Melinda Cox is the Core Services Administrator with the Colorado Department of Human Services. In this role, she has been an advocate for keeping children and youth safe while strengthening their families. She recognizes that each county in Colorado is unique, and she encourages counties to develop the Core Services that will best meet the needs of their children and families. Melinda also advocates at the state level for adequate support and funding of the Core Services programs. She spends many hours educating policy makers about the need for these preventive, supportive, and therapeutic services.

Melinda recognizes that nothing we do is done in isolation, and she pulls in useful insights and information from the Division of Behavioral Health, the Colorado Trails User Group, and any other programs that overlap with the population served by Core Services. Melinda makes it a priority to have quarterly meetings for the counties’ Core Services Coordinators, providing these county workers with the opportunity to learn about current developments in Core Services and listening to their input on how to best meet families’ needs.

Through Melinda’s encouragement, 43 Colorado counties have developed unique Core Services programs designed specifically to meet their children’s and families’ needs. This creativity has allowed counties to make the best use of their limited resources, developing collaborative programs that build on existing strengths and fill critical service gaps.

Through Melinda’s advocacy and guidance, counties throughout Colorado have implemented effective and efficient Core Services programs. In state fiscal year 2009, more than 16,000 Colorado children participated in Core Services, and 93% of those children who began Core Services in their own homes remained at home throughout their Core Services experience. This is remarkable, given that one of the criteria for a child participating in Core Services is that he or she must be at imminent risk of out-of-home placement. Through the provision of Core Services, more than 14,000 of our children were able to safely remain in their own homes while they and their families received assistance to maintain and enhance their well-being.

Ken Sanders
Program Manager, Center on Fathering
El Paso County Department of Human Services

Manager of the Year Award

Ken Sanders is the Program Manager of the Center on Fathering. This unique organization, created by the El Paso County Department of Human Services in June of 1995, provides comprehensive services to fathers and their families in the Pikes Peak region. The Center offers a variety of comprehensive services designed to strengthen, encourage and support fathers to be actively and positively involved in the care and development of their children.

Mr. Sanders has been at the forefront of enhancing awareness by Child Welfare professionals of the needs of children to have actively involved fathers. He has been instrumental in the development of tools to help Child Welfare professionals more effectively engage with fathers, particularly when their children are placed in foster care or out-of-home settings.

Mr. Sanders serves on the Colorado Fatherhood Coalition, whose goal it is to improve the well-being of children by building community access across Colorado to fatherhood programs and services. Previously, Mr. Sanders was an integral member of Governor Romer’s Taskforce on Responsible Fatherhood. Mr. Sanders was picked to pilot a nationwide project designed to enhance fatherhood programs for dads in the Child Welfare System.

Mr. Sanders has been an integral part of the development of training for child welfare workers around the state on strategies for engaging fathers in the Child Welfare System. He has presented a pilot curriculum to three sites around the state. His program was one of 4 nationwide sites chosen by the American Humane Association to test model intervention and evaluation project initiatives that are intended to strengthen positive father engagement in the child welfare system.

Referrals to the Center on Fathering by El Paso County Child Welfare staff have increased 4-fold as a result of Mr. Sanders’ efforts to create bridges between caseworkers and fathers. Fathers who work with Mr. Sanders and the Center on Fathering have a greater understanding of their responsibilities when their children are placed in foster care and are better prepared to fulfill those responsibilities

Laura Rhyne-Johnson
County Attorney
El Paso County Department of Human Services

Juvenile Law Attorney Award

Laura Rhyne Johnson has been a County Attorney in El Paso County representing the agency in Dependency and Neglect actions since 1983. She received her JD from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, and has been a long time advocate for children.

Laura is always willing to take the time to train and mentor new attorneys, caseworkers and others in the legal process. She has developed a 3-hour legal training, and provides all on the job training for the child welfare staff in El Paso County. She trains to all three components - child welfare, out of control youth, and adoption. She is always willing to provide legal consultation and allows for staff to "pick her brain" in especially difficult cases. She is very ethical and maintains the highest level of integrity.

