Liberty Executive Team
Dr. Farrell Weiers, PhD, BCBA
Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Dr. Weiers is a Child and Adolescent Psychologist, licensed in the state of Missouri, who has spent the last 35 years working with families and children. In her private practice, Behavioral Solutions, she specializes in psychological evaluations and therapy for children ages 2 – 19. She additionally runs a non-profit organization called Hand in Hand Foundation. In her free time, Dr. Weiers enjoys spending time with her husband, Marty, and five children. Family First Center for Autism and Child Development is her brainchild and passion.
Chelsey Reel, BCBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Chelsey Reel is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) for the Liberty office. She has been with Family First since June 2016. Chelsey graduated with a Master of Arts in Behavioral Analysis Practice from Florida Institute of Technology. In her free time, Chelsey enjoys spending time with her pets, reading, and painting.
Lilian Andrade, BCBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Lily has been with Family First since December 2018. She is an alumni from Florida Institution of Technology, Concordia University Chicago, Missouri Valley College and East Los Angeles community college. Lily became a BCBA in June 2022. In her free time, she enjoys nature and disc golf.
Laken Reel, BCBA
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Laken has been with Family first since January 2017. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Behavior Analysis Practice from Florida Institute of Technology. Laken enjoys spending time with loved ones, reading books, trying new restaurants, and cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kate Arthur, BCaBA
Lead Registered Behavior Technician
Kate has been with Family First since June 2022. Kate graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Missouri Western State University. Kate enjoys swimming laps, playing with her dog, and having debates with close friends.
Liberty Leadership Team
Kirsten Arno, RBT
Office Administrator & Lead Registered Behavior Technician
Kirsten has been with Family First Since May 2020. She has a B.A. in Social Work from Park University. Kirsten is always seen smiling at the front desk when you walk into the LB office! She loves to bake cakes and pastries. Kirsten also enjoys spending time at coffee shops and binge-watching Marvel movies.
Nicholas Sprague, RBT
Lead Registered Behavior Technician
Nick has been with Family First since February 2022. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing with his dogs, and watching movies.
Alex Stout, RBT
Lead Registered Behavior Technician
Alex has been with Family First since April 2022. She has a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Business from William Jewell College. Alex enjoys spending time with friends and family.
Emily Johnson, RBT
Lead Registered Behavior Technician & BLS Instructor
Emily has been with Family First since January 2023. She has her Master's in Child Life from Texas Woman's University. Emily enjoys reading and has a big green thumb. Emily is also our BLS instructor!
Meredith Weiers, RBT
Lead Registered Behavior Technician
Meredith started with Family First in May 2019. She graduated with a B.A. in Education Studies and Special Education from Kansas State University. She is currently working on her Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology. Meredith works in both the Liberty and Manhattan centers. When she is not traveling between centers, Meredith enjoys spending time with family, binging Netflix, and being outside.
Kayla Briar, RBT
Lead Registered Behavior Technician
Kayla has been with Family First since March 2023. Kayla enjoys the outdoors, going to art museums, and hanging out with friends!
Liberty Registered Behavioral Specialists
Hailey Tretter, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Hailey has been with Family First since November 2022. In her free time, Hailey enjoys touring and swimming at the lake. She also loves hanging out with friends in the park!
Kuri Soto, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Kuri has been working with Family First since April 2023. Kuri is currently working on his B.S. in Biology from the University of Missouri- Kansas City. In his free time, Kuri enjoys watching sports and spending time with family.
Brittany Watkins, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Brittany started with Family First in December 2023. Along with a Registered Behavior Technician certification, she also has a certification in Nursing Assistance.
Kaylynn Perks, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Kaylynn started with Family First in October 2023. She enjoys hanging out with family and friends. She also loves being outside, enjoying warm weather!
Madison Maucelli, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Madison started with Family First in July 2023. She enjoys driving around with friends, listening to music, and being outside.
Samuel Hatzfeld, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Samuel started with Family First in January 2024. Samuel has been an MMA fighter for 14 years and he loves to play disc golf. He is very passionate about helping people reach their full potential and he is going to school to do research in mental health treatments! He also enjoys reading textbooks and is always onto the next project or subject to study!
Jahlah Baum, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Jahlah started with Family First in March 2024. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with family and friends. She also enjoys working out!
Whitney McBeth, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Whitney started with Family First in April 2024. She has a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Sociology. She enjoys spending time with family, reading, researching, and gardening.
Liv McCune, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Liv started with Family First in June 2024. In her free time she enjoys, kniting, crocheting, sewing and quilting. As well as reading and playing video games.
Crystal Clark, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Crystal started with Family First in November of 2024. She enjoys spending time with her daughters, playing with her German Sheppard, Lab and mini Dalmation!
Marina Funk, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Serenity Hanson, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Serenity started with Family First in September 2024. She enjoys reading, painting and being outdoors.
Emily Stephens, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Emily started with Family First in August 2024. She enjoys spending time with her dog, her boyfriend and son as well as playing the guitar, piano, violin and banjo!
Ally Cadue, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Ally started with Family First in September 2023. She is currently working on her A.A. in Criminal Justice from Metropolitan Community College. She enjoys promoting SkillsUSA to provide a pathway for students in career and technical education to be world-class workers by the time they graduate.
