About Our Trainers

Ann Ahlquist

Ann is a consultant, trainer and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota Graduate School of Social Work, formerly directing the University's Child Abuse Prevention Graduate Program. She is known world-wide for developing forensic Cognitive Graphic methods of interviewing children or adults who may be victims of child maltreatment, particularly sexual abuse, family violence or other trauma. She has trained over 20,000 multidisciplinary professionals, throughout the United States and international sites primarily in law enforcement, juvenile justice, child protection and child welfare.

Gladis Benavides

Gladis is a citizen of the world, as she was educated in France, Peru and the United States. Living in many different cultures and being multilingual has added to her understanding of the possibilities and the difficulties associated with diversity. Gladis communicates profound insights into global multiculturalism in an easy and accessible manner. She is recognized as an expert in Civil Rights Compliance and Affirmative Action, and has been the responsible manager for these areas in both the public sector and corporate America. As a consultant, she has a wide breadth of experience in providing advice and counsel to national and international clients in a variety of industries. Gladis has been involved in the development of training and technical assistance programs in response to labor, market and community needs and characteristics, which are present in most American cities, particularly in urban environments.

Reggie Bicha

Reggie Bicha, M.S.W., is the Director of Pierce County Department of Human Services. He was Supervisor of the Children and Family Services Unit at Monroe County Department of Human Services, for several years, and a child protective services and juvenile justice social worker. Reggie attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a Child Welfare Scholar. He and his family were foster caregivers for La Crosse County Department of Human Services. He has been an adjunct faculty member at Viterbo University, and is an experienced trainer for the Western Wisconsin Partnership training program.

Cornelius Bird

Cornelius is a senior consultant with the Child Welfare Group with thirty years of training/management and organization development experience in human services. Cornelius is responsible for the design and delivery of family centered strengths/needs-based system change strategies using the child and family team process. He has teamed on implementing system wide reform efforts using the child and family team process in Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida, Utah, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming and with the Community Partnership for Protecting Children sites in Cedar Rapids, St. Louis, Louisville and Jacksonville. He served as project director for Western Washington University’s Children and Family Services Training Academy where he supervised new worker training and advanced training programs for child welfare personnel. He has also assisted in developing the Foster Parent Staff Development Institutes in Georgia. Additionally he served as a group facilitator at the Domestic Violence Resource Center’s Men Anger Control Program co authored the Guidelines for Facilitating Child and Family Team Meetings with Family with a History of Domestic Violence. He is also an evaluator of child welfare system using a qualitative system review process.

Melissa Blom

Melissa Blom has worked in the Child Protection Unit at Brown County Human Services since 1988, primarily with families whose children are in out of home care. Her work includes being a strong advocate for children and families, and for creating a team approach among social workers, foster parents and natural parents. Melissa has extensive training in the areas of Indian Child Welfare, and the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and was asked to present at the 2001 Judicial Conference on ASFA and permanency planning for children. Melissa has a BSW from the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay.

Jan Breidel

Jan Breidel, CICSW, MSW, is a child protective service consultant and trainer. She has served as the Child Protective Services Division Manager for Rock County Human Services where she was responsible for the leadership and direction of 75 staff. Jan was a Child Protective Services Planner for the Department of Health and Social Services for ten years. Her responsibilities there included developing and providing statewide training; providing organizational, practice and community development consultation to county social service managers; developing state policy, standards and legislative initiative; and serving as Wisconsin's liaison to federal officials on child abuse and neglect issues.

Norm Brickl

Norm Brickl was the Director of Sauk County Department of Human Services from 1987 until his retirement in 2003. He previously worked for Calumet County as Director for the Department of Human Services and as the Director for their Social Services Department. Also, Norm was an Alternate Care Supervisor for the La Crosse County Department of Human Services and worked for the State of Wisconsin Division of Family Services as a social worker. Norm attained his M.S.S.W. and a BA of Psychology at University of Wisconsin Madison.

Nan Brien

Before Nan retired as the Associate Director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, she was instrumental in directing the Council's activities as the lead state agency for the national I Am Your Child campaign, which promotes safe, healthy, and nurturing experiences and environments that foster optimal early childhood brain development for each and every child. The Council, in cooperation with other agencies, has developed a brochure, a parent educator manual, a TV series, training manuals with companion CD-ROMs, and a middle/high school curriculum as information pieces about early childhood brain development. In collaboration with the Departments of Health and Family Services, Public Instruction, and Workforce Development, Brien has conducted train-the-trainer programs for agency personnel from throughout the state. In addition to more than 800 presentations, she conducted extensive training for child welfare workers at the Milwaukee Bureau of Child Welfare and several other states. Brien has an undergraduate degree in biology and a master's degree in immunology.

Jonelle Brom

Division of Children and Family Services, Bureau of Programs and Policies

Peg Cadd

Peg is a trainer, mentor, and parent through foster care, adoption & birth. She and her husband Rick have been foster parents for over 25 years. Their family includes 11 amazing children (7 Adopted from foster care) & 4 beautiful grandchildren. Peg was the youngest foster parent in Waukesha County when her family started to foster teen girls and it's been a wild ride since. They have fostered many different children from medically fragile infants to teen moms and their babies. She believes in shared parenting and keeping contact with bio families. "It's amazing the outcomes for both the children and their bio families," says Peg. In addition to fostering Peg has had over 20 years in the early child field including Head Start. She firmly believes "That if we work together as a team, we can make a difference in the lives of "our" children."

