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PROJECT STAFF Founder Director
Project Consultants
Technical
Assistance Consultants
Project Evaluator
Program Administration
Staff Bios
Pat Reynolds-Harris Ms. Reynolds-Harris retired as a program officer at the Stuart Foundation in April 2003 after nine years of managing the grantmaking in the program area of Strengthening the Child Welfare System. 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. Ms. Reynolds-Harris has been working in child welfare and related fields for over forty years. She was consecutively director of the public child welfare agency and the director of community health services in San Francisco County. In January 2003, she founded the California Permanency for Youth Project (CPYP), which is supported by the Stuart Foundation, the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, Casey Family Programs, and the S.H. Cowell Foundation. CPYP is a project dedicated to the notion that no youth leaves the child welfare system without a permanent lifelong connection with a caring adult. Ms. Reynolds-Harris retired from CPYP at the end of March 2007. As a result of her outstanding work in child welfare, Ms. Reynolds-Harris has received a number of awards. She was given an Adoption Excellence Award for 2004 by the federal Health and Human Services Department for her lifelong achievements and her work in youth permanency. She was an honoree at the Foster Care Month Capitol Event on May 3, 2005 for the work of CPYP in California. Most recently, she received the 2007 T. George Silcott Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Annual Conference of the Black Administrators in Child Welfare (BACW). This award goes to a person in the profession who has made an outstanding contribution in child welfare practice, policy development, training, and education through a long-time commitment to working in the field of child welfare or a related human service field.
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.
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.
Darla L. Henry Dr. Henry is co-founder of Family Design Resources, Inc., and is a Best Practice and Policy Specialist for the Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption Network. She received her PhD in social work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore. Her research has been on resilience in abused children. She received her Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan, and her Bachelor of Arts, in sociology, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Henry is a 30 year plus social work professional, having provided both public and private social services in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. Much of her work experience has been in the child welfare field, encompassing protective services, group care, community awareness, and more specifically, in recent years, issues of permanency for children in out-of-home care, related to foster care and adoption. She has also been a clinical social worker in private practice, working with individuals, couples, families, and groups. In addition, she has been a trainer and workshop presenter for a variety of topics, such as resilience in children, group counseling with resistive clients, foster to adoptive parenting, parenting skills, attachment and loss issues for children waiting for permanency, and preparing parents for adoption. Dr. Henry has been a keynote speaker for state conferences, and has presented papers in Australia and Washington, D.C. |
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