Assisting organizations in the healthcare and human services communities to become and remain sustainable.
Who We Are
SRS Strategic Associates is a collaboration of exceptional consultants focused on health and human services. We are passionate about helping our clients succeed. First, we listen. Then, our team works hand-in-hand with you to meet your goals.
What organizations are saying about SRS
Services
Funding
Grants
3rd Party Payors
Compliance
Quality
Accreditation
Operations & Business Services
Funding • Grants • 3rd Party Payors
Services
- Prospect Research
- Grant Writing
- Grants Management
- Grant Preparation Training
- Program Development and Implementation
- 3rd Party Payor Relations
Our team has extensive expertise in all aspects of funding and grantsmanship. There is no project too large or too small. We offer a complimentary initial consultation to gain an understanding of your needs and provide a recommended strategy for moving forward.
Compliance • Quality • Accreditation
Services
- Compliance: Implementation/ Management
- Quality Assurance and Improvement Implementation/ Management
- Accreditation Assistance
- Process Mapping and Value Stream Mapping
SRS has team members who are experts in compliance, quality, and accreditation standards. Organizations face ever-increasing challenges keeping up with required processes and regulations. We offer a complimentary consultation to develop a recommended pathway for organizational success.
Operations • Business Services
Services
- Developing and Enhancing Workflows
- Growth Strategy Feasibility
- Financial Sustainability Strategies
- Fee-for-Service and Multi-Payment Model Optimization
- EHR: Selection and Implementation
- Business Continuity/Recovery Planning
Collectively, our seasoned team members possess decades of experience managing complex operations and services. We have solved many of the toughest problems facing organizations today. We are fluent in state-of-the-art tools and processes in building realistic plans for growth while considering financial feasibility, payment models, and the technology that is required. SRS offers an initial complimentary consultation to determine how we might best meet your needs.
Our Team
Shelley Samuels, MPA
Principal
Shelley Samuels has 30+ years of experience as a leader in human services and healthcare organizations. Most recently she was COO and Compliance Officer for national organization Juvo Autism and Behavioral Health. Prior to that she was the Chief Program Officer of Easterseals New Jersey while concurrently serving as the COO of Easterseals Solutions an EHR system administration entity for multiple nonprofit organizations. She has an MPA in Public Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Finance from Rutgers University. She completed an Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and a program at New York University Stern School for Executive Education in Finance and Accounting. Ms. Samuels has secured and managed more than $80 million dollars in grants and contracts such as Projects of National Significance from the US HHS; US Administration on Aging; US Corporation for National and Community Service; SAMHSA; HUD and a federal healthcare insurance education project. Ms. Samuels has served as a management and development consultant for organizations such as federally qualified health centers; medical centers; hospice and health and human services. She has provided consulting on medical legal partnerships and older adult services. Shelley has expertise in fee for service and transition to multiple payment models. Ms. Samuels has made presentations on EHR best practices at multiple conferences and webinars as well as on disability rights, behavioral health homes and access to employment for local and national audiences.
Nick Szubiak, MSW, LCSW
Associate
Nick has 20+ years of experience in direct service, administration and clinical experience in healthcare. He is the Founder of NSI Strategies, which provides support to integrated healthcare environments; and serves as an Advanced Implementation Specialist for SAMHSA’s Opioid Response Network. Nick is the former Assistant Vice President of Addiction and Recovery at the National Council for Behavioral Health and Director at the SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions. Previously, he served as the Director of Behavioral Health for a rural Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). He utilizes implementation science to maximize clinical pathways to better care; and delivers technical assistance, consultation and training toward bi-directional integration of behavioral health and primary care, substance use disorders, medication assisted treatment (MAT), Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), measurement-based care, and population health management. His expertise includes MAT implementation, FQHC integration models and partnerships, trauma informed care, recovery-oriented systems of care, health homes, and developing effective teams to provide integrated care to the communities they serve. He earned his master’s in social work from Rutgers University.