She answers the phone day or night, even when on vacation. She is often at the office late into the evening, or working at home on the weekends. She is well respected and liked by her peers and other professionals. She can be "tough as nails" or as "sweet as candy" depending on the situation, and has a great sense of humor.

As an appellate attorney, she is well recognized by the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals. She is the designate from El Paso County to prepare the majority of briefs and she is very seldom overturned. She received an award for her appellate work in juvenile case appeals in 2006. She continues to expand her knowledge base and practice to include changes in the law at the federal, state and local levels.

Laura is not afraid to challenge the system when she feels children are endangered. Alternately, if children can remain safely home, she will advocate to the caseworker on their behalf. She is very calm and professional, never raising her voice no matter how much she may be attacked in court by respondent counsel. Her patience is remarkable.

She has tremendous compassion for the families we serve and believes that all children deserve to be safe. She sometimes has taken unpopular positions in her efforts to maintain safety, well being and permanency of the children our county serves. She can always come up with a calm statement to encourage the caseworker in even the most difficult of circumstances.

Jefferson County Family Intervention Services
Michelle Herrera, Keitha Burnett, Steven Dieter, Paul Roy, Lynne Willbanks, Michelle Pumphrey, Jennifer Weiler, Joanne Roberts, Carol Dworaczyk and Stacy Sheridan

Jefferson County Department of Human Services

The Family Intervention Services Unit in Jefferson County is comprised of ten extremely dedicated and skilled clinicians. They provide therapeutic services to Jefferson County clients in many different capacities. In addition, these therapists have provided trainings to CASAs, JeffCo staff, and other agencies. They are constantly available to share their expertise in a variety of ways – case consultation, emergencies, death and dying, suicide intervention and prevention, immediate trauma response support, cultural navigation, recruitment and retention, and employee recognition. They provide individual, couple’s and family therapy, as well as play therapy, therapeutic visitation, EMDR, regulatory therapy and parenting options counseling. This group truly understands the nuances of safety, permanency and well-being.

The clinicians strive to stay true to the mission of maintaining children in their homes or to return children home as quickly and as safely as possible. They make every effort to provide hope to parents who have become hopeless, and create cooperative therapeutic relationships with clients.

Our clinicians show their commitment by helping caseworkers and clients during traumatic events, such as meeting up with a caseworker and a teenage client at the hospital after work hours to assist the teenager in saying goodbye to his primary caregiver as she was dying. On another occasion, a clinician meets a caseworker and a client after hours at a psychiatric unit, after the client had her fourth suicidal threat in three weeks. She stayed late in the evening until the client was admitted and helped the client to be honest with the doctor so that she could the help she needed.

The Family Intervention Services Unit served 392 children and 252 families during the CORE year from June 2008 to May 2009. Of the 89 children in placement at the beginning of services, 95% were at home or a permanent placement at closure of services. 95% of closed FIS cases achieved partial to full success in relation to the treatment goals set by the families. 97.5% of families where the child was at home during the service had no new reports of abuse or neglect.

Consuelo Williams
Respondent Parents’ Council
El Paso County

Juvenile Law Attorney Award

Consuelo constantly reminds other professionals that they must keep their bias out of decision making, and points out in professional, non-confrontational ways, behaviors that might lead to the perception of bias toward the parents. She is tireless in her participation with the Best Practice committees. She rallies participation from other attorneys for committee assignments, and when no one else will serve, she steps up to the plate, and takes on additional tasks, without regard for compensation, giving of her time freely and willingly in an effort to improve the child welfare system and the outcomes for families. Currently, Consuelo attends lunch-time meetings for the majority of the Best Practice Court sub-committees, as well as the Steering Committee. She is the one constant, the one that can be relied upon, the one that is always there, representing the needs of the respondent parents.

