2015
Symposium on Fairness
and Equity Issues in
Child Welfare
Training and Education
Collaborating for Social Justice
Sponsored by CalSWEC in conjunction with
the Regional Training Academies and
the California Department of Social Services
April 16, 2015
The California Endowment’s
Oakland Conference Center
The Foster Youth Museum:
Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project
and California Youth Connection
Art Exhibit (Lobby): Homeless
The Foster Youth Museum presents a groundbreaking exhibit
about youth experiences in foster care and with homelessness.
With compelling photos, donated objects, videos, foster youth art,
and text, “Homeless” tells the story from the youth perspective of
vulnerability and survival—and the transition from hopelessness
to empowerment through education, advocacy, and connection.
You may be surprised by some of the artifacts that youth have
chosen to save and share, which reveal disrupted childhoods,
redemption, and personal transformation. In this exhibit, visitors
come face to face with foster youth and homeless youth and have
the opportunity to consider how to engage them in their own
communities.
The Foster Youth Museum is under the direction of the California
Youth Connection and the Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project. It
showcases a collection of artifacts and art donated by former
foster youth and homeless youth and is guest curated by Ray
Bussolari and a team of exhibition collaborators.
Collaborating for Social Justice
Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:30–9:30 am
Lobby
Opening Remarks
Welcome: Melissa Connelly, Director, and Phyllis Jeroslow, Training and
Curriculum Specialist, both with CalSWEC’s Child Welfare In-Service
Training Project
Keynote Address
Keynote Address: Child and Youth Trauma: The Next Frontier
Robert K. Ross, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, The California
Endowment
BREAK
9:30–9:40 am
Laurel Room
9:40–11:00 am
Laurel Room
11:00–11:15 am
Breakout Sessions I
11: 15 am–12:30 pm
Re-Authorizing The Story: An Expressive Arts Process for Self-Reclamation,
Voice, and Agency
Eastmont Room
Presenter: Yasmin A. Sayyed, Ed.D., Consultant/Trainer
Got Faith? The Potential for Youth Empowerment and Faith Based
Collaborations
Laurel Room
Panelists: Michael Place, Trainer, Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project; Monica Singh,
Trainer, Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project; Rebecca Edwards, BRAID Mission Codirector; Christopher Gray Chase, BRAID Mission Co-director
Facilitator: Jamie Lee Evans, Director, Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project
Excessive Use of Psychiatric Drugs in the Foster Care System: A Mercury News
Investigation
Uptown Room
Presenter: Karen de Sá, Investigative Reporter, The San Jose Mercury News
LUNCH
12:30–1:30 pm
Breakout Sessions II
1:30–2:45 pm
Using SOGIE Data to Inform Program Development
Eastmont Room
Presenters: Amy Cipolla-Stickles, M.P.A., Senior Program Specialist, and Aisha
Canfield, M.P.P., Program Associate, National Council on Crime and
Delinquency
[1]
The Teaming and Engagement Journey with Tribes and Indian Service
Agencies: Lessons Learned
Laurel Room
Panelists: Jennifer Buchholz, Project Manager, California Department of Social
Services; Jorge Cabrera, Senior Director, Casey Family Programs San Diego
Field Office; Frank Canizales, Director, Family Social Services, Tuolumne Band
of MeWuk and State ICWA Co-Chair; Vida Castaneda, Chumash, Court Service
Senior Analyst, Judicial Council of California; Liz DeRouen, Dry Creek
Rancheria, Indian Child Welfare Act Court Advocate, Indian Child & Family
Preservation Program; Rose-Margaret Orrantia, Yaqui, Program Manager,
Tribal STAR, Academy for Professional Excellence, San Diego State University
School of Social Work; Scott Stevens, Manager, Concurrent Planning Policy
Unit—ICWA, California Department of Social Services; and Sara Whitney,
Senior Protective Service Worker, Indian Specialty Unit, County of San Diego
Health and Human Services Agency
Facilitator: Tom Lidot, Tlingit, Training & Curriculum Coordinator, Tribal STAR
Program of the Academy for Professional Excellence, San Diego State
University School of Social Work
A New Lens to See Racial Impact in Your Agency: An Inter-State Agency
Collaboration for Racial Justice
Uptown Room
Vevila Hussey, M.S.W., Chair, Workgroup to Eliminate Disparities, Consultant,
California Department of Social Services, and Michael Roosevelt, Senior Court
Analyst, Judicial Council Criminal Justice Service; Chair, Workgroup to
Eliminate Disparities
BREAK
2:45–3:00 pm
Breakout Sessions III
3:00–4:10 pm
Using Data to Identify Which Youth in Child Welfare Are At Risk of Juvenile
Justice Involvement
Eastmont Room
Presenters: Angela Irvine, Ph.D., Research Director, and Aisha Canfield,
M.P.P., Program Associate, both from the National Council on Crime and
Delinquency
The Teaming and Engagement Journey with Tribes and Indian Service
Agencies: Lessons Learned (Repeated Session)
Laurel Room
Please refer to Breakout Sessions II for the list of panelists and the facilitator.