Cheryl Callies

Cheryl has been a Program Evaluation Manager for the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (BMCW) for the past 6.5 years. Her major responsibilities have included contract and program development and monitoring, as well as evaluation and collaboration with partner agencies to improve outcomes in permanency, safety and well being of children. She has also developed and trained on various policies and procedures. At this time her primary assignments are working with the Safety Services (in home) program, the UWM Training Partnership for Professional Development and continued evaluations through a variety of department reviews. Prior to her work with BMCW she was an Intake Supervisor for Milwaukee County Juvenile Probation Department and has prior years of experience in juvenile probation, child welfare, residential treatment and foster care.

Emily Campbell

Most recently, Emily was employed as a Continuous Quality Improvement Specialist with the State of Wisconsin Department of Children and Families to perform comprehensive program reviews of county-based child welfare systems using the Quality Service Review protocol. Prior to her work with the state, she was employed for several years in child protective services, foster care, and residential care, including serving as an ongoing CPS social worker in Raleigh, North Carolina and a manager in secure accommodation for juveniles in Edinburgh Scotland. She has pursued her interests in international social work as a UW-Madison exchange student at the University of Linkoping in Sweden and in obtaining a Masters of Science degree in Health and Social Services at the London School of Economics. Emily has trained a variety of curriculum throughout the state to include Engagement, Interviewing, and Teaming in child welfare.

Mark Carey

Mark Carey served as the Deputy Commissioner of Community and Juvenile Services in the Minnesota Department of Corrections from 1999 to 2003. He was the Director of Dakota County Community Corrections and prior to that the Director of Dodge-Fillmore-Olmsted County Community Corrections. He served as the warden at the only state women’s prison in Minnesota, MCF-Shakopee, and is currently a full time trainer and consultant. He has over twenty years of experience in the correctional field serving as a counselor, probation/parole officer, planner, administrator, and consultant. He taught juvenile justice at the Community College in Rochester, Minnesota, and has published over a dozen articles and two books. He has served as President and Chair for a number of Associations and Task Forces, and frequently is requested as a speaker and trainer. He has been on the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) Board of Directors since 1997 and is currently the president-elect. In 1996 he received APPA’s Sam Houston University Award. In 1993, he was selected as the Corrections Person of the Year by the Minnesota Corrections Association.

Helen Jo Case

Helen Jo Case has worked in the field of child welfare for over 25 years and is presently the manager of the Child and Family Services Unit in Marinette County. She has specialized in sex offender assessment and treatment since 1992, providing group and individual treatment for adult sex offenders in six Wisconsin counties, under contract with the Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections. Helen Jo has also testified as an expert witness in sexual assault cases. She has a BSW from UW-Green Bay her MSW is from UW-Milwaukee. She is presently on the State steering committee for the "Comprehensive Approaches to Sex Offender Management" grant with the Department of Juvenile Corrections.

David Conrad

David Conrad is a clinical social worker with more than 30 years of experience in child welfare and child mental health. He is a Senior Instructor with JFK Partners/Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado. From 1995-2000, he was Director of Programs for the CIVITAS Child Trauma Program in Houston, Texas and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. David has conducted secondary trauma training for over 4,000 child protection caseworkers in 10 states.

Sally Cooper

Sally Cooper is the Assistant Director of the Institute for Human Services, and is a contributing staff member to NARCCW programs. She was formerly the co-founder and Executive Director of the National Assault Prevention Center (NAPC), a non-profit organization created to develop curricula, provide training, and conduct technical assistance for human services agencies and communities, to prevent child abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. Ms. Cooper has also worked for the Ohio Attorney General, where she was Chief of the Crime Victims Services Section, and Acting Chief of the Children's Protection Section. She is the author of New Strategies for Free Children which has been widely distributed throughout North America, and in Japan. Ms. Cooper is a specialist in child sexual abuse, community based strategic planning, and welfare reform. She has provided extensive training to professionals on topics related to child sexual abuse and sexual assault. She also trains on the topic of interagency and interdisciplinary collaboration. An expert facilitator, she designs and leads strategic change initiatives for a variety of child welfare, public human services, and other nonprofit organizations. Ms. Cooper was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1984, and is also a recipient of the YWCA Women of Achievement Award. She is a board member of the Ohio Chapter of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), and is a member of the national APSAC organization. She has served on numerous Governors' task forces on child abuse and family violence.

Ronald J. Diamond, M.D.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Diamond has been involved in the community-based treatment of persons with severe and persistent mental illness. He has taught and written on issues of staff training, ethics, staff roles, decreasing coercion, medication compliance, psychiatric administration and system design. For more than a decade, he has been interested in how to integrate concepts of recovery and cultural competence into day-to-day clinical practice. The Mental Health Center of Dane County, one of the core training sites for psychiatry residents, is a national model in community psychiatry providing culturally competent services to both children and adults. He has written two books on psychopharmacology designed for non-medical clinicians, consumers and family members. The second edition of his book, “Instant Psychopharmacology” was published Sept 2002. His latest book, “Treatment collaboration, improving the therapist, prescriber, client relationship” was published this year. He is currently Medical Director of the Mental Health Center of Dane County, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin and Consultant to the Wisconsin Bureau of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Sally Dine Fitch

Sally is a program coordinator at the Institute for Human Services in Ohio. She is a child sexual abuse specialist, providing national training and consultation concerning IHS's Sexual Abuse Series. Sally has over twenty years of diverse experience. As Assistant Director of Education and Training at Planned Parenthood she co-produced one of the first national videos on child sexual abuse prevention. She was primary therapist for a dual service agency, serving survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence. As Program Director of the National Assault Prevention Center, she coordinated the development, training and consultation of sexual abuse prevention programs nationally and internationally.

