Meet the Board

Brijan Fellows is a clinical social worker with expertise in perinatal and infant and early childhood mental health.  She is the clinical program director for the Taghi Modarressi Center for Infant Study’s Secure Starts Clinic at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She oversees various grant-funded initiatives, including state and federal projects funded by SAMHSA and the Department of Justice, and supervises staff and trainees from various disciplines. 

Brijan has presented early childhood research and clinical findings at numerous local and statewide conferences.  Her work focuses primarily on addressing the unique needs of vulnerable infant populations, including refugees and those affected by trauma and substance use.  When not in the clinic, Brijan can be found at one of many sports arenas with her husband and two sons.

Jessica Lertora, MSW, LCSW-C, IMH-E®, is a licensed clinical social worker employed with ZERO TO THREE in Frederick County, Maryland, as the Community Coordinator for Frederick County Safe Babies, a program that focuses on transforming child welfare into the practice of child well-being for infants and toddlers ages birth to three, under the court’s jurisdiction.  She also works with the North Carolina Child Treatment Program at Duke University as an Endorsed National Trainer for Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) in efforts to disseminate CPP across the state of North Carolina.  Previously, she held positions as a reunification social worker with the Frederick County Department of Social Services and as an early childhood mental health clinician at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Taghi Modarressi Center for Infant Study:  Secure Starts program.

Ms. Lertora has dedicated her career to providing a multitude of evidence-based therapeutic interventions to families with young children who have experienced trauma and consultation to various early childhood providers.  Many of these efforts also included leading training efforts across the state and nationally.  Her passion and expertise lie in cross-collaborative systems-level work and implementation science. 

Ms. Lertora graduated from the University of Maryland School of Social Work with an MSW focused on a dual concentration in Clinical (Mental Health) and MACRO.  She is a Licensed Certified Social Worker-Clinical (LCSW-C) in the state of Maryland, a registered social work supervisor, holds an Infant Mental Health Mentor – Clinical endorsement, and is a member of the Maryland/DC Infant Mental Health Association.  At the national level, Ms. Lertora is endorsed as a trainer for Child Parent Psychotherapy and is a member of the World Association for Infant Mental Health.

Cheri Vogt, EdD, is an Early Childhood Special Education teacher for Anne Arundel Public Schools. She began her teaching career as an elementary teacher, working with children from kindergarten through sixth grade. After primarily teaching grades 4-6, Cheri became introduced to the world of early intervention, which significantly changed the trajectory of her career. 

Cheri’s focus shifted to earning her special education credential and participating in an early intervention program. Upon completing her credential, Cheri worked as an Early Interventionist at KC KIDS Early Childhood Center, where she supported children aged 0 to 3 years and their families. While at KC KIDS, Cheri was part of the leadership team and received her endorsement as a Transdisciplinary Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health Practitioner from the California Center for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health at the WestEd Center for Prevention & Early Intervention. 

Cheri is passionate about collaborating with caregivers to support children during the critical early years of their lives, fostering healthy connections and positive relationships.

Ms. Julia Wessel, MSW, LCSW-C, is the Assistant Director of the Parent-Child Clinical Services Program at the Lourie Center for Children’s Social-Emotional Wellness in Rockville, Maryland. Ms. Wessel has been at the Lourie Center, a member of the Adventist Health Care System, since 2014. In addition to administrative roles, she provides clinical services to children birth through age twelve and families with an attachment-based, trauma-informed orientation.

Ms. Wessel provides reflective supervision for clinical interns and staff. She is the Director of the Child Placement Consultation Team, a forensic evaluation team providing parent capacity and placement evaluations for Child Welfare Services and local courts. The Lourie Center strives to provide high-quality early childhood mental health care and educational services to the most vulnerable children and families and believes the first years last a lifetime. The Center is one of a kind in its region, with a mission to work with infants, toddlers, and younger children. These families often face intergenerational trauma, racism, and poverty, adding to their complex mental health and emotional needs.

After receiving her undergraduate degree in psychology from Kenyon College, Ms. Wessel worked as a research assistant on the Early Childhood team at Child Trends, a nonprofit research organization in Washington, DC. Ms. Wessel went on to pursue her Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was then selected for a clinical fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center, where she honed skills in early childhood mental health. Ms. Wessel is a registered Circle of Security Parenting facilitator and is a rostered Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) provider.