Staff Bios

Benjamin de Haan, Executive Director
For over 30 years, Ben has been bringing together leaders and policymakers in academia, child welfare, justice systems and related fields to make change and improve lives of vulnerable children, adults, and families. Ben directed child welfare services for the State of Oregon, and served there in a variety of leadership positions for nearly 20 years. He has also led two university-based research centers and was the managing director of Casey Family Programs' State Strategy Division. Ben was the founding president of the Children's Justice Alliance, and currently serves as president of the Oregon Children's Trust Fund Foundation, a private endowment focused on preventing child maltreatment. He holds a master's degree in public administration from Lewis and Clark College and a Ph.D. in social work and social research from Portland State University.

Susan Barkan, Research Scientist
Susan's work with POC involves evaluating programs and policies aimed at improving the lives of children and families in the child welfare system. She coordinates our child welfare systems research efforts and is involved in evaluating the feasibility of an evidence-based intervention to prevent risky behavior among child welfare-involved teens. At New England Research Institutes, where she worked as senior research scientist, Susan directed all research design and implementation activities of the NIAID-funded Statistical and Clinical Coordination Center for two longitudinal, national, multicenter studies of HIV in women. Susan earned a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Yale University and a BA in psychology and biology from Antioch College. She completed a National Institute of Mental Health-funded postdoctoral fellowship in Family Violence at The Children's Hospital in Boston, MA where she also held a faculty appointment in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Currently, she serves on the King County Disproportionality Committee.

Benjamin Berres, Program Associate
After graduating with a BS in Psychology from the University of Washington, Ben began working at Ryther Child Center in a residential care program for children with severe behavior issues. While pursuing master's degrees at both the UW School of Social Work and the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs, Ben interned at Children's Home Society of Washington, Casey Family Programs and Partners for Our Children. Over the last 10 years, he assisted on studies to develop brief drug/alcohol abuse interventions and worked at the King County Crisis Clinic. Ben is part of the team providing technical support to the Child Welfare Transformation Design Committee, a group formed by the Legislature to improve outcomes for children in the state's child welfare system.

Marie Bolstad, Program Operations Analyst
Marie brings to POC her skills in enhancing operational processes. Previously, she worked at the UW School of Social Work's Administration and Finance office, where she provided fiscal and administrative support to faculty and staff. Marie earned her bachelor's degree in German language at Gonzaga University and holds an MPA from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs.

Kathy Brennan, Project Manager, Partner Engagement Team
Kathy's work at POC includes evaluating innovative practices, and bringing research and evidence to the field to enhance child welfare practice and policy.She currently supports efforts to improve kinship/permanency outcomes for children in care. Kathy brings to POC a strong background in program development and evaluation. She has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Boston University and a master's in social work from the University of Washington.

J. Mark Eddy, Research Director
Mark specializes in conducting rigorous research studies of prevention and intervention programs intended to benefit children and families. He is committed to forging relationships between the research community and practitioners and policy makers, with the shared goal of improving outcomes for children and families. Prior to joining POC, he served as a senior scientist and a licensed psychologist at the Oregon Social Learning Center (OSLC) for 25 years. In recent years, his work has centered on the conduct of randomized controlled trials of prevention programs delivered within systems of care relevant to children and families. In addition to being a licensed psychologist, Mark is an associate editor of the professional journal Prevention Science, and he co-edited the recently published book, Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Handbook for Researchers and Practitioners (Urban Institute Press). He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Texas A&M University and a master’s and doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Oregon, completed a clinical internship at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, and served as a senior research principal at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Kara Estep, Research Assistant
Kara is a research assistant on the Staying Connected to Your Teen project and is pursuing her Master of Public Administration degree at the UW Evans School of Public Affairs. Prior to joining POC, she worked at the Social Development Research Group as a research coordinator. Outside of work, she volunteered for a local organization serving homeless and street-involved youth in the University district. Most recently, Kara served as a Community and Youth Development Volunteer with the Peace Corps in Mongolia. Kara has a bachelor's degree in sociology from Seattle Pacific University.

Melissa D. Hartley, Public Information Specialist
Melissa is interested in improving the lives of children and families involved in the child welfare system through research, respect and partnership. She is currently working on a project evaluating therapeutic interventions during visitation between children and parents. Melissa has worked for the King County Superior Court as a supervisor for King County CASA in Family Treatment Court, practiced in settings ranging from child protective services in Boston to private agencies and hospitals and has conducted child welfare training for over a decade. Melissa has a master's degree in social work from the University of Washington and a bachelor's in human services and psychology from Lesley University.