Uptown Room
Trauma, Risk, and Crossover Youth
Presenters: Gena Castro Rodriguez, Psy.D., LMFT, Chief of Victim Services, San
Francisco District Attorney’s Office
Closing
4:10–4:30 pm
Laurel Room
[2]
Keynote Address
Keynote: Child & Youth Trauma: The Next Frontier
Presenter: Robert K. Ross, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, The California
Endowment
Laurel Room
Dr. Ross will discuss the emerging science and research that underscores the critical importance
of the roles that early childhood trauma and adversity play in health and well-being. He will
further discuss the importance of a public policy and systems approach to this burgeoning
phenomenon—one that disproportionately impacts children of color and in poverty.
Descriptions of Breakout Sessions I
Re-Authorizing The Story: An Expressive Arts Process for Self-Reclamation, Voice, and Agency
Eastmont Room
Description: Everybody, every family, every agency, every community—and specific populations
therein—has a story to tell; when shared, their worldviews, accompanying behaviors, and
reparative needs become clear. Children involved in child welfare services ofttimes experience
multi-determined trauma, revivified by behavior-telling narratives of inculcated shame, selfdoubt, and self-criticism. Children of disrupted families are often repeatedly asked to reiterate
their stories of trauma and disruption while less often afforded tools to redirect the stories
toward hope and meaningfulness.
This workshop will introduce participants to the expressive arts and metacognitive approach
that will enable them to facilitate engagement and reconnection in the resettlement of hope
and wholeness for children and youth who have experienced fractured justice. Expressive arts
allow for a telling and redirecting of the narrative in ways that can bypass both hesitancies and
perceptions of familial and socio-cultural loyalty, transforming trauma toward inclusion of
positive anticipation, belongingness, and productivity. The workshop will combine didactic,
experiential, and dialogic approaches. It will introduce an expressive arts procedure that
includes: timelining, storyboarding, journaling, expressivity, reflection, and continual refinement
of insight and agency.
Presenter: Yasmin A. Sayyed, Ed.D., Consultant/Trainer
Got Faith? The Potential for Youth Empowerment and Faith-Based Collaborations
Laurel Room
Description: This presentation explores how a foster youth leadership development
organization and a growing Episcopalian Church Project have developed a mutually meaningful
collaboration. Each organization will speak about mission and goals and will describe their
collaborative projects. The session will include a World Café-style of conversation to discuss the
benefits and opportunities of faith-based groups and child welfare programs to join together to
positively impact youth lives.
Facilitator: Jamie Lee Evans, Director, Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project
Panelists: Michael Place, Trainer, Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project; Monica Singh, Trainer, Y.O.U.T.H.
