New Orleans Children's Health Project

Dr. Alina Olteanu, MD, PhD

Dr. Alina started working with us in July of 2008 and took over as Medical Director a year later. She is a gifted and talented pediatrician as well as an assistant professor for Tulane University School of Medicine. Alina recently became the head of the section of Community Pediatrics and Global Health at Tulane.  She received her PhD in Biological Chemistry from University of North Carolina in 2004 and completed her pediatric residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In 2008 Dr. Alina traveled to Lesotho, Africa to provide services for the Pediatric AIDS Corps. She takes a special interest in obesity, international adoptions, and working with children in the community.

Kenya Johnson, RN

Kenya joined NOCHP in April of 2008. She has been a registered nurse for 5 years and received her BA of Science from Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans.She is licensed in Louisiana, Texas, and California and has practiced in many hospitals in these states. She has a vast array of experience working with different population groups, from newborns to adults. She says, however, her first love is pediatrics, as she has two years experience as a Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse. The last two years of her career were spent at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital in Houston before returning back to New Orleans where she was born and raised. 

Donna D. Usner, ACE, LCSW-BACS

Donna is a licensed social worker for NOCHP and joined the team in December 2006. She has been instrumental in the development of the Community Support and Resiliency Unit which provides comprehensive mental health services for children and their families. She is a New Orleans native and received her Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Psychology and Sociology from Loyola University and a Masters Degree in Social Work from Tulane University. She is an Approved Clinical Evaluator with Louisiana’s Office of Mental Health and both a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Board Approved Clinical Supervisor with Louisiana’s State Board of Social Work Examiners. She has published research in the field of post-divorce conflict on adolescent behavior. Historically, she has worked in social work fields such as adoption, care management, and mental health rehab service provision. Her primary career focus continues to be grief and crisis in children and families.
 

Ruth Arnberger, MSW, GSW

Ruth is a master’s level social worker and licensed as a Graduate Social Worker in the state of Louisiana. She has been with NOCHP since May of 2007 and provides direct clinical services to children and their parents on the Community Support and Resiliency Unit.  She received her Masters from Tulane University School of Social Work.  Ruth enjoys working with young children and is trained in a variety of therapeutic approaches, including play therapy.  Her area of specialization is evaluating and treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in young children.  Previous to her work with NOCHP, Ruth spent over three years contributing to two research studies in the Department of Psychology and Neurology at Tulane, examining the assessment and treatment of PTSD in preschool children.  Previous to her work at Tulane, Mrs. Arnberger worked in the Developmental Disorders Clinic at the University of New Orleans on a project assessing TANF recipients for hidden disabilities.

Laura M. Kreller

Laura is the Patient Intake Coordinator for NOCHP. She joined the program in December of 2007. Laura has lived in New Orleans since she was two years old and is currently attending Tulane University part time and working to obtain her Bachelors in Communications. Laura answers and schedules all appointment requests that are made through the main line for both units; she also assists in providing administrative support to all of the NOCHP staff on a regular basis. Laura comes from over 6 years of experience providing excellent customer support over the phone and in person.
 

Maria Evan Johns, LPC, LAC, NCC

Maria started with NOCHP in November of 2007 as a Counselor for the Community Support and Resiliency Unit. She specializes in working with adolescents and families. She utilizes cognitive behavior therapy, rational emotive behavior therapy, motivational interviewing, some play therapy and other modalities as she is very eclectic in her clinical practice. Maria received her Masters of Education in 2003 from Southeastern LA University. Prior to NOCHP she worked as a program coordinator for a residential addictions treatment facility and helped individuals and their families struggling with addiction and co-occurring disorders for three years. She also has experience working with teen parents and people with severe mental illness. Also, Maria is bilingual and provides clinical services to many Spanish speaking children and families.

Quote: “I really enjoy working with families with diverse cultural backgrounds and helping people get the tools they need to overcome their obstacles.”

B. Cole

Mr. Cole is a Field Specialist/Driver for the Community Support and Resiliency Unit. He has been a dedicated member of the NOCHP team since June of 2006. Previously to NOCHP Mr. Cole was a maintenance manager/technician for Jefferson Parish Transit for over 35 years. Prior to that, he was a soldier in the US Army Corps and a Vietnam Veteran. Mr. Cole has not missed a day of work in his two years of being with NOCHP!

Laniqua Roussell, MSW, GSW, MPH

Laniqua is the Senior Program Manager for NOCHP and joined the team in April of 2008. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Southern University and A&M College. In addition, she received a Master of certifications as a Graduate Social Worker and Infant Mental Health Specialist. Her current responsibilities as Senior Program Manager include management of 10 staff members in the mental health and medical units, grant writing/grants management, data management, daily clinical and administrative operations, and managing a 1.3 million dollar budget. She was previously employed with the City of New Orleans as the Program Development Manager for the Healthy Start New Orleans Program, LSU Health Sciences Juvenile Justice Program as the Program Evaluator for two out of three Juvenile Detention Centers in the state of Louisiana, and various other experiences in federal and non-profit programs. Ms. Roussell is an active volunteer with the Southeast Big Brother/Big Sister program as a Big Sister for adolescent girls. She has served on boards for various non-profit organizations in New Orleans. She currently resides in Slidell, LA where she is planning the development of a Family Development Center for community residents.

Carlos Naranjo

Carlos is the Case Manager for the program; he joined the team in May 2007. Carlos was born in Cuba; he migrated in 1962, when he was fifteen years old, as part of the Pedro Pan group, fleeing the Castro dictatorship. He attended Holy Cross High School and graduated with a BA in 1972 from the University of New Orleans. He began his career in Social Services with the Department of Social Services in 1973. He retired as a Foster Care Supervisor with the Office of Community Services in 2001. He worked as the Ombudsman Coordinator, from 2002, with the Advocacy Center until he joined the Children’s Project in May 2007. Carlos has been coaching at PARD playground since 1982, he is the Soccer, Futbol as is know in the rest of the world, league director. He is also a member of the St.  John Bosco choir. He is also a member of the Advisory Council for CASA and the Jefferson Council on Aging. 

Jay Michael May

Jay-Michael May became NOCHP’s Health Educator in September of 2008. He is native from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a graduate from Dillard University majoring in Public Health Education with a minor in Nursing. During his senior year of undergraduate school he served as President of the Public Health Club and other related organizations.  After completing undergraduate school, he moved to Kansas City, Kansas to pursue graduate studies at Webster University. While residing in Kansas City, he was employed by Swope Parkway Health Center, as a Health Educator providing prenatal and parenting services to minorities in low economic areas. Also, he helped facilitate and develop a Fatherhood/Male Involvement program to help assist in the epidemic fight against Fatherlessness. In 2003, he received his degree from Webster University with a Master’s in Health Services Management. After graduating from Webster University, he moved to Orlando, Florida and began working for the Boys & Girls Club of Central Florida as a Neighborhood Coordinator. As the Neighborhood Coordinator, he was able to offer a holistic (one-stop shop) approach for social services in one of the largest areas in Winter Garden, Florida dealing with youth and elderly. In 2006, he relocated back home to New Orleans, Louisiana.

Laura Bazley

Ms. Laura started with NOCHP in October of 2007 as our back up field specialist/driver. She has been a certified commercial driver for over 20 years and prior to NOCHP Ms. Laura worked for Tulane University’s Public Safety Department in the Traffic Division.  She also attended nursing school at William Carey College in 1977.

Caroline Campion, MD

Dr. Campion is our child psychiatrist. She comes to us part time from Tulane's department of psychiatry & neurology.  She provides services by appointment only on Mondays and Thursdays until 1pm.