Bernadette Palmeri-Thielmann, MPP
Associate
Bernadette is a talented business development and strategic partnerships professional focused on nonprofit capacity building. She works with organizations to cultivate their networks and secure funding for a diverse range of domestic and international opportunities. Before shifting focus to the nonprofit sector, Bernadette was a Corporate Social Responsibility consultant for Fortune 200 companies and spent a year working in compliance, where she gained valuable business management experience. Bernadette received her Masters of Public Policy from the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and earned her undergraduate degree in English and Gender & Women’s Studies from Connecticut College.
Mary Jo Bernardo, M. ED
Associate
Mary Jo is a talented nonprofit executive with more than 30 years’ experience leading finance, administration, change management, programs, and human resources in a number of organizations. After several years as a Program and Administrative Surveyor for CARF International (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities), she currently provides consulting services to organizations working towards CARF Accreditation in Employment and Community Services and Behavioral Health. In addition, Ms. Bernardo provides performance improvement and corporate compliance for entities that provide services for persons with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities, substance use disorder and co-occurring treatment. She is an international presenter on systems change and service conversion, governmental affairs and employment for people with disabilities.
Ellen Franzblau Isaac, RN, BSN, MPA
Associate
Ellen Franzblau Isaac began her career as a psychiatric nurse. She is expert in developing compliance/accreditation plans, managed care clinical programs, specialty pharmacy nursing programs, disease management, and wellness programs. With more than twenty years of experience, she has developed Quality Improvement Programs for Managed Care Organizations, as well as managed their NCQA (National Committee for Quality Assurance) and URAC accreditation process. Ellen has also conducted NCQA surveys. She excels at leading compliance and accreditation projects including: national accreditations; compliance with HIPAA, Medicare and Medicaid requirements, and has designed clinical improvement plans for chronic disease conditions. Ellen has completed more than 10 successful compliance/accreditation surveys including URAC, the Joint Commission for home delivery pharmacy, and NCQA for disease management. She had overseen HEDIS® measure compliance. She has overseen the clinical development for The Center for Health Action and implemented a national mental health product for a managed care company; and redesigned mental health benefit plans to increase access to care and improve outcomes. Ellen has obtained multiple national awards for excellence in safety, compliance and adherence, and is a sought-after speaker for public, managed care, and regulatory audiences.
Denise Gaetano, MSW, LSW
Associate
Denise is an experienced, successful, nonprofit executive who has helped shape and advance agencies in the health and human service field. She is an advocate at the state and local levels, and possesses an extensive history serving geriatric and developmentally disabled communities. She is licensed as a Social Worker in New Jersey, and obtained her Bachelor’s from Seton Hall University and a Master’s in Social Work from New York University (NYU). In addition, she has completed an Executive Leadership program at Baruch College. Throughout her career she has served as a leader in human service organizations and secured funds, developed and managed budgets. She writes and implements policies and procedures and develops and delivers myriad training programs. Denise has managed state inspections, and coordinated all areas including the quality assurance, compliance and human relations aspects of the process. In addition to her executive work, she practices clinical social work with adults and children. Denise has taught at Columbia, Fordham and NYU and currently teaches at Ocean County College.
Cheryl A. Irmiter, PhD, LCSW
Associate
Dr. Irmiter received her Ph.D. at Loyola University Chicago in Clinical Social Work. She is a recognized healthcare analyst with twenty-year career in health and behavioral health care which is built upon her seven years of health care insurance underwriting and consulting experience. She has proven success using data to set health care strategy, knowledge, and revenue streams. Irmiter uses a ‘matrix’ leadership and team-approach that exceeds expectations and delivers personal satisfaction for all involved. She has expertise in strategic planning, Six Sigma/Lean Integration, Health Care Systems, Data Integration, Substance Abuse and Mental Illness, policy analyses, product development, value-based payment systems and quality improvement.
