People you should know
YLAT Contacts at the Muskie School of Public Service
YLAT Contacts at the Office of Child and Family Services, DHHS
Contacts at the Muskie School of Public Service
Susan Burns Chong
Statewide YLAT Coordinator
207-780-5845
Sburnschong@usm.maine.edu
Susan Burns Chong joined the Muskie School and YLAT in 2005, and has been actively involved with engaging young people in policy initiatives and systems reform through YLAT district teams and statewide events. She has supported efforts to engage youth and their communities around leadership, partnership, permanency, education, and financial literacy, to creatively express the experiences of youth in foster care through film and theater, and to build a youth philanthropy grant making process. She has served previously as a community organizer, teacher, and program coordinator with both older and younger populations, and she graduated with a Master’s degree in Social Work from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Penthea Burns
Director of Youth Leadership Activities
207-780-5861
Pburns@usm.maine.edu
Penthea Burns, Policy Associate, has a Master’s degree in Social Work and 29 years experience in Maine’s child welfare system. Since 1998, when she helped to form YLAT, Penthea has been passionately committed to engaging youth, adults, and systems to improve the lives of young people in child welfare. Penthea has also worked extensively to engage Maine Tribal communities (Mic Mac, Maliseet, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy) through the Indian Child Welfare Act workgroup and she is now involved in a project planning a truth and reconciliation process focused on the trauma, losses and resulting needs of Tribal members who were taken from their family, culture and community when they were placed in state foster care. Penthea is also a co-founder of Camp To Belong Maine and has served as camp counselor for 5 years.
Ahmen Cabral
Southern Maine Facilitator
207-228-8548
Acabral@usm.maine.edu
Ahmen Cabral works with the Southern Maine Youth Leadership Advisory Team (YLAT) and engages youth leaders in advisory committees, policy and practice change and training. This work has extended to supporting the York County Community Collaborative and the York County Office of Child and Family Services Permanency Teams in building community to support youth in foster care. Ahmen holds a Master’s of Social Work from the University of New England.
Maggie Vishneau
Director of the Maine Youth Transition Collaborative
207-780-5469
Vishneau@usm.maine.edu
Maggie Vishneau is currently Project Coordinator for the Maine Youth Transition Collaborative at the Muskie School of Public Service. To this initiative Ms. Vishneau brings a broad background in both the public and private sectors, having led programs in adult education, workplace learning, instructional design, competency modeling, and leadership development. She has developed and led collaborative initiatives across a broad range of government, community-based, and agency partners. In addition, she has extensive experience managing, coordinating, and supervising staff, as well as leading teams toward goals. Ms. Vishneau earned her Master’s Degree in Adult Education from the University of Southern Maine.
Marty Zanghi
Director of Youth and Community Engagement
207-780-5867
Martyz@usm.maine.edu
Marty Zanghi has worked in the child welfare field for over 25 years, primarily with youth, public/private agency staff and administrators. In 1996, Marty joined the Muskie School of Public Service where he helped to form YLAT, and he is currently the Director of the Youth & Community Engagement Team. He has provided training and technical assistance to public and private agencies, including faith-based and community-based organizations, in the areas of organizational and program planning and development. His training and technical assistance have enhanced the capacity of organizations in the areas of youth leadership development, adventure-based programming, mentoring and community engagement. He has written and presented extensively on preparing at-risk youth for successful transition to young adulthood.
William R. Bradford brings 15 years of experience in the foster care system. He is an award-winning speaker, trainer, and youth coach. He has presented several keynote speeches, workshops and seminars in eight states. His high energy speeches are well-researched and delivered in a down to earth style that is insightful and inspiring—and often entertaining. William currently holds two full-time positions—building outdoor living spaces and serving as a fire fighter. He has attended college and has held a two-year term on the Maine State Legislative Youth Advisory Council. William became involved in child welfare reform by helping to create the first sibling policy within DHHS. In 2004, as a devoted advocate on behalf of improving the lives of youth in care, William received The Brad Levesque Youth Leadership Award. At only 24, William sees himself in the early years of making amazing changes to help improve a system he grew up in.
Kimberly Burrows is a former youth in care who was in the foster care system for 12 years. While in care, she was able to live with her aunt, uncle, 2 cousins and 2 sisters. It will be 15 years on March 3, 2010, that she was able to go and live with her Aunt and Uncle. She is now a senior at USM and will be graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Her whole reasoning for majoring in Psychology is to be able to help other kids/youth who have been in the same boat as she has been. She has held a work study position at the Muskie School for 2 ½ years now, and has really loved working with the wonderful Muskie staff. She is part of the Permanency Planning team, MYTC Collaborative Youth Committee and the New England Youth Collaborative. She has helped out with Camp To Belong Maine and she has supported YLAT efforts.
top.
Paula Burrows is currently a senior at the University of Southern Maine where she is majoring in Media Studies. She is a former youth in care. Paula was the leader of the effort to create a very important document for youth in care—the Maine Youth in Care Bill of Rights. She hopes to continue to work to improve the system for youth presently and those going into care.
