career included an academic (tenure) appointment in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and directing a consulting firm involved with applied research studies and clinical work with state and federal criminal justice systems. He served as the CEO/President of a large private non-profit substance abuse agency in Connecticut from 1990 until his appointment October 1995 as Deputy Commissioner in the new Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS). He was nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the General Assembly to be Commissioner in May 2000 and by a second Governor in 2004, a responsibility he met until his retirement from public service September 30, 2009. The DMHAS health care system provided services to 90,000 clients annually and included two state hospitals, twelve local mental health authorities and over 125 private non-profit substance abuse and mental health service agencies. The DMHAS was recognized with several national awards and major grants during his tenure, which was characterized by the transformation of a traditional state agency into an innovative recovery and wellness-oriented system of care with extensive recovery-support services, and creative fiscal and cost-containment reinvestment strategies that supported expanded and integrated service options.

During 2010 he has authored two book chapters and provided professional consultation services to other states and groups in the areas of design, implementation and quality-driven financing of recovery-oriented systems of care; strategic planning, mental health system transformation, co-occurring disorders, organizational and service integration of addiction and mental health systems, and the impact of health care reform on state systems.

Rosann Rafala

Rosann Rafala is Manager of Adult Residential Addiction Services for Rushford, a not-for-profit organization that provides inpatient and outpatient treatment services to more than 12,000 Connecticut children, adults and families each year.

She is a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor who holds B.A. degrees in both psychology and fine arts (with a concentration in art therapy) from Albertus Magnus College and a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Southern Connecticut State University. Rosann also completed the DARC program at Manchester Community Technical College.

Rosann has worked at Rushford for more than 10 years and is currently responsible for and directly supervises a 42-bed residential program. She has also provided over 4 years of substance abuse education at the State of Connecticut Hartford Juvenile Detention Center. During the beginning of her career she worked 5 years at Long Lane School with adjudicated youths.

She was born and raised in Hartford’s South End and currently resides in Middle Haddam, CT. Rosann is an avid snowmobiler and enjoys cooking, painting and traveling.

Judith Stonger

Judith Stonger is Director of Prevention, Wellness and Recovery at Wheeler Clinic in Plainville, CT. She has extensive experience in non-profit management and currently directs the Connecticut Clearinghouse statewide behavioral health library and resource center, Prevent Child Abuse Connecticut, DMHAS and other statewide training initiatives, as well as Wheeler Clinic's Prevention and Wellness and Employee Assistance Programs.

A certified prevention professional and person in recovery since 1985, Judith is very active in and committed to prevention, early intervention, treatment and recovery efforts throughout the state and nationally. She participates in numerous Boards of Directors, Advisory Councils and Statewide Collaboratives. In addition, Judith serves as Lay Minister at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford where she is very active in numerous ministries including support of refugees recently relocated from Burma, Nepal and Iraq.

Judith holds a Masters Degree in Psychology from Central Connecticut State University, a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from LeMoyne College, and certification in Elementary Education from Central Connecticut State University.

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