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PROJECT STAFF Founder Director
Project Consultants
Project Evaluator
Program Administration
Staff Bios
Pat Reynolds-Harris Pat Reynolds-Harris retired as Founding Director of the California Permanency for Youth Project in April 2007. She is currently working as the Co-Chair of the California Disproportionality Project and as a permanency consultant for Family to Family. Her experience includes Deputy Director for Child Welfare in San Francisco County, Program Officer for Child Welfare at the Stuart Foundation, and Executive Director of the Black Adoption Placement and Research Center. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, her Masters in Social Work from the University of Chicago, and her Masters in Public Health from Harvard University. Her previous community activities have included California Stakeholders, National Black Social Workers (of whom she is a founder), the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children and Foster Care, and the California Permanency for Youth Task Force. She is currently on the California Child Welfare Council and serves as co-chair of the Permanency Committee of the Council; she is also Vice President of the California CASA Board. Ms. Reynolds-Harris received an Adoptions Excellence Award in 2004 from the federal Health and Human Services Department and the T. George Silcott Lifetime Achievement Award from Black Administrators of Child Welfare in 2007.
Robert Friend Mr. Friend has worked in the field of child welfare for over 25 years. He is a graduate from Rutgers University and the Masters in Social Welfare program at the University of California. His varied work experiences in the field include: direct line worker and manager in residential treatment; a family reunification worker for Alameda County Social Services; a social worker and manager for Casey Family Programs; and most recently as the Assistant Regional Director for Aspira. Mr. Friend's primary areas of focus have been practice improvement, and initiatives that promote permanence and economic independence/self-sufficiency for foster children. Mr. Friend is a member of the California Co-Investment Partnership, Advisory Committee and Permanency Subcommittee; and the California Child Welfare Council, Permanency Subcommittee. He is a Commissioner on the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care, and is State Team Co-Chair on the Breakthrough Series Collaborative to transform Independent Living programs in California.
Mardith J. Louisell A consultant, supervisory training and curriculum specialist in child welfare and cultural competency, Ms. Louisell, MSW, MA, has worked in the field for thirty years as a child protection social worker, a child welfare supervisor, and a training director in a large metropolitan county. Ms. Louisell managed the California Regional Child Welfare Training Academies Project at the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC), UC Berkeley, during which time she developed, implemented and supported the regional child welfare training academies. In that position, she also developed and hosted the first National Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium. Since 1999, she has consulted in child welfare, designed curriculum, written position papers, and facilitated workgroups and consultation groups. In 2001 she began working with Stuart Foundation on youth permanence initiatives and, in 2002, 2003, and 2004, she organized the National Youth Permanency Convenings in San Francisco under the auspices of the California Permanency for Youth Project. Ms. Louisell is also a book reviewer, editor and essayist.
Cheryl Jacobson Ms. Jacobson received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Denver. She was employed by the Colorado Department of Human Services for twenty-five years. Prior to state employment she directed a Women's Resource center and developed programs for displaced homemakers, sexual harassment victims, and career programs for women and unemployed welfare clients. She also worked as a caseworker in adoptions, child protection, and independent living. She has also worked in the private sector and owned and managed an artificial insemination business and a Black Angus cattle business. In 1993 she began consulting with various states and private agencies regarding the Adolescent Connections Permanency Model that she developed while employed by the Colorado Department of Human Services. She participated in the Permanency for Older Youth Expert Meeting in St. Louis in June 2004 and presented at the National Convening on Youth Permanence in San Francisco in April 2004. After retiring from the Colorado Child Welfare Division where she assisted county departments in foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention efforts, she contracted with them to develop the Colorado Heart Gallery, based on the New Mexico Heart Gallery. A Gala Kick-Off was held April 29, 2005 and the Gallery is currently being shown statewide at various museums, events, and community sites. Ms. Jacobson moved from Denver, Colorado, to consult with CPYP in June, 2005.
Craig Evans Mr. Evans received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Managerial Economics from the University of California at Davis over twenty years ago. The emphasis of study was in economics, statistics and business related courses. After several years working in real estate finance and development, Mr. Evans began his transition to the non-profit sector through volunteer work at a group home and as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate). He was a CASA for more than a decade. After working for more than two years as a grant writer and program data analyst for a local non-profit agency, Mr. Evans has spent roughly the past ten years focusing exclusively on the child welfare system. Mr. Evans worked for four years as a Program Associate in the Strengthening the Child Welfare System program area at the Stuart Foundation and has been the Project Evaluator for the California Permanency for Youth Project since 2004. A few years ago Mr. Evans completed Claremont Graduate University's "Certificate of Advanced Study in Evaluation" program. |
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