Frank Domurad

is Vice President of The Carey Group and a nationally recognized expert in Evidence-Based Practices (EBP). He has worked with numerous community and institutional correctional agencies at the Federal, state and local levels across the country to implement Evidence-Based Practices, including strategic planning, assessment, human resource development, program implementation and training.

Dawn Douglas-Mellom

Is a Senior Social Worker for the Dane County Department of Human Services. Over the past 20 years, she has worked in various capacities within the Children, Youth and Family Division. Experiences include Child Protective Services at the intake and ongoing level, Foster Care Licensing, Case Coordinator for wrap around (Children Come First) services and Delinquency case manager. Prior to that time, she worked in Child Protective Services, Foster Care and Crisis Intervention with Juneau County for 3 years. Dawn has been the Foster Care Trainer and Recruiter for Dane County the past 5 years. She has participated in the Foster Parent Training Committee for the Wisconsin Child Welfare Training Council and is on the advisory board for the Foster Care and Adoption Resource Center.

Wayne D. Duehn

Dr. Duehn joined the faculty in 1970. He is currently engaged in clinical research on sexually abusive parents and juvenile sex offenders. As a national lecturer and trainer, Dr. Duehn is also consultant to many institutions including The Casey Family Programs, National CASA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association, National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, and has conducted training for law enforcement personnel, schools, CASA staff/volunteers, and social service/mental health agencies throughout the United States. He earned his Master's degree in Social Work from Loyola University, Chicago, and holds a Ph.D. degree in Psychology and Social Work from Washington University, St. Louis. While in St. Louis, Dr. Duehn was a research associate at the Masters and Johnson Institute and has done post-doctoral work and taught at The University of Hawaii. He has written extensively in the area of clinical practice and has presented research findings at the International Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, Paris, France; the World Congress of Medical Sexology in Mexico City and Jerusalem; and the United Nations Conference Facilities in Vienna. He has conducted training seminars for Air Force, Navy and Army medical personnel in Germany, Guam, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Panama, and the Philippines. Dr. Duehn is co-author of Beyond Sexual Abuse: The Healing Power of Adoptive Families, which is an outgrowth of an ongoing educational program of the Three Rivers Adoption Council, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This project is designed to develop educational materials to assist adoptive families in parenting the sexually abused child. Most recently, Dr. Duehn developed a child abuse prevention program for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools which has been implemented world wide. Dr. Duehn is a cofounder of Praesidium, Inc., an abuse risk management firm for organizations. Dr. Duehn is a recognized authority and educator in the intervention and treatment of sexuall

Jeanne Ferguson

Jeanne is a Supervisor at Dane County Human Services and currently supervises intake through initial assessment in Madison. She has conducted many training sessions for Child and Family Services staff both locally and nationally on a variety of child welfare related topics. She assisted in implementing Family Group Decision Making Model in Dane County and has given workshops nationally about their work. Ms. Ferguson also teaches at UW-Madison, School of Social Work.

Jodi Flick

Jodi Flick, ACSW, LCSW, is a clinical instructor with the UNC-CH School of Social Work and a counselor with the Chapel Hill Police Department’s Crisis Unit. Ms. Flick has provided direct client services in out-patient and in-patient mental health, in emergency poverty relief services and in medical social work, with 25 years of clinical experience. She has been actively involved in volunteer work and community organization around social justice and service issues. In addition, Ms. Flick has considerable experience teaching at colleges, conferences and local organizations and is a dynamic trainer who engages the participants in the learning process.

Carolie Fox

Carolie Fox, MS, CSW, is the Child Protective Services Supervisor at the Marathon County Department of Social Services. Her 30 years of experience includes direct casework in all aspects of child welfare including court studies, foster care, parent education and child abuse investigations. She has been a supervisor in the family services area for 16 years. Carolie has been a presenter at the Annual State Child Abuse conference and has served on numerous state committees to enhance the child welfare system. Her BS is from UW-Stevens Point in Sociology, and her MS is from UW-Stout in Guidance and Counseling.

Debbie Gallimore

Debbie has worked in the field of adoption and foster care for 17 years. She is currently the Community Outreach Coordinator for NC Kids and works for the State Department of Social Services as a trainer. Debbie has worked as a foster parent trainer, case manager, and recruiter but credits most of her experience to her years as a licensed foster parent. For 10 years, Debbie and her family fostered children of all ages including several therapeutic placements through mental health. Debbie believes very strongly in working with birth families and ahs seen first hand the amazing benefits to the children. She shares her stories and her experience to help social workers, foster parents, as well as adoptive parents see that working as a village really is the best way to raise a child.

Eileen Gambrill

is the Hutto Patterson Professor of Child and Family Studies at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, where she teaches both research and practice. Her research interests include professional education and decision making, evidence-informed practice and the role of critical thinking within this and the ethics of helping. Publications include Social Work Practice: A critical thinker's guide (2nd ed., Oxford, 2006); Critical thinking in clinical practice (2nd Ed., Wiley, 2005); and Critical thinking for Helping professionals: A skills-based workbook (with Len Gibbs, 3rd Ed., Oxford, 2009). She has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford, England, Tel Aviv University, and the National Institute For Social Work, London, England. She was a Benjamin Meeker Fellow, University of Bristol, England, May-July, 1999.

