Amy Weinstock
Program Founder and Director
Amy Weinstock is the Director of the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health at UMass Chan Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, and an instructor in the medical school’s Department of Psychiatry. She has an extensive background on insurance issues related to autism and has played a key role in passing several significant pieces of autism insurance legislation in Massachusetts, including the groundbreaking 2010 law requiring health insurance to cover medically necessary treatment for autism. Amy also serves as a trustee of the Riverview School, and as a Commissioner on the State’s Autism Commission.
Following a successful career in real estate and banking, Amy, the parent of a child on the autism spectrum, decided to merge her personal passions and professional experience. She completed a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) fellowship at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center in 2005. Following this, she served as President of the outreach organization of the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital for two years prior to her appointment as Chair of the Insurance Committee for Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts (AFAM)Amy’s work has been recognized through numerous awards including the Federation for Children with Special Needs Martha H. Ziegler Founders Award, the Margaret L. Bauman Award for Excellence, the Massachusetts ARC’s Distinguished Citizens Award, the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation Essential piece award, and the Northeast ARC’s Edward C. O’Keefe Memorial Award. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and received a Masters of Architecture from Harvard.
Terri Farrell
Project Director
Terri is the Project Director of the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health at UMass Chan Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center. The AIRC provides technical assistance to families, providers and agencies in need of information related to both public (MassHealth) and private insurance. Terri was appointed the chair of AFAM’s (Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts) Government Affairs Committee in 2013. AFAM is the leading Mass autism advocacy non-profit promoting budgetary and legislative initiatives at the state level. Terri is the event chair for AFAM’s annual Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day held at the State House. In 2017, Terri joined the MBHP (Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership) Family Advisory Council. In April 2017, she was appointed to the Massachusetts state Autism Commission 22+ employment sub-committee.
Terri has presented at local conferences focusing on autism insurance, transition and issues affecting homeless youth with ASD. She has presented at SPEDPACS throughout the Commonwealth on the ARICA law and accessing ABA coverage through MassHealth. Prior to joining the Shriver Center in 2014, Terri was the marketing manager for Immunetics, and prior to that, was a pharmaceutical/medical device sales representative for MediSense, Nordisk-Gentofte and Allergan. Her undergraduate business degree is from the University of Cincinnati. Her MBA is from Northeastern University. Terri completed a LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disability) Fellowship in 2015 to build on her expertise in the field of autism insurance.
Suzanne Jervinis
Insurance Navigation Manager
Suzanne Jervinis is the Insurance Navigation Manager for the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health (IRC). She brings with her 15 years’ experience from the Massachusetts Health Connector, where she wore many hats, including creating and facilitating trainings for Navigators, Certified Application Counselors, call center and internal staff. Suzanne is a proud Mom to her 12-year-old son Constantine who is also in “the club.” When the IRC was just starting out and needed support from the Health Connector, Suzanne made sure her fellow colleagues understood just how important the work the IRC was doing and assisted in creating workarounds to make sure these families received the coverage they deserved. Suzanne is beyond grateful to be part of this team and to be a Certified Application Counselor to help families through the online MassHealth application and navigate their insurance options. When Suzi is not talking about insurance, she can be found baking, spending time with family and friends or singing showtunes in her car.
Lisa Crouser
Project Director
Lisa Crouser, Project Director, joined the IRC team in 2019. Lisa spends a lot of her workday helping individuals, providers, and other stakeholders resolve a variety of issues related to insurance for autism and behavioral health services, from how to obtain secondary MassHealth insurance to addressing denials of services.
She previously held numerous positions within the employee benefits/health insurance industry. Lisa is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) and she also earned her law degree. She most recently completed a certificate program in Patient Advocacy. While working for a TPA (Third Party Administrator) that performed back-office functions for self-funded health plans and insurance carriers, she was responsible for Operations and Legal Affairs.
Lisa understands how overwhelming accessing the healthcare system can be. She is passionate about applying her decades of industry experience to help families, providers, and others. What better way to do something meaningful than to help people who are encountering barriers while trying to get the insurance services they need and should have?
On a personal note, Lisa has been involved with a greyhound placement group that finds homes for retired racing greyhounds for almost as long as she has worked in the employee benefits arena. She and her husband enjoy going for long walks, although their current greyhound, Flower, prefers to stay at home on the couch.
Evan Gabovitch
Insurance Navigation Coordinator
Evan Gabovitch is the Project Assistant for the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health. In September of 2013 he testified to the Massachusetts State House’s Joint Committee on Education promoting a section of what would be the Autism Omnibus Bill of 2014 to include school districts to offer autism-based trainings for special educators as well as general educators. Since then, he has been involved with other disability nonprofit organizations such as Massachusetts Advocates for Children, The Institute for Human Centered Design, Partners for Youth with Disabilities, and was a Peer Leader during the summers of 2015 and 2016 for The Youth Leadership Forum hosted at Bridgewater State University.
Evan also has prior experience as being a part of the Client Services Unit of the Massachusetts state agency the “Massachusetts Office on Disability” (MOD) as an “advocate” responding to phone calls and emails from families of or people with disabilities about issues with social services or problems with in their community. His work with them served as the basis for what his work would become with the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health by providing our staff with insights, knowledge, and technical assistance.
Jerome T. Chiu
Associate
Jerome is also an Associate of the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health, where he works to resolve issues with insurance coverage and support families as the navigate the health insurance landscape. Jerome has dedicated his professional career to ensuring access to quality applied behavioral analysis services. Jerome worked to establish Medicaid coverage of ABA services for individuals with ASD in 2015. His current focus is on enhancing the quality of clinical documentation and establishing systems to ensure the quality of treatment. Jerome is a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst and Licensed Behavior Analyst in the state of Massachusetts. He holds a Masters in Childhood and Early Childhood Special Education from NYU Steinhardt, a Masters in Public Administration from Suffolk University. He is also graduate of the Leadership in Education and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) fellowship program through the Shriver Center at UMass Memorial Hospital in Worchester, MA.
Donna Caira
Associate
Donna is the Administrative Assistant for the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health. She is also the Administrative Assistant for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. She has been with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center for over 30 years and gives support to a variety of departments including the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) and the Healthy Weight Research Network as well as part of the Shriver department administrative team.
Ariana Matias
Insurance Outreach Coordinator
Ariana Matias is the Insurance Outreach Coordinator for the Insurance Resource Center for Autism and Behavioral Health at UMass Chan Medical School’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center. She has a strong background in insurance and compliance having worked in many facets of the Health Care industry. Ariana’s career has taken her from working for a health insurance company to medical billing and even pharmacy work. Most recently Ariana became a Certified Application Counselor and is excited to assist Spanish language speakers with their insurance questions. Although her contributions look different with each role, she continues towards her goal of working toward improving patient outcomes and is proud to be the newest member of the Insurance Resource Center.