Juana Mendoza
TANF Case Aide

Boulder County Department of Human Services

Juana has worker for the Boulder County Department of Human Services for 20 years, and is an asset to her co-workers, and the children and families she serves. Her positions include front desk/reception, eligibility technician and TANF Bilingual Case Aide. During the past 4 years, Juana has earned the respect of her peers, community partners and County employees with her approachable style and extensive knowledge of services and supports for families in the community. Juana was awarded with Boulder County Employee of the Month in April of 2008 for her hard work, dedication and spirit.

In addition to her public assistance knowledge and bi-cultural expertise, Juana understands the importance of working with families in a strengh-based, compassionate manner. She will drop what she is doing to meet a family in a time of need. Juana knows so many people and programs, she can "cut through the red tape" and get several days worth of work done in a matter of hours. This is important when working with clients in crisis, who are dealing with critical issues here and now.

In addition to determining the services clients may be eligible for, she will help clients fill out applications and get to their appointments. She helps Family & Children services staff navigate the tricky financial assistance programs to obtain benefits, social security cards, transportation and birth certificates for clients who are in need. These services keep roofs over our client's heads and put food on the table. These basic needs often are vital to reuniting families and preventing out of home placement. Juana does it all with a smile and will support workers on any level she can...anytime!

Juana has helped evolve her position into one that helps families directly, while also acting as an advocate in the community when working with other agencies. She sits on several boards, including the Longmont Ending Violence Initiative; St Vrain Latino Coalition; Longmont Housing Opportunities Team; the Boulder County Financial Resource Team, and Healthy Families Coalition.

Juana has put a positive face on Boulder County Housing & Human Services with her kind and approachable style that puts everyone she meets at ease. She has a true talent of building relationships with clients with trust issues, or who have been labeled as "difficult" in the past. If the field had more "Juana's" in it, children would be safer, families would be more secure, and communities would be more compassionate.

Joy Raney
Court Appointed Special Advocate

Joy Raney has only been a CASA Volunteer advocate for two and half years, but she has certainly made a life-long impact on the 8 children and adolescents that have been fortunate enough to have Joy come into their lives. We knew Joy was going to be a special volunteer when she chose to take the case of 3 adolescent boys.

The first couple months after taking on these 3 young men, Joy would call our office no less than 5 times a week. One of the boys had several inconclusive diagnoses, was on multiple medications, and had been moved around to various residential treatment centers. The professionals on the case were unaware that he had been abused, and was not receiving appropriate medications or treatment. Joy immediately brought this information to the attention of the courts and other professionals, and a more appropriate placement was found.

The oldest boy, who was eventually diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, was unable to get enrolled in public school due to the fact that he had been at so many different residential treatment centers, and his educational records were incomplete. Joy worked tirelessly over the summer and into the beginning of the school year, with very little help from the boys’ mother, to ensure that this young man could be enrolled in high school. It was an extremely frustrating and disheartening experience, but she never gave up. This young man, thanks to Joy, is now enrolled in college and he is flourishing. He is amazingly well-spoken and confident – a very different person from the one that Joy found defeated and lost in that residential treatment center two years ago. Joy and this young man now participate in our volunteer training, and speak to new volunteers about the relationship between CASAs and adolescents. They are an inspiration to all!

Joy’s most admirable quality is her passion for children. She believes in them unconditionally, and consistently lets them know how worthy and wonderful they are. She gives children hope and love when they most desperately need someone to champion their cause. Joy’s passion drives her to leave no stone unturned when investigating her cases and advocating for her children’s best interests. She visits her children regularly and listens to them with heartfelt interest and concern. Joy writes exceptional court reports, and is respected and liked by the professionals that she works with on her cases. Joy truly believes that all children deserve a safe, loving home and a future of unlimited possibilities.

Melissa Carson
Training and Casey Family Program Coordinator
Denver County Department of Human Services

Throughout her career at Denver Human Services, Melissa has played an integral role in the success of many programs. She has been a social worker, supervisor, trainer, grantee and volunteer. Her heart’s desire is to do her best for children, make sure they have loving, safe and permanent homes. Her knowledge, skills, personality and relationships truly make her an outstanding contributor to the child welfare community.

