OUR STAFF
Meet Our Administrative Staff
Lisa D'Innocenzo
Executive Director
Lisa D’Innocenzo is the Executive Director of Next Steps Community Services. Lisa is a native of Leominster, MA. Lisa graduated as a Finance Specialist at Fort Ben Harrison, Indiana where she served in the Army. After working for an accounting firm, she then commenced her human service career at Matson Community Services. In 1998, she joined Community Resources for Justice as an Assistant Director and Human Rights Coordinator. In late 2011, Lisa joined the Becket Family of Services team where she has performed many roles for the organization. Lisa worked in Maine as an Executive Director of a residential program for girls and developed an additional eight bed program in ME for girls. In October 2012, Lisa co-founded Becket-MA Adult Services and opened their first MA adult group home. As the Executive Director and Chief Development Officer, Lisa continued to grow and develop numerous group homes in MA. In 2015, Lisa took over three Becket ITS programs and has since developed four more ITS Programs. These formerly named Becket ITS Program are now Next Steps Community Services.
Kari Thompson
Director of Operations
Kari joined the Next Steps team in January 2017 as the Regional Director. Kari has over 24 years of experience working in the mental health field. As Director of Operations, Kari is responsible for the day to day operations of the Next Steps ITS (Intensive Treatment Services) programs-ensuring that the services meet the high standards set by the organization. She also serves as the Regional IT Administrator and she chairs the PQI and Safety-Risk Committees. Kari is an excellent leader, and she is passionate about mentoring and developing the team members. Before joining Next Steps, Kari served as an Operations Director in Los Angeles, CA, where she worked to advance the quality of services in L.A. County for children/adolescents with history of trauma, substance use, gang affiliation, problem sexual behaviors, and family domestic violence. Kari also served as Board Co-Chair for the L.A. County Department of Mental Health Quality Improvement and Quality Assurance Committee.
Meet Our Clinical Staff
David Prescott, LCSW, LICSW
Clinical Director
A mental health practitioner with 36 years in the field, David Prescott is the Clinical Director of the Next Steps ITS programs. He is the author and editor of 20 books in the areas of understanding and improving services to at-risk clients and has produced numerous articles, chapters, and studies in these areas.
He is best known for his work in the areas of understanding, assessing, and treating sexual violence and trauma. Mr. Prescott is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Contribution Award from the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers and the 2018 recipient of the National Adolescent Perpetration Network’s C. Henry Kempe Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Prescott regularly lectures and provides training around the world.
David Schwartz, LICSW
Senior Clinician
David Schwartz joined the Next Steps team in August 2016. Originally from Long Island, he received his master’s degree in Social Work from Stony Brook University. As the Senior Clinician, he oversees all day-to-day clinical administration and well as the growth and development of the Next Steps programs.
With the Good Lives Model as the programs’ backbone, alongside a trauma-informed approach, David also incorporates these clinical approaches with Motivational Interviewing, Dialectical Behavioral Treatment skills, and Feedback-Informed Treatment to help empower the individuals and the programs. Additionally, he is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Fire-setting Intervention Program for Mentally Disordered Offenders (FIP-MO). He prides himself on helping our individuals develop their skills for moving forward and to build the lives they want to live. David is also a team member of Laurie Charlot’s Multidisciplinary Assessment Team in Maine.
Dawn Overton, M.S.
Clinician
Dawn joined the Next Steps team in December 2021. Originally from Florida, Dawn started her career 40 years ago and has extensive knowledge when it comes to healing on a physical, mental and spiritual level. Dawn has a license in medical massage therapy with a certification in craniosacral therapy. She is a certified reiki master and is a trained indigenous healer. Dawn graduated from Springfield College with a masters in mental health in 2019. After recently relocating to Vermont, Dawn has worked in the past 4 years at an inpatient facility in New Hampshire treating addiction and mental health. Dawn is currently working to secure her MLADC and LCMHC license. Dawn's passion to treat the whole person is trauma centered using mixed modalities, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and Mindfulness with the Good Lives Model at the center, providing a platform to treat people the way Dawn has always strived towards.
Pamela Raymond, M.S., BCBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Pamela Raymond, joined the Next Steps team in December 2020 as our Part Time BCBA. She has over fifteen years of experience working with children, teenagers and adults with DD/ID and Autism. She graduated from Saint Anselm with her BA in Sociology before attaining her Master’s in Education-Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College Van Loan School. She became Board Certified in August 2019. Prior to joining Next Steps she worked at Becket Adult Services in MA and she currently also works at Open Sky Community Services
Alyssa Riley, OTR/L
Behavioral Health Occupational Therapist
Alyssa started her journey in mental health after obtaining her master's degree in occupational therapy at the University of New Hampshire. From there she worked at Rutland Regional Medical Center in Vermont as the primary psychiatric occupational therapist. Alyssa took initiative to develop group curriculum and introduce new healing modalities to the unit. She incorporated individual and group treatment that varied from dialectical behavioral therapy and interpersonal skill development to yoga, sensory integration therapy and gardening. Alyssa took some time off to travel abroad to observe, engage and learn from different cultures. Returning to the states in 2019 she stepped into the role of Executive Director for a nonprofit aimed to nourish the physical, emotional and cognitive well-being of underserved youth. Always through the lens of OT, she facilitated healing through meaningful task engagement such as rock climbing and supportive social interactions.