Chris Bowling, Ph.D
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Chris has an education in the social sciences. He has been influenced by French critical theorists and feminist scholarship, and has been an advocate for social justice over four decades in four different states in the areas of homelessness, sexual assault prevention and intervention, food, housing and utility assistance and child welfare. Chris has spent over six years teaching, as a college professor, in both the United States and Japan, and conducted, presented and published research primarily on those struggling with poverty.
Chris enjoys fishing, backpacking and gardening.
Sheila Warren, MA (she/her)
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Sheila has worked with the Child Welfare Partnership since 2019 and brings over 6 years of experience working direct service within Child Welfare as both a caseworker and supervisor. Sheila has program experience in Child Protective Services, Screening, and Certification, and also has a background in mental health counseling prior to her work within Child Welfare.
Outside of work, Sheila enjoys the outdoors and spending time with family.
Helen Terry
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Kyle Shumaker
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Katie Pleis (she/her)
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Katie joined the Child Welfare Partnership after almost a decade of work with Child Welfare. During her time with the state, she worked as a permanency worker, screener, and supervisor, but spent most of her career there as a Coaching and Training Specialist training new caseworkers in the field. She earned her B.S. in Human Development and Family Science with a focus on Child Development at OSU and has a passion for keeping Oregon’s kids safe while dismantling the systemic racism that our most vulnerable population faces.
Outside of work, Katie spends her time with her family and friends. She loves playing board games, trivia, comedy in all forms, and cats.
Julia Morrissey, MSW (she/her)
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Julia began with the agency as a case aide in 2017. Subsequently, she was a CPS caseworker in Multnomah County for a little over 5 years. During that time, she was accepted into the Child Welfare Education Program and received her Master's degree in Social Work from Portland State University. Julia completed two graduate level internships within child welfare. The first with Treatment Services and the placement team, followed by the Equity, Training and Workforce Development team. She then took a position with the ETWD team as a learning and development specialist 2 and was in that position for approximately two years before coming over to PSU.
Prior to working for the agency, Julia spent 20 years on the east coast (New York and Washington D.C.) working in the performing arts (and waiting tables to pay the bills!). Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her pets, knitting and crocheting, time in nature and contemplating how to squeeze just a few more books into her rapidly diminishing bookshelf space.
Aimee Dickson
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Aimee has worked for the PSU Child Welfare Partnership since November 2023. Prior to joining the training team, Aimee spent 22 years working in Oregon's human services system. Within the Child Welfare Program, Aimee worked as a CPS and permanency caseworker, court worker, Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) screener, child safety consultant and Central Office program coordinator. Aimee also has experience as a case consultant with Self Sufficiency and as a probation supervisor for a county juvenile department.
In her last five years with the Child Welfare Program, Aimee worked alongside her team to create the Child Fatality Prevention and Review Program, which included implementation of systems-focused critical incident reviews. Through this work, Aimee had the opportunity to support broad system improvement efforts related to suicide prevention, understanding and responding to neglect, and assessing and supporting families impacted by substance use. She also worked to support advancement of a safety culture in child welfare through trainings, workshops, and a monthly virtual safety culture space for staff. Aimee is passionate about system improvement and workforce development and is an advocate for staff safety, support, and connection.
In her free time, Aimee enjoys traveling with her husband and daughter, reading, camping with family and friends, paddle boarding, and trying new restaurants.
Samantha Castro (she/her)
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Samantha began her career at the Oregon Department of Human Services Child Welfare. Over the course of seven years, Samantha spent her time as an intern, worked with temporary lodging, and spent the majority of her time working as a bilingual CPS worker. While continuing to carry cases, Samantha joined her district’s anti-racism and equity committee and also trained community partners on mandatory reporting.
Outside of work, Samantha enjoys coaching high school color guard, spending time with friends, and being with her family.
Priya Thakkar (she/her)
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Priya has over 16 years of experience with ODHS Child Welfare as a permanency worker Family Involvement Team caseworker, Family Engagement Facilitator, and Permanency Supervisor and was a Field Instructor for MSW students in the PSU Child Welfare Partnership.
Outside of work, Priya love to garden, listen to audiobooks, wrangle her many pets, and spend time with her family while watching horror movies.