Here are a few comments colleagues submitted in a recent performance review:

“She is a wealth of knowledge; both practical and in theory.”
“Her ideas cross traditional silos and boundaries. She is a good teacher and role model.”
“She is great for the morale of the Department.”
“Melissa has more colleagues that look up to her than anyone else in the department.”
“She is considerate, kind, responsive, and brings humor to a difficult job.”

Melissa’s has done extraordinary work throughout the years. She has coordinated and implemented trainings, presented to undergraduate and graduate students at local colleges, and participated on several committees and workgroups. She also has helped to write, budget, program and monitor multiple grants at DDHS, and currently oversees our Casey Family Program grant. She often stays late and comes in early to get the job done. She does these things because she cares about her colleagues and the children and families of Colorado.

Melissa has hundreds of personal relationships with people in Denver County, at the State, in other counties, and across our community. Her strong communication skills and ability to call upon her personal network assists the department in improving outcomes for children. She has guided the agency in implementing best and progressive practices. She is great asset to Denver County, and the entire child welfare system overall. Her dedication, spirit, skills and leadership are helping to ensure that the youth in our care have a better tomorrow, by finding permanent solutions that lead to a lifetime of well-being!

Adolescent Resource Team (A.R.T.)
Joni Pieper, Marie Grande, Julie Melton, Charlene Giggy, Renny Turner, Suzy Martin, Brandi Jamison, Jim Tuka and Lynzy Bromley

Adams County Department of Human Services

Joni leads her team with the vision of self-sufficiency and family empowerment, which is clearly demonstrated in the accomplishments and differences this team has made for the youth and families served.

According to 17th Judicial District Court Judge Patrick T. Murphy, "The juveniles and their families receive special attention from this team on a daily basis. They go far “beyond the call of duty” in the services they provide. I work with this team every day, and see the exceptional work they perform, in a somewhat hostile environment."

In collaboration with the 17th Judicial District, The A.R.T. produced a booklet, in English and Spanish, entitled Answers to Your Questions About Juvenile Delinquency. This booklet provides youth and families with information about the delinquency court process. The team also created a resource wall at the Court to provide families with resources and support services. The A.R.T. is involved with several committees that address issues related to older youth. A.R.T. also provides weekly representation on the Permanency Placement Review Team, to provide consultation and expertise to cases presented. The A.R.T. has closely collaborated with school districts to discuss educational needs and issues related to older youth, to create an array of services and resources to improve educational outcomes.

In October 2008, Joni designed and implemented a new service "pre-evaluation". One worker is stationed at the Adams Co Court, with a Trails access laptop. This worker gathers information for all new detention clients by reviewing the LINK reports, contacting probation offices, and reviewing TRAILS data. The worker then discusses options and resources with the parents prior to the detention hearing, and updates the court as to the immediate needs of the juvenile and the family. The worker is the primary contact for Emergency Release, covers Truancy court as well as delinquency cases, and keeps case info and statistical data. Of families referred in 2009, only 3% had children placed and 73 families were diverted from social services' involvement.

According to Howard Reinstein, deputy county attorney, "The A.R.T. team members are innovative, creative problem solvers who provide solutions for youth, and are not afraid to speak their minds in advocating for their clients.”