Daisy Ancha, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Daisy started with Family First in January 2024. Daisy has a Bachelor of Health Science from Auckland University of Technology. Daisy enjoys reading, poetry and photography. In New Zealand, she did a lot of hiking and fishing. She also likes learning different languages!
Becky Hartman, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Becky started with Family First in February 2024. In her spare time, Becky can be found chasing after her 6 kids at home, listening to an audiobook with her husband, getting begged to join a game of Fortnite with her kids, playing a board game, or taking pictures.
Emma Duvall, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Emma started with Family First in May 2024. She enjoys spending time with friends and family. She also likes to play outside with her son and go down to the lake on the weekends!
Krista Steele, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Krista started with Family First in June of 2024. Krista is currently obtaining her B.S. and nursing, with a minor in public health at UMKC. In her free time, she loves to read and be with friends and family.
Jacob Wilson, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Jacob started with Family First in November 2024. Jacob is currently enrolled at Northwest Missouri State University majoring in music education (instrumental). In his free time, he enjoys playing boardgames and cooking!
Maggee Steele, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Maggee started with Family First in October 2024. Maggee is currently enrolled at UMKC working towards her Bachelors, majoring in Psychology!
Summer Moon, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Summer started with Family First in August 2024. She enjoys spending time with family and doing aerial yoga.
Hali Shields, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Hali started with Family First in December 2023. Hali enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, being outdoors, spending time with her family and friends, and being a mom is her favorite thing in the world!
Mallory Trager, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Mallory started with Family First in January 2024. In her free time, Mallory can be found playing with her dog, Deuce, working on crafts, or binging tv shows. She also enjoys fishing and hanging out with friends and family.
Jaclyn Woods, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Jaclyn started with Family First in April 2024.
Grace Cooper, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Grace started with Family First in June 2024. She is currently going to Maple Woods Community College to get her A.A. Then she is going to pursue a B.A. in Psychology. She enjoys painting, drawing, and playing with her cat Cheeto!
Morgan Roach, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Morgan started with Family First in July 2024.
Anahi Ocon, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Tot started with Family First in February 2023. She enjoys spending time with family and doing arts & crafts.
Kiersten Ridout, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Kiersten started with Family First in October 2024. She is currently enrolled at MCC-Maplewood working towards her associates degree. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching T.V shows and movies.
Owen Pickering, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Owen started with Family First in September 2024. Owen is currently enrolled at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary working towards his Master of Divinity, he is expected to graduate in May of 2027. In his free time, Owen enjoys working out, swimming, cooking and watching sports!
Alyssa Meredith, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Alyssa started with Family First in December 2023. Alyssa has a B.A. in Business with a minor in Psychology. She enjoys spending time with family and her animals. She also likes being outdoors.
Farah Burgess, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Farah started with Family First in February 2024. Farah has a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Family & Child Development. She enjoys doing all things outdoors with her family and friends and participating in water sports.
Wesley Atkinson-Smith, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Wesley started with Family First in April 2024. Wesley is currently working on his B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. He enjoys watching and practicing MMA, playing video games, and hanging out with friends. He also enjoys nature, photography, and spending time with family.
Erin Morgan, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Erin started with Family First in June 2024. She enjoys spending time with her two cats, reading, and watching spooky movies! She is a theatre major and studied clown and comedy at UMKC’s Conservatory of art!
Toteona Smith, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Tot started with Family First in July 2024. She enjoys being at home with her dogs, cats and ferrets. In her free time she enjoys crocheting or playing games with family.
Jessica Cooper, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Jessica started with Family First in August 2024. She enjoys learning, hiking, traveling & making memories with family and friends!
Monica Lanier, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Monica started with Family First in September 2024. She enjoys reading, writing and spending time with family and friends.
Thaddeus Tucker, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Thaddeus started with Family First in November 2024. Thaddeus is currently enrolled at William Jewel working towards his Bachelors degree, majoring in Biology. In his free time, he enjoys reading psychology and philosophy books, spending time in nature and traveling.
Assistant Director
Cindy Loelkes
Assistant Director
Cindy has been with Family First since July 2011. She is the Assistant Director for all four locations and is primarily based in the Kansas City office. Cindy has been working with individuals with autism since 1987. In her free time, Cindy enjoys spending time with her family, reading, camping, traveling, and watching the KC Chiefs. Cindy has a wonderful husband and three amazing children – two of whom are on the autism spectrum. Working at Family First is the perfect meld of her personal and professional experience, which makes her super motivated to make Family First be the very best in the region!
Speech Therapist
Julie Wallis, SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Julie has been with Family First since summer 2018. She is the Speech Language Pathologist for the Kansas City and Liberty locations. Julie has a Master of Science in Speech Pathology from the University of Central Missouri (formerly Central Missouri State University) in 1983. She has been working with individuals with autism since 1984. Julie is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and Missouri Speech-Language-Hearing Association. In her free time, Julie enjoys working with the Platte County Historical Society.
Billing Specialist
Rachel Papera
Billing Specialist
Rachel has been with Family First since May 2017. She is the billing specialist for all four locations and is based out of Omaha, Nebraska. In her free time, Rachel enjoys working in her yard. If you have any questions regarding exact payment costs for ABA therapy, speech, or billing, please contact her via email: rpapera@familyfirstkc.com