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UW Oshkosh CCDET Caregiver Project Staff Biographies

Laurie Arkens, is a Professional Consultant who joined the UW Oshkosh CCDET team in August 2021. Prior to this, Laurie began working for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in 1990 where she spent her entire career until she retired in 2019. During her years in state service, Laurie worked in several positions beginning as a Health Services Surveyor in the Northeast region where she determined compliance with state rules and conducted investigation of complaints in Family Day Cares, Shelter Cares and Assisted Living Facilities. After this, Laurie worked as a consultant in the Division of Quality Assurance for the Bureau of Assisted Living and Bureau of Health and Community Services. During this time, she was responsible for responding to questions from providers and consumers as well as training of new surveyor staff within these Bureaus. Laurie then became the Regional Director for the Bureau of Assisted Living in the Northeast region where she was responsible for the regulatory oversight of Community Based Residential Facilities, Adult Family Homes, Residential Care Apartment Complexes, and Adult Day Care Services, as well as the supervision of support and survey staff.

Laurie completed her work in state service as the Director for the Office of Caregiver Quality within the Division of Quality Assurance where she was responsible for the administration of the Background Check and Misconduct Investigation Program (formerly Wisconsin Caregiver Program) and had statewide oversight of misconduct investigations, the maintenance of the Misconduct Registry, caregiver background checks of license holders of regulated facilities, and the administration of both federal and state nurse aide training and testing requirements. Laurie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education, Kindergarten through grade 5 and Elementary Education grades 1 through 8.

Donna Cochems, is a professional consultant who joined the UW Oshkosh CCDET team in 2005 after her retirement from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Donna worked in economic support and human services for over 20 years at the county and state levels. Until her retirement, she served as a senior manager in the current Office of Caregiver Quality, overseeing administration of the Wisconsin Caregiver Program with statewide oversight of caregiver misconduct investigations, the maintenance of the Caregiver Misconduct Registry, caregiver background checks of license holders of regulated facilities, and the administration of both federal and state nurse aide training and testing requirements. During her time at CCDET, Donna has developed curriculum and served as lead workshop facilitator of Wisconsin’s Caregiver Abuse and Neglect Prevention Project; collaborated on the CBRF 83.20 training program for Wisconsin caregivers and led the development and implementation of over 20 hours of online training associated with the DHS Dementia-Capable Wisconsin project. She attended the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Shari Klessig is a professional consultant with the project who joined the UW Oshkosh CCDET team in January 2022 after her retirement from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in 2021. Shari has a degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology and worked in human services for over 30 years. She served as the Deputy Administrator of the DHS Division of Quality Assurance for 10 years; prior to that she was a policy analyst and the Director of the Office of Caregiver Quality during which time she was responsible for the administration of the Wisconsin Caregiver Program and had statewide oversight of caregiver misconduct investigations, the maintenance of the Caregiver Misconduct Registry, caregiver background checks of license holders of regulated facilities, and the administration of both federal and state nurse aide training and testing requirements. Her prior work experience includes loss prevention, employment and training services and welfare reform policy. In all her roles, Shari has drafted policy and program manuals, crafted presentations and provided training to a variety of audiences. She participates in several substance use disorder awareness organizations in memory of her son.

Gay Pustaver, is a professional consultant with the project and has been a trainer for UW Oshkosh CCDET since 1996, covering a wide variety of topics for W-2 workers, child support workers and caregivers. Her personal experience with caregivers includes her mother's 13-year residence in a nursing home, eventually succumbing to Alzheimer's disease. She has a BS and MA in Sociology from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. She is also a certified Custody Mediator and has served Door County, WI since 1997. In addition, Gay recently retired as Executive Director of a non-profit budget and credit counseling agency and is a certified consumer credit counselor, housing counselor and student loan debt counselor. She has facilitated Caregiver and Dementia-related trainings since 1999.

 
 
 

Project Partners

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh CCDET

Wisconsin Department of Health Services

 

 
 
   

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