Liz Ghilardi

Liz Ghilardi, MSW, LCSW is a Senior Social Worker at the Children's Hospital of WI, Child Protection Center and has been employed at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin since 1990. She has been with the Child Protection Center, working as a forensic interviewer, since its opening in 1992. She has completed over 1200 interviews of children regarding allegations of sexual abuse. Liz is also responsible for coordinating outside training done by CPC staff and provides training for outside professionals on issues of interviewing children and mandated reporting.

Norma Ginther

Norma received her Masters Degree in Social Work from the Ohio State University and has thirty years experience in working with public and private child welfare agencies. Norma has attained an international reputation as a trainer through the continental U.S., Canada, and Alaska.She is the co-author of the Separation and Placement Core. In addition to her work in Ohio, Norma has helped to establish training programs in ten other states.

Denise Goodman Ph.D.

is an independent trainer and consultant. Her professional career of 23 years has included experience as a youth leader, protective services caseworker, Residential Treatment Coordinator and foster parent. She is a member of the Family to Family Technical Assistance Team that works with agencies nationwide in recruitment, training, preparation, support and retention of caregivers. She develops curriculum for and trains social workers, supervisors and caregivers. Her publications include a chapter on adoption practice in the award winning Field Guide to Child Welfare.

Jodee Grailer

Al Guyant

Al Guyant is an award-winning trainer, speaker, author, facilitator, meeting moderator, media coach, and consumer affairs professional. He is a partner with Capital Communicators Group of Madison, Wisconsin, a training and consulting firm specializing in human communications and services. He is co-author of Manager's Tough Questions Answer Book and Beat The Press. Al has prepared line staff and CEOs for ’60 Minutes’, ‘Dateline’, and other tough-question formats. Al has handled more than 20,000 news media contacts and consumer complaints in his career. He has lectured for the UW-Madison, Michigan State Uni., Kansas Uni. and Texas A&M. Al Guyant has trained thousands of people from government agencies and private industry on thinking your feet, handling difficult people, public speaking, meeting management, quality improvement, writing skills, consumer negotiation and collaboration, and how to create successful news media relations. The attendees included company presidents, division managers, line staff, clerical assistants, politicians, accountants, tourism directors, and many others. Al has founded state and national organizations and consumer networks to improve customer service and program funding. He has organized large state and national consumer conferences and is often a featured speaker. He has more than 17 years experience in consumer affairs and public information with the Wis. Public Service Commission and other government agencies. Al has ten years experience as a newspaper reporter or editor with The Milwaukee Journal, Janesville Gazette and other news media.

Jerry Hamilton

Presenter and consultant from Midwest Center on Workforce and Family Development.

Amy Hansen

Amy is a consultant, trainer and long time foster and adoptive parent. She has been involved in Child welfare for over 15 years. Amy and her family fostered children of all ages including several therapeutic placements. Amy is a strong advocate for Shared Parenting-working with birth families. She firmly believes that practicing Shared Parenting is in the best interest of all involved, most importantly the child. She has had extensive training on Attachment, and believes that Shared Parenting and Attachment go hand in hand. She likes to provide a casual and fun training experience. She enjoys sharing her stories and her experience to help social workers, foster parents and adoptive parents get the most out of training. She is passionate about making sure that there is a positive outcome for all parties during their child welfare experience. As she likes to say, “It’s all for the kids.”

Howard Harrington

Howard Harrington has worked in child welfare social work for 26 years. He has experience in a variety of settings, including a group home, residential treatment, public child welfare, inpatient evaluation, and school social work in Ohio, Iowa, and most recently, Wisconsin. He is currently Deputy Director of the Waushara County Department of Human Services, where he has been employed for the past 11 years. Special areas of practice interest for Howard are wraparound services, rural social work, sexual abuse, and staff supervision and development. Howard earned his MSW from the University of Iowa.

Jim Harwell

Jim has been working with perpetrators for 15 years as a treatment provider/coordinator in Winnebago County. Over the years he has worked with approx. 3000- 4000 abusive men. Highlights include being on the committee that wrote The State Treatment Standards and one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Batterer's Treatment Providers Association. He chairs the Education and professional development committee. Jim has a theatre degree from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has attended over 25 conferences with ceu's. He has also done 17 Law enforcement trainings either on his own or through Fox Valley Tech (Appleton) and given numerous trainings in Coordinated Community Response to the Issue of Domestic Violence through The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and on his own. Served a year internship with Dr. Darald Hanusa at the Midwest Domestic Violence Resource Center in Madison and currently use the ATAM (Alternatives and Treatment for Abusive Men) program.

Mary Hess

Dr. Mary Hess is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who is certified in Bio-Energetics, Narrative Attachment Therapy, and EMDR. She has been providing child and family therapy as well as evaluations since 1973. Specialties include childhood development, play therapy, parent/child bonding and attunement, reactive attachment disorders and family dynamics. Dr. Mary has five children with four of them currently in college programs. She has five grandchildren who keep her young!

Chris Howe

Chris Howe, BSW, MSSW supervises a combined team of CPS investigators and ongoing workers for Winnebago County Department of Human Services. She has prior experience at Winnebago County DHS as a CPS ongoing worker, an in-home therapist, and as a supervisor for their in-home therapy program and CPS. In addition to her current supervisory position, Chris teaches graduate and undergraduate social work classes for both UW-Oshkosh and UW-Green Bay. Her BSW is from UW-Oshkosh and she received her MSSW from UW - Madison.

