All Star Children’s Foundation Welcomes Two Team Members

(Sarasota) All Star Children’s Foundation has welcomed two professionals with expertise in childhood trauma and research programming to its staff: Kristin Hoffman, Ph.D., and Sharon Ghazarian, Ph.D. Dr. Hoffman, whose expertise includes working with children and families with child welfare involvement and most recently served as the director of trauma psychology at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, has joined as All Star’s chief program officer. Dr. Ghazarian, who has extensive background as a methodology consultant for federally funded research grants and was the former senior director for Health Informatics at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, will serve as the organization’s chief research officer. 

According to Dennis McGillicuddy, All Star’s CEO, these new positions have been funded by the Louis and Gloria Flanzer Philanthropic Trust and an anonymous donor. “We’re grateful to the Flanzer Trust for recognizing the critical role that trauma plays in mental health,” says McGillicuddy. 

“Dr. Hoffman and Dr. Ghazarian bring a wealth of combined expertise, education and vision to All Star that will take the organization to new levels,” says McGillicuddy. “They will partner on a number of key endeavors to ensure sustainable and efficient longitudinal follow-up for the children and families that All Star serves— all with the ultimate goal of decreasing deleterious outcomes for foster families and their children while simultaneously increasing the potential for positive outcomes across social, emotional, physical and psychological domains. We feel lucky and grateful that these two individuals have joined our organization.” 

Flanzer Trustee Dean Hautamaki, M.D., says the Flanzer Trust’s commitment to All Star’s mission reflects the organization’s deepest goals. “We focus our support in transformative, non-profit ventures,” he says. “All Star is a primary example. It strives to heal children and families from the devastating impact of trauma. Their work will inform the practice of foster care on a state and national level. Their mission is no less than visionary—and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

During her tenure at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Hoffman collaborated with All Star Children’s Foundation to implement innovative approaches to foster parent training, biological family engagement, clinical services, and trauma-informed care. She is certified as a Level II (statewide/regional) Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) trainer by PCIT, International. In her new role, Hoffman will be responsible for program development and project oversight for All Star’s significant portfolio of innovative, trauma-informed programs.

Dr. Ghazarian is a research methodologist and an expert in complex statistical analysis and research processes for medical, behavioral and social sciences. In her career with Johns Hopkins and other health organizations, Ghazarian pursued methodological advances in healthcare data, with a particular focus on pediatric development. Dr. Ghazarian has also contributed substantively to the field of parenting behaviors, parent-child relationships and family dynamics by applying robust techniques to examine mechanisms by which parenting and family interactions affect child and adolescent outcomes. Her resulting expertise encompasses behavioral health, public health, social sciences, and hospital medicine. 

All Star has completed its “Campus of Hope and Healing,” which includes the All Star Children’s Center, where trauma-focused clinical services are offered. The campus also features six foster family homes that provide children, ages 0-18, with a nurturing, family-style home environment and comprehensive, trauma-sensitive treatment. Siblings are kept together, and parents and caregivers are offered a range of services. All Star also serves children in the region’s child welfare system and their families on an outpatient basis. Since beginning trauma-informed outpatient clinical services on April 1, 2019, All Star has treated more than 110 children and families in the foster care system.