OK-AIMH Leadership
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Ruth Slocum, LCSW, IMH-E® (III) is a family therapist in Tulsa, Oklahoma, specializing in infant and early childhood mental health. Employed by Oklahoma State University she serves as the Mental Health Manager for the Tulsa Children's Project, a program dedicated to developing interventions to disrupt the intergenerational cycle of poverty. She also oversees the Mental Health Consultation for Tulsa Educare, a high quality early childhood program. Ruth assisted in developing Active Parenting's First Five Years parenting program, is trained in CPP and certified in ABC. Ruth earned her Master of Social Service from the Bryn Mawr School of Social Work and Social Research in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma and serves on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Association for Infant Mental Health.
 

Tish Dehart, MS, LCSW, IMH-E® (III) is the Clinic Manager and a Behavioral Health Specialist for the Tulsa Health Department's Child Guidance Program. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Oklahoma State University, a Master of Science Degree in Child Development from the University of California at Davis, and a Master in Social Work Degree from the University of Oklahoma. Tish has experience as a case manager, therapist, and clinical director in inpatient and residential treatment facilities. For the past seventeen years, she has focused her career in the field of infant and early childhood, and has served as the Clinic Manager for the multi-disciplinary Child Guidance Program for the past ten years. She has also been involved in the current LAUNCH and SOC² LAUNCH grants, in the provision of reflective consultation on the state level. Tish is an endorsed Infant Mental Health Specialist through the Oklahoma Association for Infant Mental Health, as well as a Board-Approved Supervisor through the Oklahoma State Board of Licensed Social Workers. She serves on the boards for the Oklahoma Association for Infant Mental Health, and the Oklahoma Family Resource Coalition, and has been an adjunct professor with the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work for eight years.
 

Desiree holds a Bachelor's degree in Social Work from Oral Roberts University, a Master's degree in Adult Education/Human Resource Development from Oklahoma State University, and is a Leadership Tulsa Class 21 alum. Her professional experience is primarily in nonprofit leadership, program development, management training, fund raising, donor engagement and board development.

She was the Executive Director of The Parent Child Center of Tulsa for 10 years, retiring in 2017. During that time, she led the organization to become nationally accredited and grow to reach over 53,000 children and adults annually. At PCCT, she was active in collaborative efforts to launch Project East Tulsa (a co-location of PCCT with Emergency Infant Services), Tulsa Area United Way's "nexTulsa" leadership training program, Tulsa's Anti-Bullying Coalition, Family Safety Center of Tulsa's Child Advocacy Partnership, and Tulsa County's Safe Babies Court Team pilot project with Zero To Three. Prior to joining PCCT, Desiree worked for Hillcrest Healthcare System and Dowell Schlumberger.

Recently Desiree has consulted with the George Kaiser Family Foundation's BEST initiative and with Parent Promise in OKC. She is an OKCEO and Advisory Council member with the Potts Family Foundation in OKC. Desiree is a member of Prevent Child Abuse America and served on the Steering Committee for Prevent Child Abuse Oklahoma. She was also a charter member of Tulsa County Child Protection Coalition, and is a past member of Children's Consortium of Tulsa and Oklahoma Women's Coalition.

Desiree lives in Jenks, Oklahoma, with her husband Doc, and volunteers with the LifeChurch Jenks, Jenks Community Food Bank, and LifeSteps World Ministries.
 

Melissa Griffin is the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Wellness Specialist at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. She is a graduate of Oklahoma State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Family Relations and Child Development and her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. She has experience as a therapist and as a trainer working in areas that include domestic violence and victim’s services, child development and parenting, and family therapy. Her current position focuses on the development of early childhood systems in Oklahoma to support the promotion of early childhood mental health and the prevention of mental health disorders through co-leadership of the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Strategic Plan: Oklahoma’s Framework for Change.
 

Renee has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Oklahoma. She worked as a School Social Worker in Iowa for 5 years as part of a multi-disciplinary team assessing children for special education services and providing individual and group counseling for students. She returned to Oklahoma in 1992 to work for SoonerStart Early Intervention. As a resource coordinator she arranged services for families of children birth to three with developmental delays, and connected them with a variety of additional resources. She represented SoonerStart on the OKAIMH board, and continues to serve on the board, though she recently retired from SoonerStart after 26 years.