Training Project; Rebecca Edwards, BRAID Mission Co-director; and Christopher Gray Chase,
BRAID Mission Co-director
[3]
Descriptions of Breakout Sessions I (cont’d)
Excessive Use of Psychiatric Drugs in The Foster Care System: A Mercury News Investigation
(Documentary)
Uptown Room
Description: For the past four months, the Bay Area News Group has been documenting
the alarming use of psychiatric medications in California's foster care system—and the impact
on thousands of vulnerable kids who suffer the consequences.
Here, in Part 5 of its investigative series “Drugging Our Kids,” the journalists present a
documentary video that gives voice to many of these young people who say they were silenced
during their youth by the powerful drugs. From Los Angeles to the Bay Area to Humboldt
County, reporter Karen de Sá and photographer Dai Sugano interviewed more than 175 people,
including dozens of current and former foster youth who were frequently moved and heavily
medicated by a system that struggled to manage their complicated childhoods. Now, there's a
growing call for change among former foster youth, psychiatrists, public health nurses, and
youth advocates. The stories of lost childhoods and remarkable resilience provide compelling
lessons on how California can better address their trauma and stop “Drugging Our Kids.”
Presenter: Karen de Sá, Investigative Reporter, The San Jose Mercury News
Descriptions of Breakout Sessions II
Using SOGIE Data to Inform Program Development
Eastmont Room
Description: Assessment is critical to best practice in both child welfare and the juvenile justice
systems. In the assessment discovery process, data collection is particularly important in
understanding behaviors and risk factors driving youth and their families toward system
involvement. While both systems have normalized the practice of questioning youth and their
families about their social history, including around race and ethnicity, they have begun
recognizing the need to better understand the role that sexual orientation, gender identity,
and gender expression (SOGIE) play in funneling young people into these systems, as well as
how to improve outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming
(LGBT, GNC) youth.
This interactive training session includes a lecture and discussion designed to educate
participants about how to collect and use SOGIE data in child welfare to inform practice and
program development, as well as about the existing research on the social-emotional and
system experiences of LGBT and GNC youth, primarily of color. It will also examine a case study
of Alameda County Child Welfare about conducting a plan–do–study–act (PDSA) to collect
SOGIE data.
Presenter: Amy Cipolla-Stickles, M.P.A., Senior Program Specialist, and Aisha Canfield, M.P.P.,
Program Associate, both from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency
[4]
The Teaming and Engagement Journey with Tribes and Indian Service Agencies: Lessons
Learned
Laurel Room
Description: The California Child Welfare Core Practice Model is explicit about engaging and
teaming with Tribes and Tribal communities to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being.
While navigating the terrain of historical trauma, government-to-government communication,
Tribal sovereignty, and child welfare outcomes is a challenge, teaming with Tribes, Indian service
agencies, the courts, state, and county child welfare personnel is possible. Social workers and
trainers should be aware of recent changes in federal and state initiatives: In December 2014,
the U.S. Attorney General announced the Department of Justice efforts toward ICWA
compliance, and recent California legislation (SB 1460) strengthens Tribes’ ability to license and
approve homes through background checks.
This presentation will provide an overview of the lessons learned from engagement with the
courts, state, county, and Tribal child welfare personnel, along with an overview of the Tribal
STAR training and collaboration model. It will cover the social justice areas of disproportionality
of American Indian/Alaska Native children in child welfare and compliance with the Indian Child
Welfare Act, intended to “remedy” the effects of historical traumas. A facilitated panel
discussion will cover the practice elements of engagement, teaming, and accountability. It will
also build capacity of participants in achieving effective engagement with Tribes and American
Indian organizations.