Karen Jick

Karen has her BSW (1972) and MSSW (1974) from UW-Madison. Her work history includes CPS practice in both Brown and Milwaukee counties. She has provided individual, couples and group counseling since 1981, specializing in Solution Focused Therapy. Ms. Jick taught direct practice courses in the Social Work graduate program at UW-Milwaukee from 1987 to 2000. Additionally, she taught and supervised child welfare interns in family reunification services with Milwaukee County for the past six years. Karen is a certified Marriage and Family Therapist, holds a certificate in mediation, is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers, and is a recent graduate of the Human Services Administration certificate program at UW-Madison Extension.

Delechia Johnson

Delechia Johnson is a Child Care Career Specialist at 4C - Community Coordinated Care, a Resource and Referral Agency in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delechia has done a similar presentation on the Strengthening Families Protective Factors for foster parents in Waukesha County.

Sarah Kate Johnson

Division of Children and Family Services, Bureau of Programs and Policies

Betsy Keefer

Betsy Keefer, co-author of the award-winning Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child: Making Sense of the Past, has 35 years of experience in child welfare, adoption placement, post adoption services, and training. She works presently as a Training Manager in the Foster Care and Adoption Training Programs for the Institute for Human Services in Columbus, Ohio as a Senior Program Analyst with the North American Resource Center for Child Welfare. Betsy served in 1994 and 1995 as the Executive Director for the Ohio CASA/GAL Association. She has created curricula for parallel support groups for post adoptive parents and their children as well as an extensive Preservice Training Curriculum for Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Parents, used by several statewide systems for foster and adoptive parents. She was recently involved in the development and delivery of Ohio's Adoption Assessor training, mandated for all Ohio adoption/foster care workers by adoption reform legislation.

Mary Kennedy

Mary Kennedy recently retired as Director of the Calumet County Department of Human Services. Mary was previously the Director of the Winnebago County Unified Board. Mary served as a member of the Governors Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health and the State Long Term Care Council and was active in the Wisconsin Counties Human Service Association. Following graduation from UW-Madison with a Masters Degree in Political Science/Public Administration, Mary worked for the State of Wisconsin in mental health, alcohol and other drug abuse and developmental disabilities planning. Mary was involved with State design and implementation of County Community Programs Departments (51.42/437 Boards) and County Human Service Departments. Mary currently provides consultation and training to county agencies. Mary’s consulting company is Kennedy Consulting.

Greg Konop

Debbie Kuehn

Debbie Kuehn has been a foster and adoptive parent for over 20 years, fostering over 75 children, including many children with a history of sexual abuse. Ms. Kuehn studied special education in college. She co-trains PACE foster parent preservice training and assists with foster parent in-service training for Waushara County, as well as training for the NEW Partnership.

Beth Lewis

Beth Lewis has worked in the juvenile justice, human service and education fields since 1982. She currently works with school districts and community partners on programs and services for at-risk youth. She has provided extensive training, statewide, on Chapter 48, Chapter 938 and at-risk and alternative education. Beth has a bachelor’s degree in social work and criminal justice and a master’s degree in administration.

Raymond Lloyd

Presenter and consultant from the Ohio Institute for Human Services.

Lorrie Lutz

Lisa Martin

Lisa is a supervisor in the Children Youth and Families Division of Dane County Department of Human Services. She has worked as a social worker in both Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

Lori Martin

Trainer with White Pines Consulting

Holly Mason

Patricia Matteo

Supervisor from Walworth County.

Pat McConville

BSW, has experience as both a Child Protective Services worker in Dunn and Pierce counties and as a foster parent. She and her husband were foster parents in St. Croix County for 22 years. She was also instrumental in the Supportive Care Program in New Richmond, matching community members with children who were receiving therapeutic services at the St Croix Health Center. Additionally, Pat has taught Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP), PACE for Pierce and St. Croix counties, and training sessions for the Western Wisconsin Partnership.

Michael McGowan

Michael is President of McGowan and Associates, a training and consultation firm specializing in alcohol, drug, conflict resolution and family issues. He works with schools, parent groups, and students as a trainer, consultant and motivational speaker. Mr. McGowan has spent the last twenty years working with families and children. He has worked as an educator, youth care worker, a family counselor, an alcohol and drug counselor and a trainer. He has directed state certified training programs and alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs. He has worked with social service agencies, the department of corrections and private companies as a trainer and consultant.

Nancy Miller

Nancy trains child protection workers statewide, and consults with several counties' departments of human services regarding CHIPS and TPR cases. She has represented human service departments in over 100 termination of parental rights cases over the past eleven years. Nancy's legal practice is currently dedicated to child welfare issues. She is a former Assistant Corporation Counsel for Brown County who also did guardian ad litem and family law work.

Deborah Mixon

Debra Mixon, MSS, Trainer, came to the University of Denver in 1996. She has extensive experience in competency-based training for child welfare workers and supervisors, and has received outstanding training evaluations for each of her current courses. Before joining the Institute, Ms. Mixon worked for Adams County Social Services for 19 years as a child welfare caseworker and supervisor. She supervised Therapeutic Foster Care, Adoptions, and a Teen Parent program. Ms. Mixon's areas of expertise include: clinical supervision; ongoing child welfare; developmental consequences of maltreatment; separation, placement, and reunification; placement disruptions; foster parent certification; and permanency planning for children and youth. She currently trains Core III and IV, Enhancing Worker Development Through Supervision, Healing Traumatized Children in Foster Care, and Strategies for Parenting Challenging Children. Ms. Mixon also teaches Child Welfare Practice at the Graduate School of Social Work.