Bill DeLisio
Family Law Program Manager
Colorado State Court Administrator’s Office

Key to Success Award

The essence of Bill’s contributions on behalf of children is to bring together child welfare stakeholders on the local, state, and national levels to create a sustainable infrastructure, which enables Colorado’s dependency courts to run efficiently and compassionately. Under Bill’s leadership, the CIP has implemented a Family Justice Information Sharing System (FAMJIS) that allows child welfare and the court to share data electronically in real time. He has worked to help local dependency courts establish multi-disciplinary Best Practice Court Teams in each of Colorado’s twenty-two judicial districts. He supported efforts to create a networking website, which allows the Best Practice Court Teams can easily communicate across the state. He worked to merge the Child Welfare Conference and the judicial Family Issues Conference into one event, the annual Summit on Children, Youth, and Families. He initiated and supports a multi-disciplinary training curricula for child welfare stakeholders that began delivering regional trainings in 2010. He partnered with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to enable local dependency courts to become aware of best practices in Colorado, between states, and on the national level. And, in 2010, he began to restructure the Court Improvement Program State Committee so that it can interact directly with local jurisdictions to encourage best practices across the state.

Bill models behavior. He worked his way up to being CIP Program Manager and he has not forgotten any of the details of that journey. When any of the people who work for Bill have questions about how the system works, they go directly to Bill because he has the answers. When child welfare stakeholders have questions about dependency court, they go to Bill because he keeps current with local, state, and national developments in child welfare court practice. When people start talking about changes, they go to Bill because he has good ideas about change and he supports innovation. When child welfare stakeholders need inspiration, they look to Bill because of his dedication to making the lives of children and families better. When people first get to know Bill, they probably hear him say – at some point – “It’s all about the babies” and he really means it.

Nichole Lee
Senior Level Caseworker
Morgan County Department of Human Services

In the last three years, Nichole has been instrumental in finalizing 8 adoptions. This may not seem like a lot to many people, but in a rural community with limited resources, this is an incredible success rate. As a full-time mother of a two year old, who often requires mom to be home, Nichole goes above and beyond the normal workday to complete tasks that need to be done.

Nichole has been a leader in the Department, often taking other staff members under her wing to walk them through the process of becoming a great caseworker. She leaves no stone unturned as she works her way through the adoption process. She looks to the Foster Family Coordinator to help locate families who are willing and able to care for the children who are free for adoption. She has developed open communication with families, and includes them in the process as they move towards permanency.

As we move forward through the 2009-2010 year, our Department is looking to work with other community members to continue to provide care and protection to children and families. Nichole will be an integral part of this community involvement.

The dedication Nichole gives to her job has influenced all aspects of the core outcomes of Safety, Permanency and Well-Being. Her continued success with finding "forever families" will remain in these children's lives long after the Department ceases its involvement. Nichole has been instrumental in helping biological and adoptive families work together. Although choices may be difficult, these families do what is necessary, in the best interest of the children.

The name ‘Nicole’ is of Greek origin, and means “Victory of the People”. This name describes Nicole perfectly, as she works diligently to make adoptions successful.

Colene Flynn Robinson
Guardian ad Litem
University of Colorado Law School

Juvenile Law Attorney Award

In 2005, Professors Colene Robinson and Clare Huntington started the Juvenile Law Clinic and the Juvenile and Family Law Program at the University of Colorado (CU) Law School. This program has brought national symposia and experts to Colorado, educating law students and practitioners on best practices in the field. As the only juvenile law clinic in our state, the Clinic provides an invaluable service to our child welfare community by providing quality legal services to clients while developing a talented pool of new lawyers passionate about this area of law. Students in the Clinic study and implement both national and statewide best practice models – they see their clients more often, engage in interdisciplinary, holistic practice, and advocate for specific services early and often. The differences in their practice foster improved legal representation for children across the state. Students graduating from the Clinic join our legal community with excellent training and practical experience. Some have chosen to practice in our underserved rural communities, representing child clients who desperately need quality legal representation. Others have joined the DA’s office, where they bring much needed knowledge of child development to the work with child victims. Several work in the court system, discussing cutting edge issues with judges.

Colene is a national expert in child and family advocacy and is regularly called to participate in national conferences to address appellate practice, evidentiary issues, and other aspects of juvenile law. She is currently drafting curriculum for respondent parents’ attorneys in Colorado, the first curriculum of its kind.