Panelists: Jennifer Buchholz, Project Manager, California Department of Social Services; Jorge
Cabrera, Senior Director, Casey Family Programs San Diego Field Office; Frank Canizales,
Director, Family Social Services, Tuolumne Band of MeWuk and State ICWA Co-Chair; Vida
Castaneda, Chumash, Court Service Senior Analyst, Judicial Council of California; Liz DeRouen,
Dry Creek Rancheria, Indian Child Welfare Act Court Advocate, Indian Child & Family
Preservation Program; Rose-Margaret Orrantia, Yaqui, Program Manager, Tribal STAR, Academy
for Professional Excellence, San Diego State University School of Social Work; Scott Stevens,
Manager, Concurrent Planning Policy Unit—ICWA, California Department of Social Services; and
Sara Whitney, Senior Protective Service Worker, Indian Specialty Unit, County of San Diego
Health and Human Services Agency
Facilitator: Tom Lidot, Tlingit, Training & Curriculum Coordinator, Tribal STAR Program of the
Academy for Professional Excellence, San Diego State University School of Social Work
A New Lens to See Racial Impact in Your Agency: An Inter-State Agency Collaboration for
Racial Justice
UptownRoom
Description: This interactive workshop will inform participants about the work of the state’s
inter-agency Workgroup to Eliminate Disparities (WGEDD), with representatives from social
services, education, criminal justice, juvenile justice, public health, corrections, healthcare
services, and more. After years of research, the WGEDD created a tool to be used at decision
points in programs and policies that lifts up the needs of the disenfranchised so that they are
not ignored, and therefore, do not suffer unintended, harmful outcomes.
Participants will learn how the tool is currently being piloted at the California Department of
Social Services and how it can help them see their own agency through a new lens.
[5]
Descriptions of Breakout Sessions II (cont’d)
Presenters: Vevila Hussey, M.S.W., Chair, Workgroup to Eliminate Disparities, Consultant,
California Department of Social Services, and Michael Roosevelt, Senior Court Analyst, Judicial
Council Criminal Justice Service; Chair, Workgroup to Eliminate Disparities
Descriptions of Breakout Sessions III
Using Data to Identify Which Youth in Child Welfare Are At Risk of Juvenile Justice
Involvement
Eastmont Room
Description: Assessment, a key aspect of the California Child Welfare Core Practice Model,
allows agencies to use data to identify areas of need, develop programs that address such
needs, and monitor program outcomes for further system improvement.
This presentation aims to educate participants about existing research on youth who cross from
child welfare to juvenile justice; introduce an existing assessment tool that identifies the youth
child welfare at greatest risk of juvenile justice involvement; and suggest that future programs
for youth at risk of juvenile justice involvement be developed with an intersectional lens—or the
understanding that youth have many different identities that should be addressed.
Presenters: Angela Irvine, Ph.D., Research Director, and Aisha Canfield, M.P.P., Program
Associate, both from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency
The Teaming and Engagement Journey with Tribes and Indian Service Agencies: Lessons
Learned (This is a repeated presentation from Breakout Session II; see description there.)
Laurel Room
Trauma, Risk, and Crossover Youth
Uptown Room
Description: Early childhood trauma puts children and youth at risk for education difficulties,
mental health issues, continued victimization, and risky/delinquent behavior. Youth who cross
over into the delinquency system are subject to exacerbated risk by other issues, such as
substance abuse, chronic homelessness, un/under employment, criminal involvement, and, if
they become parents, the perpetuation of the cycle of maltreatment. It is important to
understand the development of internal and external risk factors for children and youth
involved in the child welfare system and to learn how to maximize their strengths and
resiliencies so our interventions and approaches are more successful.
This presentation will discuss the trajectory of trauma and the development of internal and
external pathological beliefs, and then provide strategies to build on protective factors and
resiliencies. Best practices include multiagency collaboration, coordination of case management,
family engagement, and permanency/dual jurisdiction. Participants will have opportunities to
discuss challenges, successes, and emerging issues. This presentation will address the principles
of the California Child Welfare Core Practice Model, including the casework component of
prevention and the practice element of advocacy.
Presenter: Gena Castro Rodriguez, Psy.D., LMFT, Chief of Victim Services, San Francisco District
Attorney’s Office
[6]
Keynote Speaker
Robert K. Ross, M.D., is president and chief executive officer for The
California Endowment, a health foundation established in 1996 to address
the health needs of Californians (www.calendow.org). Prior to his
appointment in July 2000, Dr. Ross served as director of the Health and
Human Services Agency for the County of San Diego and commissioner
of Public Health for the City of Philadelphia.
