Leanne C. Barrett
Senior Policy Analyst
lbarrett@rikidscount.org
Leanne is responsibe for early learning and early childhood development policy statewide. She is the coordinator of the Rhode Island Early Learning Council and co-wrote the state’s winning Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant application. She is a state leader in the early learning field, having spearheaded the development of BrightStars, the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System, staffed the state’s Pre-K Exploration and Design Committees, and played a central role in bringing the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood workforce development program to Rhode Island. She is the Project Director for the Rhode Island’s Evidence-Based Home Visiting grant and serves on the state’s Child Care Commission and Successful Start Steering Committee. Prior to joining Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, Leanne was Vice President and Director of Community Initiatives at United Way of Rhode Island and a national program manager for the American Business Collaboration for Quality Dependent Care at Work/Family Directions, Inc. She has a bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology from Brown University and a master’s degree in child and family policy from Tufts University.

Jill K. Beckwith, MPH
Senior Policy Analyst
jbeckwith@rikidscount.org
Jill is responsible for advocacy and policy analysis focused on a broad range of children’s health issues, including health insurance coverage and access to mental health and oral health care services for children enrolled in RIte Care. Most recently, Jill managed the Dental Care Access Initiative, a component of the Rhode Island Oral Health Access Project. Previously, she was the Director of Prevention at AIDS Project Rhode Island, Assistant Director at the Massachusetts Prevention Center in Cambridge, MA, and Associate Director of the Measurable Enhancement of the Status of Health (MESH) Initiative at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network in Allentown, PA. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Masters in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

John Neubauer, MSW, LICSW
Policy Analyst
jneubauer@rikidscount.org
John is responsible for child welfare and juvenile justice policy at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT and is the Rhode Island coordinator for the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), a juvenile justice reform effort sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Most recently, John worked as a Clinical Social Worker at Ocean Tides, a residential facility for adjudicated adolescent males, where he provided counseling to residents and their families. Previously, John was a supervisor at SKIP of New York, an agency that coordinates medical services for children with disabilities enrolled in a New York state Medicaid program. John has a Masters of Social Work from Rhode Island College and a Bachelors of Social Work from Providence College. He is also a licensed clinical social worker.