CU Law School and the Juvenile Law Clinic hosted the Foster Care Youth Summit in 2006. The Summit brought together children in foster care from across the state to educate stakeholders on the needs of children in foster care. The second Summit, in 2007, dealt with youth advocacy.

Once upon a time, Juvenile Court may have been viewed as a lesser form of justice. Thanks to practitioners and academicians like Colene, that perception has all but changed. When community responses are not sufficient to address children’s safety, permanency and well-being, juvenile practitioners are responsible for providing excellence in advocacy so that the childrens’ needs are met. CU’s Juvenile Law Clinic contributes to Colorado’s children and families receiving the effective, high-quality legal advocacy they deserve.

Carol Herndon
Supervisor
Arapahoe County Department of Human Services

Supervisor of the Year Award

As Supervisor of the Family Engagement Team at Arapahoe County, Carol has been a significant driving force in the development and implementation of LINKS (Listening to Important Needs of Kids). LINKS is a family engagement process that began as a pilot program, and expanded to all Human Services Child Welfare clients in February 2009. During the transition, Carol oversaw trainings for the entire staff, the Court, providers, foster parents, CSS workers, and attorneys. She also presented on LINKS at the annual Summit for Children, Youth and Families. Carol was able to draw on her prior experience as an intake caseworker and Family Group Conference facilitator to work on the program in a robust and critical manner. Throughout the process, Carol has exuded her devotion to the agency’s philosophy of family engagement and family focused, strengths based practice with her attitude and outlook.

Carol has maintained a calm, can-do attitude in the storm of major change. She has been open to feedback from many sources within, and outside of, the agency, and has helped to implement changes based on what is best for the families involved in our system. She has reached out to the community to educate and learn from other agencies in regards to LINKS and how it impacts the different systems we collaborate with in child welfare and juvenile justice.

Carol has reached out to community providers and other county agencies to assist with their development of family engagement models. Shelly Sack, Deputy Chief Probation Officer, states, “I appreciate that she values probation’s input and works in a collaborative manner.” Carol always looks at issues with the presumption that there is a remedy, and thus, she always finds one.”

Carol is an active participant in the meetings with the families and as a supervisor of the facilitators. She challenges everyone to think outside the box to provide solutions for families. According to Diane Ward, Intake Supervisor for Arapahoe County, “Carol believes all families have strengths and challenges, not weaknesses. She has always used the family’s strengths to turn their challenges into opportunities.”

Boulder County Best Practice Court Team
Honorable Carolynn McLean, Peggy Wallis, Dea Schantz, Elizabeth Brodsky, Ann Baldwin, Marsha Caplan, Sharon Plettner, Coleen Flynn Robinson, Debra Thomas, Jesseca McDonald, Mariann Stanley, Cathy Bolton, Deb Riccioli, Terrie Ryan-Thomas and Audrey Simpson

Collaborative Team Award

Under the leadership of Magistrate Carolyn McLean, the Boulder County Best Practice Court Team implemented a new ICWA form for use in D & N cases, in order to comprehensively address information regarding the Indian heritage of respondents. The form is now used at every shelter hearing when a child is removed from a parent’s custody, and has been extremely useful in the early determination of Indian heritage of the child.

The team also worked very diligently on the pre-court meeting that takes place before a shelter hearing. This is a collaborative meeting between the family, their supports, their attorneys, the County Attorney, the GAL, and two mediators supplied by the Department. The goals of the meeting are to provide community support for the parents, and the family as a whole, to expedite reunification and family preservation, explore kin placements, identify the child protection concerns that resulted in the Department’s involvement with the family, discuss visitation schedules, and discuss the proposed protective orders for the hearing.

The pre-court meeting allows all of the parties to know the parent’s wishes with regard to their child, the issues the parents believe are important concerning their child, safety concerns within the family in their view, kinship options, and other important details that may not otherwise come to light. This in turn ensures that provision of services occurs quickly, kinship placements are looked into immediately, and lets the parent have a voice the day of the hearing concerning the child.