Sandee Miller, MS
Associate
Sandee Miller is a professional with 25+ years senior leadership experience in non-profits serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as working in colleges and universities as well. Ms. Miller has her Masters of Science in Higher Education, with a concentration in Personnel Administration from Syracuse University. She has stewarded strategic and business planning initiatives executing major systems changes including transitions to fee for service and implementation of electronic health record management systems. She has guided agencies through independent licensing and accreditation reviews as well as assessed departments and made recommendations for improvements in staffing and practices creating more cohesive and inclusive environments. She is a Certified Trainer for Therap Services and a skilled facilitator for groups ranging in size both locally and nationally.
Judith Samuels, MBA, PhD
Associate
Judith Samuels, MBA, PhD is currently the CEO of The Samuels Group, an active consultancy to Philanthropies, Global NGOs, Nonprofit Organizations and Government Agencies. The Samuels Group specializes in developing tools and measurement strategies to transforming the third sector and maximizing impact. Dr. Samuels has undergraduate training in Engineering, an MBA with concentration in Finance, and a PhD in Public Administration from NYU where she trained as a Social Research Scientist. She brings to her consulting practice, expertise in evaluation and research, finance, and methodology, extensive statistical and analytic techniques, and systems technology. Dr. Samuels’ policy and services research has been in health, human services, housing, policy and interventions. She has held a tenured position at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, and as an Assistant Professor at the NYU Medical School and an Adjunct Professor positions at two NYU graduate schools. Dr. Samuels has served on numerous nonprofit Boards and research advisory boards nationally and in New York City. She has been engaged as a grant reviewer for Federal agencies and foundations and has been a frequent reviewer for SAMHSA’s NREPP registry of evidence-based practices.
Our Community
Review our upcoming events and learn about other members of our community.
Latest News & Events
- SRS Webinar: Helping Funders Say Yes
- SRS, NJACP, Jespy House Awarded NJ DHS Funding
SRS Strategic Associates, along with its partners New Jersey Association of Community Providers – NJACP and Jespy House, is proud to announce that we were among the 18 awardees of the NJ DHS Division of Disability Services Inclusive Healthy Communities for Individuals with Disabilities
- SRS Guest on Mental Health News Radio
SRS’s Shelley Samuels joins Kristin Sunanta Walker to talk about how the field of Behavioral Health is evolving.
- SRS Presents at NJACP Lunch and Learn
Presentation 1 for the New Jersey Association of Community Providers Lunch & Learn on 11/9/2020: ‘GRANTS: Helping Funders Say Yes!’
MODERATOR: Colleen Klepser – New Jersey Association of Community Providers
PRESENTER: Shelley Samuels, MPA – Principal SRS Strategic Associates
Presentation 2 for the New Jersey Association of Community Providers Lunch & Learn on 12/11/2020: ‘Expand your Business Continuity Plan for Future Growth & Sustainability’
MODERATOR: Tori Villafana – New Jersey Association of Community Providers
PRESENTERS: Linda Mayo, MSW, MS – Senior Associate, SRS Strategic Associates, LLC, and Leslie Stivale, President/CEO – Triple C Housing, Inc.
- Affordable Housing Funding
During these challenging times, please read about this positive opportunity for special needs housing:
Edison Township is contracted with Community Grants Planning & Housing (https://www.cgph.net) to provide complimentary assistance to providers and developers to apply for special needs housing funds from Edison Township. To ensure excellent response times and services, CGP&H is utilizing SRS Strategic Associates to provide this assistance. The objective is to create up to 125 additional special needs bedrooms via group homes and supportive housing throughout Edison Township, in the amount of $25,000 per bedroom; plus up to $20,000 for a standby generator for each home. Funds for emergency repairs of existing special needs housing are also available. This opportunity is available on a rolling basis until all funds are awarded.
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Contact Us
3495 US Highway 1, STE 34 #1040
Princeton, NJ 08540
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