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, Senior Research Associate
Susan's work with POC involves evaluating programs and policies aimed at improving the lives of children in foster care. She is currently conducting a randomized pilot study to examine the impact of a model that provides support to foster families. 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.

Ben 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.

Kathy Brennan, Program Associate
Kathy's work with POC is focused on permanence for children who are in the foster care system or about to enter the system because of unstable family situations. She is working on processes that improve timely adoptions and the resolution of foster-care cases, in addition to providing support to vulnerable families so that children can remain with their birth parents. Kathy is exploring the relationship between research and policy development, as well as interpreting data with the Department of Social and Health Services so they can improve services, practices and systems. Kathy has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Boston University and a master's in social work from the University of Washington.

Mark Courtney, Advisor, Affiliated Faculty
Mark serves as advisor to POC, and is affiliated faculty at the UW School of Social Work. The founding executive director and later chief researcher at POC, he returned to the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration in July 2010. Mark is a national expert on child welfare issues and policies, and previously served as the director of the Chapin Hall Center for Children and as the McCormick Tribune professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Work. His background includes extensive research on individual, family and other social factors contributing to the well-being of children in out-of-home care. His focus is on applied research that involves active collaboration with key stakeholders shaping local and national child welfare policies and practices. Mark has a master's degree in management and planning, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Social Welfare.

Julie Dunnington, Strategic Initiatives
Julie helped found POC, was its first employee and served as both executive director and deputy director. She is currently working closely with the Department of Social and Health Services and Washington State Legislative staff to implement recently passed legislation designed to improve outcomes for children and families in the state's child welfare system. She has helped launch and lead several successful start-up organizations, has served as general manager for a LucasFilms division and as director of the consumer technology group at Waggener Edstrom. Julie holds a bachelor's in marketing from the University of Minnesota and a master's in communications from Drake University.

Andrea Hightower, Operations Manager and Assistant to the Executive Director
Andrea has over 17 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. An adoptee herself, Andrea founded an organization that provides coaching and consulting for those who have been touched by adoption. 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 Associate
Jen's research focuses on the influence of public policy on family processes, with a particular interest in parents' time with children. At POC she is analyzing the outcomes experienced by foster children as they age out of the foster care system. In another project, 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

Tessa Keating, Senior Program Associate
Returning children to their families is essential for a child's well-being, but reunification must be weighed against other critical factors, such as safety and security. Tessa is currently helping lead POC's family reunification project. Tessa began her career working with children and families as the executive director of the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery in Spokane, WA, in 1988, and went on to work in child protection in Great Britain. After returning to Washington state, she worked in program evaluation at the University of Washington School of Social Work. Tessa received her bachelor's in psychology and philosophy from the University of Hull, England; her teaching certificate from Gonzaga University; and a master's in social policy and social work from Oxford University.

JoAnn Lee, Graduate Student
JoAnn is focused on what happens to youths who age out of the foster-care system as well as youths in the juvenile justice system who experience contact with multiple child-welfare and legal systems. JoAnn has a bachelor's in psychology from Stanford University, a master's in social work and public administration from Columbia University, and is currently a doctoral student at the UW School of Social Work.

Sarah Lee, Communications Director
Sarah is leading the POC communications effort by building public awareness of and engagement in the state's most compelling foster-care issues. Sarah began her career in radio news, then served as press secretary for U.S. Representative Al Swift; as public affairs director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10; as senior vice president of RXL Pulitzer; and as public affairs and deputy director of the Kitsap County Consolidated Housing Authority. Sarah has a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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 leading an evaluation of the birth-parent component of Solution Based Casework. Additionally, she is developing a deep understanding of parent empowerment and conducting research on mental health issues facing children. Maureen is the Ballmer Endowed Associate Professor for Child Well-Being 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.

Jane Macy, Director of Workforce Excellence
Child welfare professionals play a pivotal role in today's child welfare system. Jane leads POC's effort to help ensure they get the support and access to the learning they need to deliver the best possible services to vulnerable families and children. Jane has served on the faculty of Luther College, the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, and the University of Washington School of Social Work. In addition to 25+ years of teaching social work students and professionals, Jane has extensive experience designing and directing social work degree, continuing education, and distance education programs. Jane has a bachelor's and a master's in social work from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Minnesota.

Maureen Newby, Research Associate
Maureen conducts research and data analysis for POC's evaluation of Solution Based Casework. 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, Program Associate
Laura is providing research assistance for POC's family reunification project. 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.

Matthew Orme, Data Resources Manager
Matt uses administrative data to evaluate outcomes in child welfare. Prior to coming to POC, Matt worked as a data specialist with DSHS's Children's Administration for more than 16 years, most recently as a program manager and database and technical administrator. Matt developed and managed program and performance indicators and helped managers to monitor field activities and improve program operations and reporting. He provided expert data and technical assistance, information analysis, training and system development. Matt received a bachelor's in psychology and fine arts degree in music from Pacific Lutheran University, and a master's in fine arts in theater arts at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in the fine arts department at Seattle University, where he teaches stage combat.

Melissa Takade, Program Administrator
Melissa provides staff support to the Child Transformation Design Commitee, which was established by the Washington State Legislature in 2009. Melissa began her career as a technical editor and proposal project coordinator at Rockwell International (now The Boeing Company). Since then, she has focused on writing, editing, publishing and project-managing various marketing and business communications. In addition to past service on the board of Evergreen Habitat for Humanity (Vancouver, WA), she currently volunteers with a local nonprofit that serves homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities. Melissa holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from California State University, Long Beach.