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.
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 is currently enrolled in college at Kansas State University and is working on a Bachelor's in Elementary Education and a Minor in Special Education. She enjoys hiking, camping, and hanging out with friends and family.
Kate Arthur, RBT
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 Registered Behavioral Specialists
Kaitlyn Minet, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Kaitlyn has been with Family First since March 2022. She has a B.A. in Psychology and Human Services. Kaitlyn enjoys reading, painting, and going out for coffee with friends.
Baylie Edwards Van Pelt, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician & Social Media/ Website Manager
Baylie has been with Family First since August 2022. Baylie has a A.A. and B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Racial, Ethnic & Gender Studies, and is currently working on her Psy.D in Clinical Psychology. Baylie enjoys playing with her dogs, painting, and playing piano. Baylie helps run all of our social media accounts and our website!
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!
Anahi Ocon, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Anahi has been working with Family First since March 2023. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family and doing arts and crafts.
Kayla Briar, RBT
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
Gabriel Leonardo, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Gabe started with Family First in February 2024. Gabe is currently working towards his B.A. in Psychology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He enjoys serving as an officer for student organizations such as Asian students in America and Kappa Sigma Fraternity- Upsilon- Psi Chapter.
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.
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!
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.
Jaclyn Woods, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Jaclyn started with Family First in April 2024.
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.
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.
Josilyn Courtney, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Josilyn started with Family First in May 2024. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her Aussie and Corgi, and coloring or gaming with her husband.
Emma Duvall, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Emma started with Family First in May 2024.
Elaina Pineda, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Elaina started with Family First in May 2024. She has her Bachelor's in Biology from ASU. She enjoys reading, playing with her cat, and being outside.
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!
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!
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.
Catie Tejeda, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Catie started with Family First in May 2023. She enjoys playing guitar, working out, and watching suspense movies. She is currently working on her Health Science B.S. with a minor in Psychology.
Ella Palmet, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Ella started with Family First in June 2023. She enjoys spending time with friends and family, creative activities, and shopping. She is currently working on her B.A. in Psychology and English.
Quinn Weakley, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Quinn started with Family First in May 2023. Quinn has her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Sports Psychology. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing and watching sports, and she loves coffee!
Lizzy Elizondo, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Lizzy started with Family First in June 2024. She is from Dallas, Texas and loves true crime, shopping, cooking, thrifting and spending time with friends.
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.
Michelle Ramirez, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Michelle started with Family First in July 2024.
Morgan Roach, RBT
Registered Behavior Technician
Morgan started with Family First in July 2024.
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