Raising standards, preserving potential for youth in Maine and beyond.

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About

Growing up in the beautiful farmlands of Caribou Maine…

I learned early the importance of community in times of celebration and in times of need. I was fortunate to live and learn among adults who guided and lifted all young people, not just the select few.

The selfless guidance of my community informs and infuses the work I’ve done for over 20 years as an advocate for youth and families in Maine’s child welfare and juvenile justice system, which includes my recent tenure as chairwoman of the Board of Visitors for Long Creek Youth Development Center.

I am committed to protecting and preserving the potential of our youth and families by raising the standards of how we care them. In my work, I foster strong, collaborative partnerships with children, parents, community members, professionals and institutions across our state.

Efforts

Advocate for best possible outcomes

Create space for youth and family voices
Establish safety
Identify root causes and underlying issues
Raise our standards of care

Consult on multi-system integration

Reimagine practice and system delivery
Advance best policy and practice
Analyze trends and provide needs assessments

Foster collaborative problem-solving

Create a shared vision among stakeholders
Transform systems of response in crisis, intervention and prevention
Leverage key partnerships to support civic engagement

Innovate solutions

Share transformative and compassionate approaches
Improve outcomes, efficiency and impact
Establish mechanisms for accountability and continuous improvements
Identify training needs and design program development

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Impacts

Preserving the potential for youth to be who they are meant to be
Supporting our most vulnerable
Upholding the integrity of our response systems
Creating awareness and course-correcting our approach
Connecting strategic partnerships and forward thinking leadership
Improving access to effective whole health and wellness care
Ensuring transparency, accountability, and measured results
Offering continuous improvement for best possible outcomes
Collective leadership and transformative approaches
Providing advisory and expert opinions

Study

What is the effect of deinstitutionalization on youth in crisis and/or challenge, and how do we support and create opportunities for healing?
Long term outcomes
Underlying and root causes
Nurturing and healing pathways for youth
Comprehensive whole child care in mind, body and creative spirit
Standards of care
Oversight of care
Harvard Kennedy School, Public Leadership Credential, November 2020
Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Masters in Public Policy and Management, May 2022

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Focus on each individual child’s needs

Focus on each individual child’s needs will tell us what matters to their safety, well-being and development. Focusing on the child requires us as leaders to go inward, so we can learn how to respond effectively. If we choose to focus on each child needs, we will stop being distracted by politics, philosophical differences, and money. We will instead know how to prioritize safety for every child, in any care system, simply in asking and evaluating what they need. A full understanding will provide information to build comprehensive response systems to meet these needs, and reach best possible outcomes.

It is not enough to just end these senseless deaths. We must also work to respond to a child’s well-being. Creating a team of experts ranging from pediatrics, neuro/brain and body, as well as youth champions and advocates, psycho-therapists, and coaches can provide a public health lens that is specific and supportive to each child’s safety and care. This team will see the whole child, through appropriate assessment and evaluation to understand each child’s strengths and needs. These experts are the resources that will keep children growing and thriving by establishing a system of oversight that is invested in the whole child, their ongoing safety, health and wellbeing. Justice can be achieved in child safety, when we see mainly through the eyes of a child versus any predetermined outcomes.