Tricia Mosher

Tricia currently works in partnership with the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group and as a national consultant on Child Welfare, partnering with states including Maine, and Florida. In her previous role as Statewide Director for Child Welfare Training in Maine’s IVE Training Collaborative, Tricia served on the statewide Children and Family Services leadership team prior to and during implementation of Maine’s Practice Reform efforts. Tricia’s primary focus is on identifying and promoting best practices to engage the workforce, families and youth in positive change, including the use of teaming, motivational interviewing, organizational development, and leadership development. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine School of Social Work since 1996 and currently serves as consultant and faculty on the federal DHHS Children’s Bureau Demonstration project on Retention and Staffing in Child Welfare. Tricia’s past work includes serving as a Child Welfare Specialist in Case Review as well as holding clinical positions in outpatient and residential programs for youth. Tricia has her MSW from Boston University.

Loretta Murphy

Dan Naylor

Dan currently supports currently serves over 22 sites across Wisconsin in the development of collaborative efforts supporting children, families, and adults with multiple needs. Dan has spent 30 years in Human Services providing consultation on subjects that include the development and implementation of integrated human services targeting both children and adults with multiple needs, team building, conflict resolution and strategic planning. Dan has been a speaker and trainer at several state and national conferences regarding collaborative services over the last several years. Dan has a Bachelors Degree in management and Masters Degree in public administration.

Cemil Nuriler

Received a Masters Degree in Social Work with child welfare emphasis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked for the Barron County Restorative Justice Program as a lead worker who implemented programs such as victim offender conferencing, teen court, and truancy prevention programs. Recently, he became certified as a Wisconsin Quality Service Review team member and has participated in reviews throughout Wisconsin. Currently, he is working for Jefferson County Human Services as a CPS worker.

Anita O'Conor

Anita O'Conor, MSW, LCSW, has been employed as a forensic interviewer at the Child Protection Center of Children's Hospital since 1993. She has completed over 650 interviews of children ages 3-18 regarding sexual abuse concerns. She is currently a board member for WIPSAC and the Milwaukee Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, and is committed to the development of a coordinated investigative response to child maltreatment. She has trained extensively on the subjects of forensic interviewing of children and child maltreatment, with special emphasis on the dynamics of child sexual abuse.

Verlene Orr

Verlene has extensive experience in the area of child welfare. She has worked as a Child Protective Services Assessment worker, Substitute Care Consultant, and provider of in-home therapy to families involved with the juvenile justice system. Verlene also worked as a policy analyst for out-of-home care issues with the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. and trained throughout Wisconsin on licensing of foster homes and providing permanency for children. Verlene is presently a supervisor of Family Crisis Services at Rock County Human Services Department, a program that provides mental health services to children and families involved with the child welfare system. Ms. Orr has been a foster parent and is the adoptive parent of two young children.

Cyndi Pagel

Cyndi has over 20 years experience in the child welfare field in Wisconsin, particularly the area of foster care. Using a family-based approach, she has worked as a therapist to prevent out-of-home placements, and as a parent educator. Cyndi developed curriculum and provided training for foster parents, and foster care and adoption caseworkers. She has worked intensively with birth parents and foster parents to develop positive supportive relationships in the best interests of the foster child. Cyndi has a Masters in Social Work from UW-Milwaukee, and is currently a school social worker.

Henry Plum

Henry has worked in the area of Child Maltreatment Law since 1973. Serving as an Assistant District Attorney, Private Practitioner, and Special Prosecutor, Mr. Plum has focused extensively on the legal aspects of child abuse and neglect, and has published numerous articles regarding these same issues. Mr. Plum has served as a faculty member for the National Counsel of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Wisconsin Judicial College, and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and is a training consultant with national organizations that include the American Bar Association (Washington, D.C.), and is the past president of the National Association of Counsel for Children (Denver, CO). Internationally, Mr. Plum serves as the Legal Advisor and Parliamentarian for the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (Chicago, IL), and has presented at International Congresses around the world. Additionally, Mr. Plum has served as a training consultant for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and has designed and presented seminars on legislative reform and policy development regarding the application and implementation of the Convention of Rights of Child on the child labour issue in South Africa and Kenya.

Nancy Pohlman

Nancy started her career in Social Work in 1985 as a volunteer and an advocate for women survivors of sexual abuse. She received her Bachelor's of Science degree in Social Work from UW La Cross in 1989. Her first official paid work position started in 1990 when she was hired by La Crosse County. Nancy worked for nine years as an ongoing case manager with children, youth, and families referred due to abuse, neglect or juvenile delinquency. In mid 1995 she took an academic leave of absence to pursue her MSSW at UW Madison, graduating in 1996. She is currently a Family Services Unit Supervisor at LaCrosse County DHS. Nancy supervises CPS intake and ongoing social workers as well as access staff repsonsible for taking the initial phone referrals. Nancy has supervised a number of social work interns and was a past member of NASW. She has taught as an adjunct faculty in Social Work and Child Welfare at Winona State University and Viterbo University since 2001. She has trained approximately 500 participants in the areas of Foster/Adoptive/Kinship Caregivers Pre-Service Training, the Adoption Safe Families Act for supervisors and the sexual abuse series.

Erik Pritzl

Is the Director of Columbia County health and Human Services. Prior to assuming the duties of this position, he supervised a Child Protective Services unit in Dane County and held a variety of Social Work positions. These positions included such activities as completing Cognitive Graphic Interviews with alleged victims of child abuse and neglect, providing wraparound case management services, court supervision of delinquent youth and ongoing case management services for children and families. Erik has fifteen years of experience working with children and families in a variety of programs and settings. In addition to the agency responsibilities he has performed, Erik has the title of Preceptor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work for having provided field supervision to graduate and undergraduate Social Work students. Erik earned his MSSW at UW-Madison and his BSW at UW-Green Bay.

