Skip to main content

CDD Welcomes Two New Staff

Category
August 15, 2016

The Child Development Division (CDD) in the Department for Children and Families (DCF) is pleased to announce two talented new additions to our team. Lorna Corbett has joined Children’s Integrated Services as the Nursing and Family Support Administrator (the position formerly held by Sue Shepard who retired in 2016) and Melissa Riegel-Garrett has accepted the role of Director of Statewide Systems and Community Collaborations.

Lorna Corbett

Lorna is a registered nurse with direct experience and expertise in public health and home visiting.  She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development from Wheelock College and a second in Nursing from Norwich University. She was most recently the Maternal Child Health Manager at Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice.  She is trained in the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) and Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home Visiting (MECSH) – two of the three evidence based home visiting models currently in use in Vermont.  She has provided home visiting at Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice and as a Public Health Nurse with the Barre VDH district office. She has actively participated on local CIS administrative teams in both Barre and Hartford, and on the Central Vermont Building Bright Futures Regional Council, and the local Coordinated Community Response Team. Lorna is a certified Lactation Counselor and training team member for “Futures Without Violence: Healthy Moms, Happy Babies”, a curriculum for home visitors. She has been trained through Postpartum Support International on Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. Lorna is an active member of the Vermont Home Visiting Alliance and so has knowledge of and experience in the work she will now lead. She is well respected by her peers and colleagues and has proven herself a collaborative and thoughtful participant in the Home Visiting community. Ms. Corbett’s many strengths and her particular expertise in working with mothers who have complex needs, from depression to domestic violence, will be a great asset to CDD.

Melissa Riegel-Garrett

Melissa brings 16 years of experience in early care and education – in direct service roles as a teacher, Program Director and consultant and as an advocate and policy leader. Most recently she has supported the implementation of Act 166 Prekindergarten as the Prekindergarten Program Manager at the Agency of Education. Prior to that she was Executive Director of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children and a leader in Kids Are Priority One. Melissa has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont in Early Childhood Development and Education and a Master’s of Science in Education from Bank Street College in Early Childhood Leadership.  Melissa is a native Vermonter, well known and respected in the early childhood community. She brings a solid foundation in policy and practice in the field of early care and learning. She is passionate about empowering professionals in the field to bring best practice to young children and families. We know she will continue to strengthen a network of positive relationships with providers, community partners and families that advance our shared vision of safe, healthy, thriving children in early care and learning and afterschool programs in our state.