Volunteer Advisory Board Representatives

DE BEST is a part of the RespondDE Medical Reserve Corps Advisory Board. DE BEST Program Manager serves as DE BEST’s Advisory Board Representative. DE BEST Volunteers elect a RespondDE Delaware Behavioral and Emotional Support Team (DE BEST) Volunteer Advisory Board Representative every two years. RespondDE Advisory Board meetings are held quarterly on the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. virtually and/or at the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill: Planning and Operations Conference Room, 100 Sunnyside Road Smyrna, DE 19977.

 

 In addition to the RespondDE Advisory Board, DE BEST Volunteers have a volunteer-led and volunteer-attended DE BEST Committee that meets every second month.

DE BEST Volunteer leadership positions are elected by a vote of the DE BEST team to serve a (2) year term, with no more than two (2) consecutive terms permitted. If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else for a leadership position, please email us at DelawareBEST@gmail.com

DE BEST Volunteers voted 2024 for the following DE BEST Volunteer Leadership positions:

Anthony Policastro

RespondDE BEST Volunteer Advisory Board Representative and Chair DE BEST Committee

I have been a member of both Respond DE and DE Best for approximately 18 months. I have lived in Sussex County since my retirement from the Air Force in 1995. I am a Board Certified Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician. Therefore, my background is in dealing with behavioral issues in children. I have served on the Boards of both the La Red Health Center and Easter Seals in Sussex County in the past. I have had a variety of leadership roles over the years. I was an Air Force Hospital Commanding Officer for 9 of my 20 years on Active Duty. I came to Delaware as the Medical Director at Nanticoke Hospital in Seaford. I am currently serving as the Faithful Navigator (President) of the Sussex County Knights of Columbus.

Jim Deel

Co-Chair DE BEST Committee

Jim Deel is employed by the Guardian Program and previously by Partners in Public Safety Solutions, grant funded positions with the Georgetown and Smyrna Police Departments respectively. In these positions, Jim serves as a clinician utilizing the co-responder model with law enforcement to engage, assess and offer treatment resources to those with mental health, substance use, homelessness and human trafficking concerns in the community. Jim is Mental Health Screener certified by the State of Delaware. Lastly, Jim has conducted over 150 hours of combined professional presentations addressing disaster mental health, mental illness and or de- escalation techniques during a crisis in following settings: Sussex County, Delaware Emergency Medical Services; Kent, New Castle and Sussex Counties, Delaware Court staff; Delaware Probation and Parole; Delaware Justice of the Peace Court Judges; Delaware Code Purple; National Alliance on Mental Illness, Crisis Intervention Team training for law enforcement and Delaware Department of Corrections; Delaware Division of Public Health Office Of Preparedness; RespondDE (formerly Delaware Medical Reserve Corp), D.E.B.E.S.T. Delaware Behavioral Emotional Support Team

Nadiyah Fisher

Volunteer Engagement Team Lead

I am a 2023 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Psychology, in hopes of becoming a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. As a long-time advocate for mental health awareness and education in youth in Delaware and in Pittsburgh, I had the pleasure of engaging in scientific research at my alma mater. I served as an Undergraduate Researcher for the Youth and Family Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh. I had the honor of serving on three studies that have allowed me to engage in cutting-edge ADHD research, publish a large-scale meta-analysis and research review of over 16,000 manuscripts in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and submit a manuscript for publication to the Journal of Developmental Psychobiology and Journal of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Lastly, I have served on the DE BEST team since 2020 engaging in multiple dispatches, resource distribution and mental health training events across the state of Delaware.