Jan Breidel, CICSW, MSW. Jan 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.

Arlene Brett Gordon ,PhD, LMFT, CFLE is currently the interim director of the Brief Therapy Institute, Department of Family Therapy at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). At NSU Arlene studied family systems and solution-oriented family therapy, specializing in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy as developed by Insoo Kim Berg and Steve deShazer. Since 1993, Arlene has provided solution-focused training for professionals and paraprofessionals nationally, with a focus in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, Florida. Arlene teaches masters and doctoral clinical practicums at NSU and collaborated with Berg in the development of the Family and Community Partnership in Palm Beach County. In 2005, Arlene and two colleagues established the Solution-Focused Center of Florida, Inc. to meet the growing demand for solution-focused services.

Norm Brickl is a "semi-retired" social worker and currently operates his own business, NB Consulting and Training Inc. His long career includes being the Director of Sauk County Department of Human Services from 1987 until his retirement in 2003. Previously, he was employed as the Director for the Calumet County Department of Human Services and as the Director for their Social Services Department; as the Alternate Care Supervisor for the La Crosse County Department of Human Services; and as a social worker for the State of Wisconsin Division of Family Services. Norm attained his M.S.S.W. and a B.A. of Psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been a trainer for Partnerships in the Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System since 2003.

Jonelle Brom, CAPSW, MSW. Jonelle is the Foster Care and Training Specialist for the State of Wisconsin-Department of Health and Family Services. She received both her MSW and a BA in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has practiced social work in public child welfare in the areas of child protection and juvenile justice since 1999.

In her position with the State of Wisconsin, Jonelle Brom is responsible for the development and interpretation of statewide policies; outreach with stakeholder groups including county, private agency, and tribal staff, foster parent associations, and national organizations; communication of federal requirements related to foster care; training and communication of foster care regulations and requirements; review of exceptions to foster care licensing standards; administration of the Foster Parent Insurance Program; and coordination of state improvements to the foster care system in response to recent federal reviews.

Candy Conard, ACSW, CICSW, is a retired faculty member of the UW-Green Bay Social Work Professional Program. She has a Masters Degree in Social Work from UW - Madison. As a therapist, Candy specialized in child, adolescent and family therapies, and has experience working with victim and perpetrators of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and domestic violence. Candy has also held administrative positions in public, non-profit, and private healthcare agencies. Over the past several years, Candy has helped to develop and train Ethics and Boundaries curricula for NEW Partnership

Virginia Cruz , D.S.W. is the Chair of the Social Work Department at Metropolitan State College of Denver. She received her M.S.W. (1979) and D.S.W. (1983) from the University of California, Los Angeles. She worked at UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, The Neuropsychiatric Institute, Child Outpatient Department as a licensed clinical social worker and administrator for fifteen years. She moved to Colorado in 1992 and became the chair of the Social Work Department. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Council on Social Work Education and the Commission on Disabilities. For the last eight years, she has written curriculum and trained in the areas of cognitive impairments and developmental disabilities in the child welfare system for the State of Colorado, Department of Human Services. She is strong advocate for families that have a child and/or parent with a cognitive impairment.

Howard Harrington has worked in child and family social work for over 30 years. He received his MSW from the University of Iowa in 1981, concentrating in rural social work practice. Howard has worked in a variety of social work settings, including school social work, public child welfare and juvenile justice, inpatient evaluation, group home and residential treatment. He worked for the Waushara County Dept. of Human Services for 12 years. Howard currently operates Harrington Consulting, with concentrations in wraparound services, child sexual abuse and juvenile sex offending, and social work supervision and administration. Howard has been involved in the design and administration of wraparound systems of care for children and adults, as well as acting as a wraparound service coordinator. Currently he is consultant to several Coordinated Service Team counties in Wisconsin and provides training in his specialty areas for the Wisconsin child welfare training partnerships.

Kay Heimerl, M.S., LCSW, has been a clinical therapist with the Outagamie County Department of Health and Human Services in Appleton, WI since 1987. She provides individual, marital, family and group therapy to residents of Outagamie County who present with a wide variety of clinical issues. She has had extensive experience in working with domestic violence, anger management, and post traumatic stress disorder with survivors of sexual abuse and war trauma. Kay works with an ethnically diverse clientele, and has been especially active with the Hmong community in the Fox Valley region. Kay has a BS in psychology and a Masters in Clinical Psychology, both from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She has been training for NEW Partnership since 1999.

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.

Hugh F. Johnston, MD is clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with certification in psychiatry and in child and adolescent psychiatry. He has more than twenty years of research and clinical experience, has authored many clinical and research publications, and has been the recipient of numerous public and private research grants. Dr. Johnston's enthusiasm, clarity, and effective use of humor have earned him many awards--including the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Wisconsin and the Manfred E. Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award.

Sarah Kate Johnson , M.S.S.W., is currently the Out-of-Home Care Planner in the Division of Children and Family Services, Department of Health and Family Services for the State of Wisconsin. Kate received her Masters at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2002 and undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame in 1998. She also has a background in early child care and education.

In her position with the State of Wisconsin, Kate Johnson is responsible for the development and interpretation of statewide policies; outreach with stakeholder groups including county, private agency, and tribal staff, foster parent associations, and national organizations; communication of federal requirements related to foster care; training and communication of foster care regulations and requirements; review of exceptions to foster care licensing standards; administration of the Foster Parent Insurance Program; and coordination of state improvements to the foster care system in response to recent federal reviews.