Dr. Ross has an extensive background in health philanthropy, as a public
health administrator and as a clinician. This includes service as
commissioner of Philadelphia Department of Public Health; medical director Dr. Robert K. Ross
for LINK School-Based Clinic Program in Camden, New Jersey; instructor of
clinical medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and faculty member at San Diego State
University’s School of Public Health.
Dr. Ross received his undergraduate degree, M.P.A., and medical degree from the University of
Pennsylvania. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar from 1988 to 1990, focusing on
urban child health issues.
Dr. Ross, a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pediatrics, served on the President’s Summit
for America’s Future and was chair of the national Boost for Kids Initiative. He has been actively
involved in community and professional activities at both the regional and national levels as a
member or board member of such groups as the President’s Advisory Commission on
Educational Excellence for African Americans; the California Health Benefit Exchange Board;
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors; Diversity in Philanthropy Coalition; USC Center on
Philanthropy and Public Policy; and the National Marrow Donor Program.
During Dr. Ross’s tenure, The California Endowment has focused on the health needs of
underserved Californians, championing health coverage for all children, reducing childhood
obesity, improving health services for farm workers and ex‐offenders, and strengthening the
capacity of community health centers as well as the pipeline for bringing racial and ethnic
diversity to the health professions.
In 2010, the endowment launched a 10‐year statewide commitment, investing $1 billion to
advance policies and forge partnerships to build vital communities and a healthy California.
Recently, Dr. Ross has helped bring greater philanthropic attention to the health and well‐being
of young men of color across California and the nation.
Presenters
Jennifer Buchholz has been working with the Child and Youth Permanency Branch at the
California Department of Social Services (CDSS) since September 2013. She is responsible for
planning, leadership, and coordination for the California Partners for Permanency project that
aims to reduce disproportionality and disparity in the child welfare system. Ms. Buchholz plays
an instrumental role in the CDSS Tribal Consultation Policy development process.
Jorge Cabrera is senior director of Casey Family Programs San Diego. Previously, he worked in
Tucson, Arizona, as a family therapist with a focus on serving Latino families and children who
were involved in the child welfare system. Mr. Cabrera has strong interest and experience in
[7]
Presenters (cont’d)
building partnerships that effectively impact the lives and well-being of children and families
of color.
Aisha Canfield has worked in systems reform since college. She began her career working as a
case assistant in death row appeals for the State of California, served as a board member for the
local chapter of a national organization to increase civic engagement amongst women, and later
worked as a paralegal for a private civil rights litigation firm. Since then, Ms. Canfield has gone
on to receive her M.P.P. and focuses primarily on juvenile justice involvement prevention for
LGBT youth and youth of color in addition to improving outcomes for those already involved in
the system.
Frank Canizales is the Central California co-chair for the state’s ICWA Workgroup. Previously, he
served as the social worker for special education for Tuolumne County; was director for Health
Career Opportunity Programming for California Rural Indian Health Board; served as a mental
health counselor for children and families for Sonoma County Indian Health; and was the
director of Head Start with the Intertribal Council of California.
Vida Castaneda served as a child protective services worker for the San Francisco Deparment of
Human Services. She has also served as a child care worker/counselor for residential child care
treatment. Ms. Castaneda is a member of the National Association of Counsel for Children and
recently served in the Native American Justice Project to assess gaps in justice with a focus on
domestic violence.
Gena Castro Rodriguez, Psy.D., LMFT, is the chief of Victim Services for the Office of District
Attorney George Gascón in San Francisco. Dr. Castro Rodriguez is a clinical psychologist and
licensed marriage and family therapist with more than 20 years of experience working with
children, youth, and families involved in the dependency, juvenile justice, and criminal justice
systems. She was the founding executive director of the Youth Justice Institute and developed a
comprehensive trauma-informed care training curriculum in partnership with the San Francisco
Mental Health Education Fund. Dr. Castro Rodriguez’s clinical expertise is in trauma,
victimization, risk taking, and criminal behavior. In addition to her public service work, she has a
private practice specializing in girls and women and is an adjunct professor at the University of
San Francisco and the California Institute for Integral Studies.
