January 18, 2012

Dr. Walter Howard Smith, Jr. announces his retirement.

After twenty-five years of service, including ten years as clinical director and fifteen as executive director, Walter Howard Smith, Jr. PhD is retiring from Family Resources on March 1, 2012.

Dr. Smith has passionately represented the mission of child abuse prevention and treatment through many public and social sector forums. Dr. Smith led the growth of Family Resources from an annual budget of $3.6M and 80 staff in 1997 to the current $10M annual budget and more than 200 employees. He oversaw two acquisitions, the Beverly Jewel Wall Lovelace Children’s program from the Pittsburgh Foundation in 2004 and the Parental Stress Center in 2010. He spearheaded a $6.2M capital campaign to construct thirteen new buildings and several outdoor activity centers at the Family Resources Family Retreat Center in Cranberry. Dr. Smith led the development of many treatment and prevention services including OneKindWord and Family Focused Treatment Services.

As the face of the organization, Dr. Smith represented Family Resources in collaborations with other organizations to assure families are safe places for children. He served on the Pittsburgh Foundation board, the Forbes Fund Advisory board, the Children’s Cabinet and the Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities Advisory Board of the Department of Human Services, the Grable Foundation Community Cabinet, the board of Voices for America’s Children, and the National Child Traumatic Stress Center Advisory Board.

Dr. Smith has been recognized with many awards over the years, most recently with the Champion of Hope and Healing Award, from the Child Advocacy Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (2011); the Legacy Award from the Greater Pittsburgh Psychological Association (2010), and the Frieda G. Shapira Medal from the Forbes Fund (2006).

Shauna Spencer, MBA, will succeed Dr. Smith as executive director. Ms. Spencer is a remarkable leader with more than 25 years’ experience in managing and leading health and human service systems and implementing innovation and organization change in complex systems. She has served as the associate executive director of Family Resources for two years and her appointment represents a third generation of successful succession planning. Ms. Spencer earned her MBA at Westminster College in Utah and was the DC Department of Mental Health’s Director of Children’s Services, where she oversaw development of the children’s system of care, introducing the wraparound services approach for children at risk of out-of-home placement. She moved to Pittsburgh four years ago to head a demonstration project for the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, implementing evidence-based interventions for the treatment of depression and unhealthy substance use in primary care practices.