Shari Rather

Waukesha County Department of Human Services

Dorothy Roberts

Dorothy Roberts is the Kirkland & Ellis Professor at Northwestern University School of Law with joint appointments in the Departments of African American Studies and Sociology (by courtesy) and a faculty fellow for the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. She has written and lectured extensively on the interplay of gender, race, and class in legal issues concerning reproduction and child welfare. She is the author of the award-winning Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare and Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, as well as more than sixty articles and essays in books and scholarly journals, including Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Stanford Law Review. She serves as a member of the board of directors of the Black Women’s Health Imperative and the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform and on a panel of five experts that is overseeing foster care reform in Washington State. Her current research examines the concentrated involvement of child welfare agencies in African-American neighborhoods.

Lisa Roehl

Ms. Roehl is the Director of Programs for Mental Health America of Wisconsin (MHA). In addition to her administrative oversight responsibilities, Ms. Roehl acts as a technical advisor for MHA’s Garrett Lee Smith youth suicide prevention initiative and provides community education regarding issues of mental health and mental illness to a variety of stakeholders including educators, home visitors and child welfare workers. She has extensive clinical experience serving families at risk of child abuse and neglect involved in the child welfare system and acts as the clinical supervisor for MHA’s Invisible Children’s Program (ICP), a direct service program serving families living with parental mental illness. Ms. Roehl is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, Illinois.

Al Rolph

MSW, CSW is currently the Training Supervisor for Fond du Lac County Department of Social Services. Prior to his current position, Al worked in Fond du Lac County in the areas of initial assessment, ongoing services to children, youth and families both on voluntary and court-ordered bases, and coordination of independent/transitional living services for young adults. Al is the primary curriculum developer for Wisconsin's Foster Parent Foundation Training curriculum.

Todd Romenesko

Is the Director of Calumet County Department of Human Services where he has served since 2002 as Deputy Director and then appointed Director in 2005. In addition, Mr. Romenesko is active in the Wisconsin Counties Human Service Association, serving as a member of the Executive Board and President of the Association's Eastern Region. He is a member of the Steering Committee to the Northeast WI Partnership for the University of WI Green Bay, co-Chair of the WI Child Welfare Training Council, served as co-Chair of the Northeast Wisconsin Long Term Care Consortium and was appointed by the Governor's Secretary for the Department of Health Services to the State's Long Term Care Council.

Brent Ruehlow

Brent Ruehlow is a trainer and curriculum specialist with the Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System. Brent has been employed by a number of community non-profit agencies performing delinquency, child welfare, and wrap around services. Brent was employed in Jefferson County for 10 years and supervised access, initial assessment and ongoing child protective services. He has served on a the WCHSA children, youth and families advisory committee, pre-service ad hoc committee as well as the child welfare Case process committee that developed the safety intervention, initial assessment and ongoing CPS standards. Brent has trained a variety of curriculums throughout all the regions, to include the Wisconsin Model, Goal Writing and Case Planning, Engagement, Interviewing, and Teaming in child welfare.

Cheryl Rugg

Cheryl Rugg is an instructor in the Human Service Associate Degree Program at Waukesha County Technical College. She maintains a psychotherapy practice working with mental health and substance use disorders with Cornerstone Counseling Service in Milwaukee. With over 25 years of experience she holds a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has worked with the Center for Additional and Behavioral Health Research at the University of Wisconsin on research projects. Ms. Rugg is the past director of Child and Adolescent Services at DePaul Hospital. She has provided training and education for the social work community for most of her professional career. She is the co-author of the book, Adolescents, Drugs and Alcohol, Charles Thomas, 1989.

Lee Salzmann

Supervisor for Waukesha County

Tom Schleitwiler

Tom Schleitwiler has dedicated his career to the Human Services field. He has recently retired after working for Jefferson County Human Services Department for nearly 32 years, 22 of which he served as Human Services Director. During his time there he focused on optimizing agency structure and teamwork, integrating services, building evidenced based programs throughout, and building community-wide collaborative systems, which resulted in the implementation of Family Care and the Aging and Disability Resource Center, agency Divisions of Behavioral Health, and Family Resources, and the ever expanding Wraparound Project. During this time the agency's Economic Support Division was also re-organized and fully integrated within the Jefferson County Workforce Development Center. Tom is most proud of his work with agency, county and community partners in developing shared visions, programs, and collaborative projects to meet family and community needs. During 2008 the community of Jefferson County was honored by America's Promise Alliance as one the 100 Best Communities in America for young people.

Jayne Schooler

Peter Slesar

Peter has worked for Waukesha County Department of Health and Human Services as a social worker and supervisor for 30 years. He has been a social worker in the Juvenile Court Dispositional and Intake Units, and has also been a Unit Supervisor in the Adult Services, Child Protective Services, Alternate Care, and Access (Intake) Units. He presently supervises a Juvenile Services Unit, which provides services to youth and families placed on Juvenile Court supervision for delinquencies.

Ellen Smith

Ellen was the Permanency Planning Specialist for Dane County Department of Human Services and is currently doing curriculum research and training for the Southern Partnership. She has experience in both ongoing case management and initial assessment services.