Crystal Castro is a founding member of the Youth Leadership Advisory Team (YLAT), acting as a powerful advocate for youth in care. She has high aspirations for herself and high hopes for youth who follow in her footsteps. Crystal has played an integral role in drafting policy statements for the Maine DHHS Office of Child & Family Services including the Sibling Placement & Visitation Policy as well as the Permanency Policy, both of which were policies that did not exist before. Crystal has testified before the Maine Legislature and trained countless child welfare professionals and care providers. She has been a great influence in the areas of supporting post secondary education for youth in care, enforcing the rights of siblings in care and promoting youth mentoring other youth. Crystal is on the faculty of the New England Breakthrough Series Collaborative on Safety and Risk Assessment. She is also consulting with Judge Baker’s Children’s Center to coordinate the New England Youth Leadership Collaborative. Crystal is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology.
top
Kala Clark entered the foster care system when she was 12 and aged out of care on her 18th birthday. A native of Bar Harbor, Kala was placed with a family in her hometown. When she was 15, she began her involvement in foster care reform. Because of her separation from her two younger brothers and the judge’s inability to grant her visitation rights (despite many attempts), Kala worked to develop a sibling rights law that was ultimately passed in March, 2006. Kala also worked to bring about other reforms, such as the School Permission Slip Bill and the expansion of the V-9/Tuition Waiver. She has served as a member of the Maine Legislative Youth Advisory Council, Youth Leadership Advisory Team and Maine Youth Opportunities Initiative. Kala’s work has impacted the system and has changed her life. She now communicates freely with the brothers from whom she was separated, and she has maintained a strong connection with her foster family. Currently, Kala is an International Business and Logistics major at Maine Maritime Academy set to graduate in December of 2010. She is highly involved in student organizations on campus and continues to believe in the importance of involvement in effective change for the greater good. After completing her schooling, Kala plans to have a career teaching middle school civics.
Dianna Walters is a foster youth alumni who spent 9 years in the foster care system before aging out without a family. She joined the Youth Leadership Advisory Team at age 16. Dianna has given testimony at legislative hearings in support of legislation impacting foster youth in areas such as education and sibling relationships. She has spoken on panels at trainings in the State of Maine for child welfare professionals in the child protective and legal community. She served as a member on the New England Breakthrough Series Collaborative on Adolescent Permanency and has been an active member of the Central Office Permanency Team since February of 2008. Dianna advocates passionately for permanency for all foster youth and was even given the opportunity to do so on Capitol Hill in Washington DC last summer. As a Foster Youth Intern in Senator John Kerry’s office, Dianna worked to raise awareness about issues facing foster youth across the country and worked with the other Foster Youth Interns to publish and present policy recommendations for the national child welfare system. Professionally, Dianna has worked with homeless and at-risk adolescents for the past three years and loves working one on one with youth facing similar challenges as she did when she was a teenager. As giving back has always been her goal, Dianna studied Social and Behavioral Sciences with a counseling concentration at the University of Southern Maine and earned a B.A. in May of 2008. Dianna is pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management at the Muskie School of Public Service in Portland, Maine. Dianna is focusing on child welfare policy and has been conducting research for the Cutler Institute on Health and Social Policy as a graduate assistant and a contracted researcher. Currently, Dianna is researching best practices in transition planning across social service fields in hopes of influencing states' efforts to implement the “transition planning” requirement of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. She is also beginning to write a case study to highlight the permanency work of Maine’s Youth Leadership Advisory Team which has had a significant impact on state child welfare policies and practices. Dianna is hopeful to spend her career impacting child welfare policy and the lives of foster youth across the nation.
top
Contacts at DHHS Office of Child and Family Services
Dulcey Laberge
Youth Transition Specialist
DHHS Central Office, Augusta
207-624-7928
Jen Baillargeon
Youth Transition Worker
DHHS Biddeford
207-286-2482 OR 1-800-322-1919
Jennifer.baillargeon@Maine.gov
George Christie
Youth Transition Worker
DHHS Augusta
District 5 Permanency Team / Augusta YLAT
207-624-5247 OR 1-800-452-1926
George.d.christie@maine.gov
Chris Hunninghaus
Youth Transition Worker
DHHS Rockland
District 4 Permanency Team / Rockland YLAT
207-596-4301 OR 1-800-432-7802
Christina.h.hunninghaus@maine.gov
Cathie Richards
Youth Transition Worker
DHHS Caribou
District 8 Permanency Team / Caribou-Houlton YLAT
207-493-4155 OR 1-800-432-7366
Cathie.l.richards@maine.gov
Marsha Thomas
Youth Transition Worker
DHHS Portland
District 2 Permanency Team / Southern Maine YLAT
207-822-2291 OR 1-800-482-7520
Marsha.thomas@maine.gov
Angela Wahler
Youth Transition Worker
DHHS Lewiston
District 3 Permanency Team / Lewiston YLAT
207-795-4364 OR 1-800-482-7517
Angela.wahler@maine.gov