Christopher Gray Chase is a minister in the Episcopal Church and has been ordained for 18
years. In that time his ministry has included transforming two congregations and starting
campus ministries along new models. He is a celebrated preacher and has received invitations to
preach in churches representing the breadth of Christianity, including Catholic and AME
churches. His graduate work at Boston University and Harvard University was in the field of
interfaith studies, specializing in the traditions of Buddhism and Islam. The Rev. Chase has
helped create several exciting opportunities for missions across denominations including
Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, and Presbyterian churches. Each of these has birthed exciting
outreach into the communities they serve. Before working for Braid, he served as the rector of
Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in San Diego.
Amy McDonald Cipolla-Stickles has long been involved in struggles for equity and justice for
transracial adoptees, children, and families impacted by the foster care system; teenage
parents; and people who are financially unstable. Ms. Cipolla-Stickles has more than 15 years’
[8]
experience in multicultural leadership and facilitation. She has led multicultural trainings in a
variety of settings, including schools, social service agencies, health care organizations, and
foundations. She also spent five years as the diversity initiatives program manager for the
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, where she co-designed and implemented
Diversity 101 for Social Workers and Diversity 102 for Managers training curricula; she trained a
team of leaders to educate the entire department. Ms. Cipolla-Stickles joined the National
Council on Crime and Delinquency as a senior program specialist in October 2012 to support the
LGBT youth child welfare permanency project. She holds a dual bachelor’s degree in K-12 health
and physical education and exercise physiology from Howard University and a master’s degree
in international and multicultural education with a concentration in human rights from the
University of San Francisco.
Melissa Connelly, M.S.W., is the director of the Regional Training Academy Coordination Project
at CalSWEC. She has worked as a child welfare social worker, supervisor, trainer, curriculum
developer, and project administrator.
Liz DeRouen is a former chairperson of Dry Creek Rancheria Tribe and has been advocating
compliance for the ICWA for over 20 years. She currently works for Indian Child & Family
Preservation Program, a consortium of four federally recognized Tribes located in Sonoma and
Mendocino Counties. She serves as a qualified expert witness and consultant/trainer regarding
the ICWA in numerous counties throughout California and is a co-chair representing the
Northern Region of the ICWA/CDSS Tribal Caucus Workgroup.
Karen de Sá is an investigative reporter for The San Jose Mercury News. Her projects have
exposed inhumane conditions in California’s youth prisons and children’s shelters, systemic
dysfunction in the state’s foster-care courts, the invasive role of lobbyists in crafting laws, and
financial abuse of the elderly and disabled by court-appointed fiduciaries. A 2006 Knight Fellow
at Stanford University, Ms. de Sá has won numerous journalism honors over her 20-year career,
including a Goldsmith Award for Investigative Reporting and the American Bar Association’s
Silver Gavel Award. More importantly, her work has led to new legislation, overhauled
institutions, and improved public contracts with the nation’s most vulnerable populations.
Ms. de Sá and her husband Ronaldo have four children, ages 29 to 10, and they continue to
inspire her.
Rebecca Nelson Edwards has been ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church for three years.
The Rev. Edwards has been involved with youth ministry for her entire adult life at the local and
national levels. She served for many years as a staff member and coordinator for the national
Winterlight youth conference at Kanuga Conference Center, and she has been an active youth
mentor, leading multiple mission trips and pilgrimages and volunteering as a Big Sister for
several years. Her work as an ordained minister has continued to draw on her interest in and
experience with youth ministry and Christian education. The Rev. Edwards’ ministry has been
deepened by opportunities to travel as an Episcopal teacher and missionary in Haiti and Burma.
