Sara McCabe, LICSW, Chief Operating Officer
Sara McCabe, LICSW, Chief Operating OfficerShe/Her/Hers
Sara began her career at Wayside in 2003 as a residential counselor and teacher at Wayside’s special education school, Wayside Academy. Since then, she’s held many roles including Assistant Director of Wayside Academy, Training and Risk Management Director and Campus Director.
In 2017 Sara was promoted to Vice President of Campus Services responsible for overseeing six adolescent residential programs, the Wayside Academy and the psychiatric day treatment program at the Framingham Campus. In addition to her role as Vice President, Sara also oversaw the Marketing and Development Department and led the Agency’s 2020 Strategic Planning process. In September 2021 Sara was promoted to the agency’s first Chief Operating Officer charged with positioning the agency for continued growth in Central, Eastern and Northeastern Massachusetts.
In addition to her leadership roles, Sara has more than 17 years of experience as a trainer in the field of worker safety for mental health care settings and is on the National Association of Social Workers training task force for Massachusetts. Sara is an adjunct professor at Boston University in the School of Social Work.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Framingham State University in Framingham, Mass. and her Master of Social Work from Wheelock College in Boston, Mass. She holds her independent clinical license in Massachusetts. She is also a registered yoga teacher with a focus and expertise in trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices.
Dr. Kevin M. Simon, Medical Director
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Dr. Kevin M. Simon is a board-certified psychiatrist who has completed additional fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry and addiction medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. During clinical fellowships, Dr. Simon completed research fellowships, notably the REACH (Recognizing and Eliminating Disparities in Addiction through Culturally-informed Healthcare) program through Yale School of Medicine funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Dr. Simon was recently selected to receive the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) K12 Physician-Scientist award in Substance Use, supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Additionally, he will be a (2021 – 2022) Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University.
Dr. Simon graduated from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He then completed a general psychiatry residency at Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta, GA), affiliated with Grady Hospital (5th largest public hospital in the United States) and the Atlanta VA Medical Center (serves the 3rd largest veteran population). Dr. Simon has received grant funding from the AACAP, American Psychiatric Association, NIDA, National Institute of Mental Health, and SAMHSA.
Dr. Simon’s research and writings on health inequity, race, social determinants, and substance use have appeared in notable journals, including NEJM, Health Affairs, Health Equity, and Psychiatric Services. He regularly presents at national conferences and has been featured on media outlets, including ABC News, Forbes, and NPR.
Andrea Salzman, LICSW, Vice President of Community Services
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Andrea’s career in human services began as a social worker for the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families (DCF). She joined Wayside in 1993 as a clinician in the HomeBase Program at Children’s Behavioral Health Care — which later merged with Wayside. Over the past 19 years Andrea has held many positions in the agency including Program Director of the HomeBase Program and Senior Program Director for Family-Based Services.
In 2012 Andrea was named the Vice President of Community Services. In this role she oversees an array of Wayside programs including outpatient clinics, in-home services, Mobile Crisis Intervention, two Community Services Agencies, the Family Resource Center, DCF Family Networks, Parent-Peer Partnership Programming, Trauma Intervention Services and the Watertown Multi-Service Center. These programs operate out of multiple community-based sites located in Lowell, Medford, Watertown, Waltham, Framingham, Milford and Charlton.
Andrea has her Bachelor of Art in Sociology from Middlebury College and a Master of Social Work from Simmons College School of Social Work. She is independently licensed (LICSW) in Massachusetts. Andrea is a former college varsity ice hockey player who lives vicariously through her son who is an avid athlete.
Beth Chin, MSW, LICSW, Vice President
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Beth has played many roles at Wayside over her 25 year career and is currently Vice President. Beth joined Wayside as a residential counselor at Harbinger House, one of the first residential programs in New England for runaway and homeless youth where she eventually became the program director. In 2003, Beth joined Wayside’s Community Service Agency where she was the Director of Family Networks and the Framingham Community Service Agency.
