WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Aug. 12, 2015 — West Liberty University Professor Sheli Bernstein-Goff will take part in a public meeting dealing with the topic of the treatment of persons with mental disabilities, at 9 a.m., Friday, Aug. 14, 2015 in at the West Virginia State Capitol Complex in Charleston.
The West Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is calling the public meeting to examine the treatment of persons with mental disabilities, including persons who are intellectually and developmentally disabled, by the West Virginia criminal justice system.
The Advisory Committee will hear from government officials, representatives of advocacy organizations and other experts to better understand these issues. The meeting is open to the public.
“Members of the West Virginia Advisory Committee look forward to the information that these experts have graciously agreed to provide for our review,” said Tara N. Martinez, vice chair of the Advisory Committee. “We believe this review will allow the Committee to make reasoned findings and recommendations.”
Nationally, and in West Virginia, there is a growing concern about police shootings of mentally disabled people, according to Martinez. The Advisory Committee will examine the type of training provided to state and local law enforcement as well as corrections officials to deal with people with mental disabilities.
In addition, the Advisory Committee will consider the current and projected capacity of the West Virginia Mental Health Court, which is a special court program that diverts non-violent criminal offenders, diagnosed with mental illness, from the criminal justice system into treatment. At this time, the Mental Health Court is only offered in the First Judicial Circuit Court.
Bernstein-Goff is a professor of social work at WLU and joined the faculty in 2003.
In 2012 she was appointed as a member of the Council on Disability and Persons with Disabilities, which is a part of the Council of Social Work Education, the Social Work Education Accrediting Body.
A resident of Wheeling, she currently serves on the board of directors for the Wheeling Neighborhood Ventures, Wheeling Housing Authority and is a board of director for Wheeling’s Youth Services Systems.
She has previously served on the West Virginia Attorney General Hate Crimes Task Force and the Racial Justice Coalition. She is a volunteer psychotherapist with Give an Hour, which is dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and their families.
Bernstein-Goff also is a board certified diplomat as a trauma/crisis/disaster specialist and a certified compassion fatigue specialist. She has served on many non-government organizations “firststrike” response teams for interventions with either first responders or traumatized civilians during disasters and critical incidents on the local, state, federal and international level, including a deployment to New York City in response to the World Trade Center attack. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work at Penn State University and her master’s degree at Florida State University. She is licensed as a clinical social worker in West Virginia.
She is married to Rabbi Ron Bernstein-Goff and is a proud mother and grandmother.