Before working for Braid, she served as the associate rector of Good Samaritan Episcopal Church
in San Diego.
Jamie Lee Evans was hired in 1991 by the California Youth Connection (CYC) to facilitate a 150person group envisioning the future of CYC and its work organizing foster youth in California. As
a foster care survivor, Ms. Evans says, “The CYC project was like coming home.” Now, as the
director of the Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project (YTP), a CYC-branded project, she feels she is doing
[9]
Presenters (cont’d)
the work she was meant to do: “I am good at expanding the space around people so they can
breathe, express, imagine, heal, grow . . . be.” Ms. Evans holds a bachelor’s in sociology from the
University of California, Santa Cruz and an MSW from San Francisco State University.
Vevila Hussey, M.S.W., a former foster youth, is a champion for system change that lifts up the
voices of the disenfranchised. She currently serves as a chair of the State Inter-Agency
Workgroup to Eliminate Disparities, a chair of the CDSS Racial Impact Workgroup, and a
consultant for California Partners for Permanency, a project in four California counties that
works to reduce disproportionality for Native American and African American foster youth.
During her 15 years in social services, Ms. Hussey has also served as a Family Reunification social
worker/Native American specialist, a Tribal/Government liaison, and a director of Social Services
for a Northern California Tribe.
Angela Irvine is currently serving as the principal investigator of a national study of LGBT youth
in the juvenile justice system; a project to improve permanency for LGBT youth and youth of
color within the criminal justice and juvenile justice systems; and a National Institute of Justice
researcher–practitioner partnership grant in Santa Cruz County to determine whether
structured decision making instruments used by adult probation departments can lead to more
equitable probation outcomes for Latinos and women. Ms. Irvine has worked for the past four
years as the director of research for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. She
received her Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University.
Ka’Tina Jackson, 24, is a sociology major at City College of San Francisco. She is a Y.O.U.T.H.
trainer and active member of the San Francisco Chapter of California Youth Connection. Ms.
Jackson plans to open a non-profit organization in the future.
Phyllis Jeroslow, Ph.D. Candidate, MFT, M.F.A., a training and curriculum specialist at CalSWEC,
has produced the Symposium on Fairness and Equity Issues in Child Welfare Training and
Education nearly every year since joining CalSWEC in 2004. Earlier in her career, Ms. Jeroslow
was a county-based child welfare worker, supervisor, and family conferencing specialist. She
has taught public policy for children and youth in the Child and Adolescent Development
Department at San Francisco State University and has authored two book chapters, Creating a
Sustainable Society: Revisiting Human Rights in the US Welfare State (Routledge Handbook of
Poverty in the United States, 2015), and The Earned Income Tax Credit as an Anti-poverty
Program: Palliative or Cure? (Social Policy Review, Policy Press, 2013). Ms. Jeroslow is currently
completing her doctoral dissertation in the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley regarding
government investments in early childhood across developed nations.
Tom Lidot, training and curriculum coordinator for Tribal STAR, is actively involved with local,
regional, and national Tribal issues related to health, child welfare, and self-determination.
Since 1989, his work experience has been built on direct service expansion for health care and
education programs. Mr. Lidot walks in two worlds: as a Tribal member who strives to maintain
culture and tradition, and as an active advocate for the advancement of science and education.
Rose-Margaret Orrantia, program manager for Tribal STAR , served in the Peace Corps in Peru
during 1962–1964. She worked at the American Indian Institute for Arts in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, for 18 years. She also served as the executive director for Indian Child & Family Services
(ICFS). After leaving ICFS, Ms. Orrantia served as a consultant and grant writer for Indian Tribes
and nonprofit agencies.
[10]
Michael Place, 24, is a foster care practice and policy reformer who believes every child should
have a fair chance at becoming a victor, instead of a victim. He has been advocating for his
community since 2005. Among many other attributes, his experience in care has given him
direct experience with the mental health system, special education, and group home
environments. He is a graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles, studying Education
Leadership and Change.