Tony Spicer

Tony Spicer worked with the Department of Social Welfare in New Zealand for over twenty five years. During this time he has covered social service areas that include: care and protection of children & youth; youth justice work; and working with community agencies. Mr. Spicer fully endorsed the FGC model before it became part of the legislation in NZ. Since it became central to their practice he has been involved in using the model as a social worker, supervisor of social workers and as a coordinator. He is also involved in presenting the FGC model to community groups, professionals and social work trainees. Mr. Spicer is passionate about the FGC model and the work he does. He would love to share with you and your colleagues insights to the New Zealand FGC and its background.

Renee Sutkay

Renee graduated with her MSSW in 1995 from the UW-Madison and began employment as an Ongoing SW with Rock County CPS. After three years she left, becoming licensed as a Dane County foster parent, eventually adopting her foster child. She returned to Rock County CPS as a Supervisor in Initial Assessment and after four years began supervising the Substitute Care Unit, where she has been for six years. Renee also trains for the Southern child Welfare Training Partnership and is a Lecturer for UW-Madison's School of Social Work master's program.

Christine Toner

is an associate with The Carey Group and has extensive experience in implementation, training and consulting with community corrections and child welfare departments around evidenced based practices, cognitive behavioral programming and motivational interviewing. She is currently an adjunct professor at Fordham University in NYC where she teaches evidence based practices and cognitive behavioral courses.

Connie Usiak

Connie has over 20 years experience as a Social Worker, primarily in child welfare services. She has been a supervisor in Dunn, St. Croix, and Polk Counties covering all child welfare services including Child Protective Services, Ongoing, Juvenile Delinquency and Foster Care Services.She has developed programs in Independent Living Skills, Parent Aide Services and In-home Family-based AODA Services.She has developed and supervised volunteer programs both in county human service settings and community hospice programs.She holds the unique honor of becoming a parent twice in one week.

James Van Den Brandt

James G. Van Den Brandt, ACSW, LCSW received his master’s in Social Work from the UW-Madison and then completed a two-year postmaster’s certification program in Family Therapy. From 1991 to 2006 Jim served as the Clinical Programs Manager for Child. Adolescent and Family Services at the Mental Health Center of Dane County, and since 2006 he is the Clinical Area Manager for all integrated out-patient mental health and substance abuse services at the Center. Jim is also the Director of the Adolescent Trauma Treatment Program, a SAMHSA funded project that is part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. He has served on the national writing teams for the NCTSN Child Welfare Training Curriculum, Trauma & Foster Parent Training Curriculum and the Adolescent Trauma and Substance Abuse Toolkit. Jim has been a Preceptor for the UW School of Social Work since 1986. Prior to joining the Mental Health Center in 1991, Jim worked at Dane County Dept. of Human Services-- as a CPS/Delinquency social worker, an in home family therapist, and then as the Mental Health Services Manager for Child, Youth and Families. Jim provides clinical supervision and program development in the areas of child and family mental health, trauma, alcohol and other drug abuse, and child welfare and family preservation services. He is interested in the integration of mental health, AODA, child welfare and domestic violence services, and has additional expertise in the area of trauma, attachment and early childhood.

Mary Van Dyke

Mary is currently employed by Catholic Charities-Archdiocese of Milwaukee, as a Special Needs Adoption social worker. She has been employed in public and/or private child welfare for over 14 years, both as a direct service social worker and a supervisor of direct services. In addition to her full time job, Mary has been employed (part-time) at Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc, WI in the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Residential Program since shortly after the program opened in January 1999. She also teaches at UW-Whitewater, on an adjunct basis, in the Social Work Department and co-authored a course, “Legal Aspects of Social Work” that has been offered as an elective since 2006. She earned an undergraduate degree, Bachelor of Science in Education, from UW-Whitewater and a Master’s degree in Social Work from UW-Milwaukee, with an emphasis in Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

Paul Vincent

Paul Vincent is the former Director of the Division of Family and Children's Services of the Alabama Department of Human Resources and has created The Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group, a private, nonprofit technical assistance organization serving states and organizations involved in system improvement.

Karol Wendt

Karol Wendt, CICSW, CMFT, is currently working in private practice as the Clinic Director of Systemic Perspective, Inc. She is a Certified Marriage and Family Therapist, a Certified Independent Clinical Social Worker and a Certified AODA Counselor. Karol has worked as a social worker or therapist since 1974 doing medical social work, AODA treatment for individuals, teens, and families and individual, marital and family therapy with a specialization in chemical dependency. She also provides group and individual clinical supervision, specializing in family based services and is on the faculty of the Family Therapy Training Institute in Milwaukee.

Terry Wheelock

Terry is a Career Development Specialist for 4C - Community Coordinated Child Care, a Resource and Referral Agency in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Terry has provided Protective Factors training to parents and child care providers at The Family Center in Washington County.

Jennifer Wilgocki

Jennifer Wilgocki, MS, LCSW received her masters' degree in counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She is the Project and Training Coordinator of the Adolescent Trauma Treatment Program at the Mental Health Center of Dane County, Inc, in Madison, wI. Ms. Wilgocki has been a child and family therapist for over 13 years and a clinical supervisor for over 8 years, specializing in the treatment of trauma, attachment disorders, children in foster care, and high-risk adolescent behaviors. She is the co-author of Maybe Days: A Book for Children in Foster Care. Ms. Wilgocki has spoken at state-wide and national conferences and regularly trains foster and adoptive parents and child protection social workers on trauma and attachment disorders.

Marc Wruble

Marc Wruble, PhD, UW-Platteville, Department of Psychology; Child and Family Clinical Psychologist and director, Platteville Family Resource Center, Inc.