Andrea Hightower, Operations Director
Andrea has over 21 years of experience in public and not-for-profit child welfare organizations at both state and national levels, including nine years at DSHS Children's Administration. Andrea founded an organization that provides coaching and consulting for those who have been touched by adoption and is both an adoptee and birth/first mother. She has served on a variety of boards for organizations focused on children and family support, ranging from a local Boys and Girls Club to a nonprofit that assists children and families who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. Andrea holds a BS in Human Services Administration.

Jennifer Hook, Research Scientist
Jen's research focuses on the influence of public policy on family processes, with a particular interest in parents' time with children. Currently, she is analyzing the outcomes experienced by foster children as they age out of the foster care system. At POC, she is focusing on factors that speed up or slow down family reunification in Washington State. Jen came to POC from Penn State, where she was an assistant professor of sociology. She has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington. More information at http://staff.washington.edu/jenhook  

Kris Krug-Schmidt, Data Resource Manager
Kris manages the data-related aspects of POC's research, evaluation and practice assessment work. Kris has more than 18 years of experience in data analysis and management and has also served as a contract instructor with Loma Linda University, School of Allied Health Professions for the Health Information Management Department. Kris has been involved in the development, deployment, and management of numerous databases and system implementations within the Healthcare, Education, and Behavioral Health sectors. Kris has a bachelor's in graphic design and a master's in health information systems from Loma Linda University.

Jean Kruzich, Research Fellow
Much of Jean's research is aimed at better understanding how organizational and work group characteristics act as barriers or supports to provision of service and client outcomes, an area she has conducted studies on in child welfare, mental health, long-term care, and correctional settings. She has worked as an administrator, planner, program evaluator and consultant in a range of government and nonprofit settings. Jean is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work where she teaches graduate courses in supervision, strategic management, program evaluation, and organizational change. Jean holds Master's degrees in both social work and public administration from the University of Minnesota, and earned a Ph.D. in social welfare from the University of Washington.

Maureen Marcenko, Research Fellow
Maureen's focus is the well-being of vulnerable children and families, with an emphasis on the development and testing of intervention techniques within the child welfare system. She is testing parent engagement strategies and conducting research on mental health issues facing children. Maureen is the Charles O. Cressey Endowed Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, and holds a bachelor's and a master's in social work and a Ph.D. in social welfare from McGill University.

Joe Mienko, Graduate Student
Joe is a doctoral student in the social welfare program at the UW School of Social Work. Prior to entering the doctoral program, he spent more than five years working with children and families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Joe's initial work at POC has focused on the analysis of data from a 2007 survey of Children's Administration social workers and their supervisors, specifically focusing on the manner in which organizational factors contribute to turnover intention. More recently, Joe has begun contributing to POC's ongoing analysis of permanency outcomes for Washington State and is also assisting in Children's Administration's efforts to redesign Washington's child welfare training curriculum.

Maureen Newby, Research Scientist
Maureen conducts research and data analysis for POC. Maureen was a senior research coordinator at the University of Washington School of Social Work's Center for Women's Welfare, where she coordinated research for the self-sufficiency standard, a nationally recognized measure of a living wage. She has served as an instructor at the University of Oregon and as director of a variety of nonprofit agencies in the Pacific Northwest. Maureen has a bachelor's in criminal justice from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master's and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Oregon.

Laura Orlando, Project Manager, Partner Engagement Team
Laura works with Children's Administration and others to bring innovative workforce practice improvements to support family reunification. As part of this work, she assists Children's Administration in helping to measure the effectiveness of these interventions. Her previous evaluation experience includes work with the Sound Families Initiative at the Northwest Institute for Children and Families, an Initiative to help end homelessness among families with children. Early in her career, Laura worked for several Head Start Programs, providing family support and parenting services to low-income families with young children. Laura has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Loyola University Chicago and a master's in social work from the University of Washington.

Jessica Rodriguez-Jenkins, Graduate Student
Jessica is a social welfare doctoral student in the UW School of Social Work.  She is currently a research assistant for POC looking at parenting curriculums for POC’s foster care mentor program as well as exploring risk factors for young children and their families entering the foster care system.  Jessica earned her master's and bachelor's degrees in social work from the University of Washington.  Prior to returning to pursue her PhD, she worked for several years in community mental health as a child and family therapist and an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant for the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska Head Start programs.  Jessica also worked for several years as a perinatal medical social worker with women, infants, and families.

Theresa Tanoury, Training and Professional Development
Theresa brings more than 30 years of experience in the field of child welfare to POC. She will be overseeing the coordination, design, development and implementation of the Child Welfare Professional Development program. Theresa comes to us from Casey Family Programs, where she served as senior director for Strategic Consulting with responsibility for working with statewide child welfare jurisdictions to improve outcomes for children and families. She also served as the child welfare statewide director for Alaska. Theresa holds a bachelor's degree in social work from Grand Valley State Colleges in Michigan and earned her master's degree in social work from the University of Hawaii.