FREESTANDING MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS • STAFF

Jimmy Widdifield, Jr., LPC – Program Manager

jimmy.widdifield@occy.ok.gov | (405) 606-4919

Jimmy Widdifield, Jr., LPC, is the Freestanding Multidisciplinary Teams (FSMDT) Program Manager at the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth in Oklahoma City, OK.  He is responsible for supporting and monitoring more than 35 FSMDTs in Oklahoma (according to the statute and administrative rules), as well as coordinating, providing training, and technical assistance, on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary issues in child maltreatment to MDT members and professionals.  He was formerly the Training Director for the University of Oklahoma Problematic Sexual Behavior Training/Technical Assistance Program and the National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youth.  He has extensive experience planning and providing training/technical assistance and presenting locally, nationally, and internationally, to professionals in child protection services, foster care, juvenile justice, law enforcement, schools, mental health agencies, and to the general community on the research and treatment of youth with problematic sexual behavior.  Mr. Widdifield is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has trained in several evidence-based treatments that address the impact of child maltreatment and trauma.  He is also a graduate of the Interdisciplinary Training Program in Child Abuse and Neglect at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. 

Katharine Carson, MSW – Community Development Planner

katharine.carson@occy.ok.gov | (405) 606-4903

Katharine Carson, MSW, is the Community Development Planner for the Freestanding Multidisciplinary Teams (FSMDT) Department at the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth in Oklahoma City, OK. She primarily coordinates and provides training on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary issues in child maltreatment and, also provides technical assistance to MDT members and other professionals across the state. Ms. Carson began her career as a child welfare worker at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and more recently worked as a parent support consultant for the Evolution Foundation, which is a state contractor with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She has traveled the state extensively working with community teams to support Oklahoma Systems of Care; planned and implemented pieces of training on a variety of topics related to families with complex trauma histories, foster care, and professional self-care; and created and facilitated support groups for foster parents in multiple communities. Ms. Carson is a certified trainer for the evidence-based suicide prevention model, Question, Persuade, and Refer, and a member of the Partnering with Youth and Families Committee at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress Network. Ms. Carson is a graduate of the Interdisciplinary Training Program in Child Abuse and Neglect at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.