Mary Kennedy was the Director of Calumet County Human Services until her retirement in 2005. She previously was the Director of Winnebago County Unified Services. Mary also has experience as a State employee working in the areas of mental health, developmental disabilities and AODA planning, the State foster care program and development of county human service programs. In retirement, Mary is consulting with County Collaborative Service programs and Family Care Planning in addition to training for the state child welfare system. Mary attained her Masters degree in political science/public administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI and her Bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State University.

Suzanne Mathison has a BSW from Western Michigan University and has worked for the past ten years in Child Protective Services at Marathon County Department of Social Services. Prior to that she spent 17 years in residential treatment, working with male and female victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse. Suzanne attended Advanced Step Wise training and uses this model consistently in her practice.

Nancy B. Miller is an attorney who focuses her practice on child protection. She consults with and represents a number of Wisconsin counties across the state in termination of parental rights (TPR) cases, and has acted as a hearing examiner regarding the substantiation of child abuse or neglect. Nancy was an Assistant Corporation Counsel in Green Bay for four years dealing with child support, paternity, TPR and mental health cases prior to entering private practice. She did guardian ad litem and family court work until 2000. Nancy practices law with her husband, Steve Miller, an appellate attorney. As a team, Miller and Miller has been extremely successful in prosecuting TPR cases and convincing appellate courts to affirm those orders terminating parental rights on appeal. Nancy enjoys working with child protection social workers toward the goals of permanence and safety for the children in the system. She has been a trainer of legal issues and practice for child protection social workers since 1997.

Carlyn Olson, MSSW became the first full-time Trainer with NEW Partnership in May, 2007, after 7 ½ years as a Child Protective Services Social Worker in Sheboygan County. In addition to her child welfare experience, Carlyn is a Certified Divorce Mediator, Licensed School Social Worker and has background working with individuals and families affected by substance abuse and mental health issues. Carlyn received her BSW from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN and her MSSW from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Al Rolph, MSW, CSW is 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 CAN investigations, ongoing services to children, youth and families both on voluntary and court-ordered bases, and coordination of independent/transitional living services for young adults. Over the past 12 years he has worked extensively with individuals, groups, and community committees. Al also provides instruction to students in the Social Work program as an adjunct instructor at Marian College, and to Corrections Science students at Moraine Park Technical College. His Master's Degree is from UW-Milwaukee.

Kevin's applied ethics and boundary experiences include: teaching developing practitioners in higher education at the BSW and MSW levels; numerous organizational and agency-based trainings to a variety of professionals in the helping professions; creating ethics curriculum for a regional child welfare training partnership; service on professional and organizational ethics committees; as well as coordinating the development of an ethics committee for a county department of social services.

In addition, Kevin has authored numerous publications, some related to ethics and boundaries, that have appeared in the: Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment; Spirituality and Chemical Dependency; Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Services; White Crane Journal; Wisconsin HIV/AIDS Update; the New Social Worker; and the Wisconsin Social Worker.

Mary Rowan has over 20 years of experience working in the field of child welfare. She has worked extensively with families, both voluntary and court ordered, in the areas of parenting and family reunification. Mary is certified as a batterer's treatment provider and has facilitated groups for batterers since 1999 in both Waushara and Portage County. Until recently Ms. Rowan worked as the Family Crisis Center Domestic Violence Shelter Coordinator in Stevens Point. Mary moved to Green Bay in 2007 and is currently working in an Intensive In-Home Family Training Program, which contracts with Brown County Human Services Child Protection and Juvenile Services.

Cheryl Rugg, CICSW, CADCIII, is an instructor in the AODA Associate Degree Program at Waukesha County Technical College. With over twenty years experience in the substance abuse field, she holds a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is also in private practice providing psychotherapy and AODA counseling to individuals and couples. She works with the Center for Addiction and Behavioral Health Research at the University of Wisconsin on various projects; one involved the development of a treatment protocol and the provision of ongoing supervision of the research therapists. Cheryl co-developed two training curricula for the NEW Partnership for Children and Families entitled "Parental Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Practice" and "Parental Mental Health and Child Welfare Practice". Ms. Rugg is the past Director of Child and Adolescent Services at a local hospital. She has served as an adhoc instructor in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and at Carroll College. She is co-author of the book, Adolescents, Drugs and Alcohol, with Charles Thomas (1989).

Connie Usiak B.A., M.S., Certified Social Worker, Certified Professional Counselor, 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 areas of child welfare services including Child Protective Services (CPS), Ongoing CPS, Juvenile Delinquency and Foster Care Services. She has developed programs in Parent Aide Services, In-home Family-Based AODA Services and Independent Living Skills. She has developed and supervised volunteer programs both in county human service settings and community hospice programs. For the past two years she has developed curriculum and trainings such as the Safety Training and the Adoption and Safe Families Act training in conjunction with the Muskie Institute. She has provided a number of core and specialized trainings throughout Wisconsin. She holds the unique honor of becoming a parent twice in one week.

Karol Wendt, MSW, LMFT, LCSW has practiced in medical social work, AODA treatment for individuals, teens, and families, and individual, marital and family therapy, with a specialization in chemical dependency, since 1974. Currently Karol is a faculty member at the Family Therapy Training Institute in Milwaukee and is an Approved Supervisor for the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Karol is the Clinical Director of Systemic Perspectives Inc, where she is in private practice. She provides consultation for mental health and human services agencies, in addition to training for the Wisconsin Child Welfare Training System.