The Boulder County Best Practice Court Team is constantly working together to try to implement practices that will help improve the D & N process, as well as promote engagement of the family in the best interest of Colorado’s children.

El Paso Youth Advisory Board
Gabriel Torres, Zachary Pingatore and William Elwood

Child Welfare Team of the Year Award

The El Paso County Department of Human Services Youth Advisory Board is the largest, and longest-standing, County Youth Board. It is comprised of 60 individuals, and was created in 2005. The Youth Board members have participated on the Governor’s Child Welfare Action Committee, testified on legislation including the Verifiable Document Bill (SB-09 104), which requires county departments to provide emancipating youth with abirth certificate and social security card. Youth Boards members were also instrumental in supporting the Medicaid Bill, (SB 07 –002), which created Medicaid eligibility for individuals, under the age of twenty-one, who were in foster care or subsidized adoption. Last, the Board assisted the State of Colorado in completing the interviews for the Federal Child and Family Services Review.

The Board is a role model for Child Welfare Practice as leaders in developing and sustaining County and State Youth Advisory Boards and Youth Leadership Teams. The Board consistently goes above and beyond to assist developing, and existing youth boards, across the state. Board members have traveled to the Denver Metro Area to lend technical assistance to other county boards such as Arapahoe and Denver County. Zachary Pingatore is viewed as a valuable resource, and has been contacted by rural counties – Garfield, Moffat and Montrose – for technical assistance for developing their own Youth Advisory Boards. Gabe Torres is on the Advisory Committee to the Colorado Disparities Resource Center, and has traveled to the Denver Metro-area on several occasions to participate.

The El Paso County Youth Advisory Board has developed a unique structure not found anywhere else in the state. They have elected Officers – President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. They have created and implemented a set of Bylaws, Code of Conduct for Youth, Code of Conduct for Adults, a Task List for Members, a Task List for Officers, and have developed written prerequisites for how members are elected. The Board is developed and facilitated completely by youth, for youth. The Board’s involvement in Child Welfare has influenced Safety, Permanency and Well- Being for youth across the state.

Edhelena Bravo
Caseworker III
Gilpin County Department of Human Services

Caseworker of the Year

Edhelena began her career in child protection in 1983, as the lone worker for 7 counties in Northwest Kansas. In 1988, she became the Spanish-speaking caseworker for Denver Human Services, later worked In Arapahoe County. She was there for a few years before she headed to Gilpin County. A native of Nicaragua, she is truly a bicultural person, who is able to provide services for both the Latino and non-Latino communities. She is invested in this work, and dedicated to assuring that children and families are able to improve in their functioning. Edhelena is able to handle even the most difficult of family situations with compassion, empathy, and integrity. She cheers on their successes, and addresses the problems clearly and specifically.

Edhelena is a shining star. She works long hours with her clients, trying to resolve problems, and works hard to keep children out of placement, even when placement looks like the only resort. She clarifies the family treatment plan, and the purpose of goal achievement. She has a kindness and toughness about her, and she is clear about expectations. Clients, even during the toughest of times, appreciate her work and her no-nonsense approach. She helps the community and individuals in providing Spanish language translation and referrals for individuals not part of the child welfare system. She is a social worker in the truest sense. She is both giving and practical and understands the need to maintain alliances if services are going to work.

When Edhelena first came to Gilpin, she was assigned to a family that had dozens of referrals. The previous caseworker had been intimidated by the father. Edhelena was not intimidated, and was able to have conversations with the father in the interests of the children. In another family, the mother of a severely developmentally disabled teen become sober, after 10 years of treatment, and was finally able to work on becoming a viable parent.

Professionally and personally, Edhelena believes strongly in the safety, permanency and well being of families. She goes above and beyond the standard requirements of her job. She meets with her clients, develops a rapport, helps them through the tough times, congratulates them on small gains, and keeps her families focused. Her honesty and integrity are integral to her success. Her humanity and care make her outstanding in this field.