Biography
His professional focus is on the adaptation of evidence-based interventions within a culturally appropriate framework, with a specific emphasis on motivational interviewing for co-occurring disorders. As such, he is actively involved in the following three areas: 1) evaluation of cultural/linguistic adaptations of evidence based interventions and assessments; 2) multisite training and fidelity monitoring; and 3) workforce development. He has co-authored numerous articles on Latino behavioral health issues and motivational interviewing, and also teaches and lectures extensively on both these topics. In 2007, he co-created the Connecticut Latino Behavioral Health System (CT LBHS). The CT LBHS represents a united effort to enhance, expand, and evaluate a network of treatment services developed from regional partnerships and tailored to meet the specific behavioral health needs of the Latino community. In addition, he served as the Senior Advisor on Public Policy for the National Latinx Psychological Association from 2014-2021, and continues to be focused on non-partisan social justice advocacy in his role as co-founder of the Latinx Immigrant Health Alliance, which was established in 2021.