Meet The Team
Frank Menhams
Frank Menhams has embraced rural living since moving to Shasta County in 1995 and then relocating to Mendocino County in 2010. As a Regional Center Service Coordinator in both Butte and Mendocino Counties, Frank has seen firsthand the difficulties rural families face when seeking access to services, education and socialization.
He was raised by a Venezuelan mother and has an inherent understanding of Latino culture which he uses to guide his work within the Hispanic community. Frank is passionate about making sure his clients have the best quality of life possible and believes that all individuals have the right to personal growth and happiness. He helps his clients find this by creating social networks and deepening their own understanding of what brings them joy.
Frank’s background is both service coordination and supervision of service providers. He has been working with at-risk adolescents since 1992 and individuals with Developmental Disabilities since 2004. His experience has included working with severely emotionally-disturbed adolescents, counseling at-risk adolescents and young adults, working closely with families to find appropriate schools for at-risk youth, and working as a Service Coordinator for both Far Northern and Redwood Coast Regional Centers.
Frank has served as an Adjunct Professor for Shasta College and Prescott College. He has served as a Disability Rights Advocate on the Community Action Committee (CAC) since 2016, and has worked with hIs local SELPA in communicating with state legislators. In addition, Frank is currently pursuing training in Youth Resiliency and the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) assessment. He has a special focus in Autism, transitioning adolescents to independent living, family systems and family counseling.
Cynthia Coupe
Cynthia CoupeĢ has been a Speech-Language Pathologist since 2004. She obtained a double BA from San Francisco State University in Recreation and Leisure Studies as well as Communicative Disorders. Cynthia obtained her MA in Speech Pathology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, graduating top of her class.
As a Speech Language Pathologist, Cynthia strongly believes that supporting the primary caregivers (families) and educating those who support the families (teachers, paraprofessionals, home aides, etc) is the key to individual success. Parent education and teacher training is the foundation for advocacy, which is essential for bettering the lives of all students, regardless of ability level.
Language acquisition is not something that is an isolated experience. A child that is in therapy 60 minutes a week, working in isolation with an SLP will make very little progress compared to a child who works with teachers, parents and paraprofessionals who all understand language development and how to provide learning opportunities for language across the day (not only students who need specific speech and language support).
In empowering parents and caregivers to help serve their loved ones with special needs, Cynthia envisions a community that is easily connected to the larger picture and where families and caregivers of individuals with alternative abilities feel empowered to provide for their loved ones.
Cynthia has special interest and expertise in early intervention, parent education, behavioral management, AAC, teletherapy, autism and neurodiversity. She takes a fun-natured approach to therapy and coaching, naturally infusing her background in recreation studies to provide a delivery that is motivating and original.