Beth opened Wayside’s first community site in Lowell and grew the program in seven years to serve approximately 200 youth and families a day. Most recently, Beth served as the Regional Director of the Central Massachusetts Region before being promoted to Vice President in August 2020.
In addition to her role at Wayside, Beth is an adjunct professor for the Boston College School of Social Work.
Beth earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Framingham State University and her Master of Social Work from Boston College.
Guimel DeCarvalho, LICSW, SHRM-CP, Vice President of People and Culture and Chief Diversity Officer
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Guimel is Wayside’s first Vice President of People and Culture and Chief Diversity Officer. Previously she was the Program Director for Wayside’s Framingham Family Networks and worked for the Department of Children and Family Services in Compton, California.
Guimel’s current role is to expand and broaden the agency’s culture, improve staff communication and morale, empower staff to pursue career development opportunities as well as prioritizing and increasing efficiencies across the agency.
Guimel is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and Society of Human Resources Management Certified Professional. In 2019 she was awarded the Elizabeth Funk Emerging Leaders Award from the Association of Behavioral Health for her work embedding equity and inclusion across the agency. In 2020 Guimel was named one of MetroWest’s 50 Most Influential Business People by GetKonnecdted! networking group for women and people of color and the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce.
She lives in Natick with her wife and son.
Allison Parks, LMHC, ATR-BC, Site Director, MetroWest Community Services
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Allison Parks is the Site Director of Wayside’s MetroWest Community Services program in Framingham, Mass. She joined Wayside in 2001 as a clinician at the Family Works Program where she provided home-based counseling services in the community. Allison was later promoted to program coordinator of Wayside’s insurance-based services. She was previously the Program Director of the Family Works Program and the Site Director for the largest community-based clinic at Wayside.
Allison received a Master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling Psychology from Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Studio Art from SUNY Potsdam in N.Y. She she teaches at Framingham State University in the Graduate Counseling program.
Penny Russell, Campus Director, MBA
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Penny is Campus Director overseeing residential services on Wayside’s Framingham, Mass. campus. Penny was hired in 2003 as a residential counselor at a group home providing support with daily living skills and mentoring. Since then she has held a variety of management roles overseeing training, risk and compliance. In her current role, Penny is responsible seven adolescent residential programs, a special education school called the Wayside Academy and the psychiatric day treatment program.
Penny has 15 years of experience as a Therapeutic Crisis Intervention trainer who teaches mental health professionals how to de-escalate youth during mental health crisis in safe and respectful manner. Therapeutic Crisis Intervention emphasizes empowering youth and recognizing their individual needs based on their background and mental and behavioral health issues. Penny is a trainer for the Wayside Equity Training Center and incorporates the role of bias and how it impacts both the staff and youth as part of this process.
Penny’s registered therapy dog, Maximus, often visits the campus where he brings comfort to youth in the residential programs. She is an avid distance runner and enjoys spending time outside either landscaping or gardening.
Troy Fernandes, Program Director, Tempo Young Adult Resource Center
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Troy Fernandes is the Program Director of Wayside’s Tempo Young Adult Resource Center in Framingham, Mass. Troy oversees the day-to-day operations of Tempo as well as several community-based housing programs. Troy joined Wayside eight years ago as an undergraduate intern at Wayside’s Community-Based Acute Treatment program on the Framingham Campus. After completing his internship, Troy joined Wayside in 2014 as a residential counselor, became a shift supervisor in 2015 and was promoted to Transition Facilitator at Tempo in 2017. Troy is currently the Program Director of Tempo where he oversees the development and growth of several community-based housing programs as well as housing and education initiatives for transition age youth across the state.
Troy sits on several statewide transition age youth committees including the Massachusetts Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Commission, the Department of Higher Education’s Basic Needs and Security Committee, the Children’s League of Massachusetts Transition Age Youth Committee.
Troy earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Framingham State University. Troy enjoys fishing, golfing, and spending time with his family.