Michael Roosevelt is a Senior Court Analyst with the Judicial Council Criminal Justice Services
offices with primary program development responsibility for pretrial services, California Risk
Assessment Pilot Project (CalRAPP), adult re-entry, and other adult collaborative courts. He has
undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology and has taught extensively on the topic
racial disparities in the justice system. Mr. Roosevelt also teaches for the National Judicial
College (Reno, Nevada) on bias, fairness, and access to justice. Currently, he is a chair of the
statewide Working Group to Eliminate Disparities and Disproportionality (WGEDD).
Yasmin Sayyed has had protracted agency in the dignity and social justice for disenfranchised
populations, especially children and youth, and has spent the entirety of her professional life in
education, trauma intervention, and social service. She is an educator, expressive arts therapist,
painter, and poet. She has provided treatment in the domestic violence arena and has taught at
the elementary and college levels as well as alternative education. Ms. Sayyed currently trains
social service providers in the application of expressive arts for trauma resolution and teaches
about issues of race, class, and gender at Lake Tahoe Community College. Her first book on art
and the development of consciousness will be published imminently.
Monica Singh, 19, attends college in the Bay Area. At age 15, she was placed into the foster care
system after being taken from her home in Fresno County. After two rough years in the system,
Ms. Singh vowed to make a change. Fueled by her passion for child welfare, she is now an active
foster youth advocate and an aspiring lawyer hoping to reform the foster care system.
Scott Stevens has worked at the federal, state, and county levels of government for over 10
years. At the California Women, Infants, and Children program, he managed the State Plan and
led the implementation of a statewide EBT system. Currently Mr. Stevens engages Division staff,
Tribal Governments, and community members to improve ICWA compliance and provides
technical assistance to Title IV-E Tribes.
Sara Whitney, senior protective service worker in the Indian Specialty Unit for the County of San
Diego HHSA, has been working in Child Welfare Services for 22 years and specifically with the
Native American population for the last 13 years. She has worked as an Indian Child Welfare
caseworker for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Washington State. Ms. Whitney is a trainer
for the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Jeanie Yoon is the Y.O.U.T.H.Training Project’s Wellness coordinator. She helps oversee all
aspects of YTP’s wellness programming, including organizing twice-yearly retreats for YTP’s
youth trainers and implementing staff wellness activities. Previously Ms. Yoon worked for the
Berkeley High School-Based Clinic, City of Berkeley Public Health Department, and Regional
Health Education Department at Kaiser. She holds a bachelor’s in sociology from UC Berkeley
and an M.P.H. with a concentration in Community Health Science from UCLA.
[11]
Acknowledgements
CalSWEC extends its gratitude to the following members
of the Fairness & Equity Symposium Steering Committee who made this event possible:
Phyllis Jeroslow, Chair
Garrett Bethel Alberto Reynoso
Mieke Bryant Adreanna Riley
Patricia Caudillo Nancy Satterwhite
Melissa Connelly Anzette Shackelford
Ronda Johnson Heidi Staples
Jean Norman Donna Toulmin
Carolyn Reyes William Wong
The California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) is a partnership between the state’s
schools of social work, public human service agencies, and other related professional
organizations that facilitate the integration of education and practice to assure effective,
culturally competent service delivery and leadership to the people of California. CalSWEC is the
nation’s largest coalition of social work educators and practitioners.
California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC)
University of California, Berkeley | School of Social Welfare
2850 Telegraph Ave. | Suite 215
Berkeley, CA 94705-1169
Phone: 510-642-9272 | FAX: 510-642-8573
http://calswec.berkeley.edu
For information about prior fairness and equity symposia:
http://calswec.berkeley.edu/fairness-equity-symposia
For information about fairness and equity issues in child welfare:
http://calswec.berkeley.edu/fairness-and-equity-issues-child-welfare-training
Partial funding provided by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).
[12]
Map of Venue
The California Endowment’s Oakland Conference Center
[14]