Ed McKenna, Interviewer
Ed has been a member of The Pennsylvania System of Care Partnership and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center since 2012 and has been working in the Mental Health field for the last 17 years since retiring from his career as an Executive in the Staffing Industry for over 25 years.
He was born in Newtown Square in Delaware County Pennsylvania and spent most of his adult life in West Chester in Chester County, PA where he has raised his 4 children. Ed currently resides in Downingtown, PA in Chester County with his 2 adopted children, Natalie (20) and Jordan (18). Ed also has two birth daughters, Sheila (33) and Meghan (36) and 4 grandsons ages 6 through 15.
Ed has had his own personal experiences with the mental health system due to the special needs of his adopted children and his oldest grandson who was diagnosed with Autism. He has spent much of the last 17 years navigating the MH/IDD and Educational Systems for his children, but Ed has also been an advocate for families requiring help in these same areas.
Along with conducting interviews in several counties in the eastern half of PA for the System of Care, Ed also serves as a Hearing Officer for nearly half of the state, presiding over grievances filed by families regarding their MH/IDD benefits. Throughout these last 17 years, Ed brings with him significant knowledge that can be a great help to families as they begin their journey in this sometimes-confusing field of Mental Health. He has conducted dozens of interviews and prides himself on being very flexible to accommodate each family’s timetable and has a keen awareness of what a family is going through during these, sometimes, very trying and difficult times.
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