Scott J. Modell received his Ph.D. from the College of Education at Florida State University in 1997. Dr. Modell is Co-Founder of Collaborative Safety, LLC. From 2013 to 2016, he served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services. He has also served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Prior to moving to Tennessee, Dr. Modell spent fifteen years as a Professor at California State University, Sacramento. Over his last five years at the university, he additionally served as Director of the university’s Autism Center for Excellence. He has authored nine books and has over 300 published articles and abstracts. Dr. Modell has been a leading advocate for applying human factors and system safety principles to human service agencies. Specifically, he has supported the development of a widespread culture of safety that has increased the quality of work for his staff and improved outcomes for those they served. Notably, Dr. Modell supported the development of safety management systems, which are recognized as the first of their kind in the field of Child Welfare. Dr. Modell and his colleagues were referred to as pioneers in safety science by the Federal Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. Dr. Modell is a nationally recognized speaker in the areas of child abuse, crime victims with disabilities and the application of safety science to human services agencies. He has conducted workshops and trainings reaching thousands of police officers, educators, child protective service and adult protective service professionals across the country.