CSSRC Staff

Director

Christine R. Harms, M.S., 303-912-6915

Chris is a Pennsylvania native and former public school teacher, private school administrator, psychotherapist and trainer with over 30 years experience working with youth, professionals and parents in schools, private practice and victim serving agencies. Her undergraduate degrees are in psychology and education and she earned her Master of Science degree in counseling and human relations from Villanova University. Chris has taught at the pre-school and elementary school levels.

Before coming to Colorado in 2005, Chris spent five years as the co-coordinator of a large suburban Philadelphia school safety center that received one of the first Emergency Response and Crisis Management grants (ERCM, now REMS) in 2003 for $500,000. In her role, she helped establish the center, consulted with schools on their safety and crisis management plans, coordinated tabletop drills between school and emergency responders, and trained school and emergency personnel in all areas of the 4-phase model (Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery). She supervised school crisis responses involving school shootings, suicides and other critical incidents in schools during her time at the Pennsylvania center.

Chris has trained professionals on such issues as violence prevention, school-based crisis response, adolescent trauma, sexual harassment and misconduct, suicide intervention, and mandated reporting of child abuse. She is the former training coordinator for the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (COVA) and has taught victim studies at the University of Northern Colorado. Chris has training from the US Department of Homeland Security, the Boston Trauma Center, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.

Emergency Response Outreach Consultant

Brad Stiles, M.A., 303-349-1549

Brad Stiles is a Colorado native, having lived in different communities along the Front Range and foothills areas. Brad served for 8 years in the U.S. Army as a Military Policeman, performing a range of duties from patrol supervisor and squad leader to tactics instructor. After combat deployments to the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, all from Ft. Hood, TX, Brad returned home in 2006, joining the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office as a Deputy Sheriff. During his time with the Sheriff's Office, Brad was able to complete a B. A. in Criminal Justice, as well as a M.A. in Emergency and Disaster Management, from American Military University.

During his employment with Jefferson County, Brad was selected to serve as a Field Training Instructor, a Crime Scene Technician, as a member of the Honor Guard, as an Academy Instructor and as a member of Mobile Field Force Team 6, utilized during crowd control situations. Brad was also selected to become a member of the Jefferson County Incident Management Team (Type 3), serving in the Plans section as a fully trained Resource Unit Leader and Status Check/In Recorder. Brad was deployed with the JEFFCO IMT for the Lower North Fork Fire, the Bluebell Fire and the Colorado Floods of 2013.

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Specialist

Margaret M. Ochoa, J.D., 720-415-0575

Margaret Ochoa, J.D., worked as an Assistant County Attorney in Jefferson County, Colorado. She was primarily responsible for dependency and neglect proceedings, and advised the Department of Social Services in every aspect of child protection. In her role as Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Specialist, she provides resources for school personnel, parents and students to identify, prevent, and respond to sexual abuse and assault. She earned her law degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism.

School Outreach Consultant

Ronald Lee, Psy.D., 720-498-9645

Dr. Lee has worked as a school psychologist and school administrator in Colorado for 28 years. As a school psychologist, he was primarily responsible for direct mental health service support for students, families, and staff in a public high school setting. These services included suicide risk assessment, threat assessment, crisis response & recovery, and special education. As a school administrator, he held various district-level positions; including director of mental health services, coordinator of school safety, district truancy officer, assistant director of special education, racial equity trainer, manifestation determination facilitator, and district security coordinator. In his current role as School Outreach Consultant for the CSSRC, he provides training and support for K-12 schools and higher education in regards to various concerns involving psychological safety. He earned his doctorate degree in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, and his bachelor of science degree in education and psychology from Tufts University. He is licensed in the state of Colorado as a clinical psychologist, school psychologist, and K-12 school administrator.

Regional Training Consultant (Northwest - Colorado)

Kati Garner, M.Ed., 303-909-3672

Kati Garner, is a Florida native but moved to Colorado Springs when she was 10. After graduating high school, she attended the University of Wyoming and obtained a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education Social Studies. Kati taught high school history for 3 years in Southwest Kansas before obtaining her Masters of Education in School Counseling and Licensed Professional Counseling from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. After working as a School Counselor in Southwest Kansas for 6 years, Kati returned to Colorado in 2016 and joined the counseling staff at Grand Junction High School.

She most recently worked as the Mental Health and Crisis Coordinator for Mesa County Valley School District 51 in Grand Junction where she oversaw threat assessments, bullying, suicide risk assessments, crisis response and acted as the districts Safe2Tell representative. Kati is a National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Prepared Certified Trainer and a Mental Health First Aid Certified Trainer.

Kati is available to review, assist in selecting, develop and provide physical and psychological safety resources and training to school personnel in the Northwestern Region of the state

Regional Training Consultant (Southeast - Colorado)

Kelly S. Addington, M.A., 720-908-5069

Kelly Addington was born and raised in Southeastern Colorado and returned after a few short stints in Northern Colorado, New Mexico, and Georgia. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Northern Colorado and her teaching endorsement from Adams State College in Alamosa. She taught secondary Science, Physical Education, and secondary Language Arts over a period of 16 years before obtaining her master’s degree in School Counseling from Adams State University. After working as a school counselor for six years at La Junta Jr/Sr High School, she began a career as a School Health Professional with Santa Fe Trail BOCES, servicing multiple school districts in Southeastern Colorado with the implementation of social/emotional and substance use preventative education to students, staff, and families. Kelly is also a certified Mental Health First Aid Trainer.

As the Southeast Regional Training Consultant for the CSSRC, she is available to meet the needs of school personnel assisting in preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from all types of emergencies and crisis situations. She can help provide resources and training to foster a safe and positive environment for schools.

Kelly is available to review, assist in selecting, develop and provide physical and psychological safety resources and training to school personnel in the Southeastern Region of the state

Program Assistant

Melissa Rubeo: 303-550-2737

Melissa Rubeo joined the Center in February 2017 from the Department of Regulatory Agencies. She provides a wide variety of general support for the Center and staff, including ordering of office resources, planning for meetings and trainings, creating materials, maintaining communication with the Listserv members, and supporting the Center's fiscal accountability through budgetary management.

Resource Specialist

Isaac Baah: 303-253-0621

Isaac Baah joined the CSSRC in 2019 from the Identification Unit of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He brings with him strong organizational skills, extensive background experience in website management, curriculum design, and public outreach. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Financial Mathematics from the University for Development Studies, Ghana. Isaac is a team player with excellent interpersonal communication and people skills. He is very resourceful with lots of initiative, mindful of responsibilities and possess a great ability to plan and execute instructions.

As the Resource Specialist, Isaac tracks and manages the website and other multi-media platforms of CSSRC, distributes school safety resources to communities and partner agencies, and provides logistical support and event/training planning for the Center. Isaac also assesses and negotiates with developers to prepare online training courses and track progress, as well as provides customer support services for the training.

Contact Us:

Colorado School Safety Resource Center

Mailing Address :

700 Kipling Street, Suite 1000

Denver, Colorado 80215

Office Physical Address: