Administrative Team
Cassie Anderson – Director of Tribal Relations
The Office of Tribal Relations (OTR) Director provides policy assistance to the DCYF Secretary and executive management team on matters with the primary goal of supporting government-to-government relationships and ensuring our children and youth grow up safe and healthy – thriving physically, emotionally, and academically, nurtured by family and community. Cassie is a Citizen of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe from the Rocky Boys, located in Rocky Boy, Montana. She works to assist all aspects of DCYF by supporting our tribes, supporting our DCYF staff, and helping DCYF maintain compliance with ICWA.
Kelly Pelland - Executive Assistant
The Executive Assistant reports to the OTR Director and provides direct and confidential administrative support to the Director, provides guidance to administrative support positions across the division, and has delegated authority to act in the absence of the Director on administrative matters including correspondence, coordinating personnel actions; travel approvals; assigning and tracking policy review and correspondence assignments; developing administrative procedures and practices; receiving and staffing of complaints and issues.
Indian Child Welfare (ICW)
Robert (Bob) Smith - ICW Program Manager
Bob is an enrolled member of the Skokomish Tribe and a descendant of the Squaxin Island Tribe. He provides technical assistance to DCYF staff and the tribes on all issues related to ICWA, WICWA and DCYF Policy. He organizes MOA discussions between the tribes and DCYF Leadership and manages the ICW and Famlink contracts for the tribes. He supervises the six regional consultants and the ICW Quality Review Manager.
L.J. Adkinson - ICW Program Consultant/Tribal Liaison Region 1
L.J. is an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes Lakes Band. Liaisons support regional staff with ICWA compliance, facilitate development and ongoing monitoring of 10.03 plans, and serve as the primary contact for Tribe's in their region.
Billie Patterson - ICW Program Consultant/Tribal Liaison Region 2
Billie is a member of the Yakama Nation. She supports regional staff with ICWA compliance, facilitate development and ongoing monitoring of 10.03 plans, and serves as the primary contact for Tribe's in their region.
Christine Sannon - ICW Program Consultant/Tribal Liaison Region 3
Christine is an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and direct descendant of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. Liaisons support regional staff with ICWA compliance, facilitate development and ongoing monitoring of 10.03 plans, and serve as the primary contact for Tribe's in their region.
Gabriela (Gaby) Saenz - ICW Program Consultant/Tribal Liaison Region 4
Liaisons support regional staff with ICWA compliance, facilitate development and ongoing monitoring of 10.03 plans, and serve as the primary contact for Tribe's in their region.
Kelly Linscott - ICW Program Consultant/Tribal Liaison Region 5
Liaisons support regional staff with ICWA compliance, facilitate development and ongoing monitoring of 10.03 plans, and serve as the primary contact for Tribe's in their region.
Vacant - ICW Program Consultant/Tribal Liaison Region 6
Liaisons support regional staff with ICWA compliance, facilitate development and ongoing monitoring of 10.03 plans, and serve as the primary contact for Tribe's in their region.
Jeanne Olney - ICW Quality Review Manager
Jeanne is a citizen of the Confederated Tribes & Bands of the Yakama Nation and also a descendent of the Euchee Tribe from Oklahoma. Jeanne oversees the statewide ICW case record review process and focuses on development of resources to support child welfare workers in their ICWA practice.
Betsy Tulee - Active Efforts Navigator
Betsy is a member of the Makah Nation. She participates in the development, implementation, and follow up analysis of the statewide ICW case reviews. In addition, she is involved in the development and distribution of resources to support DCYF staff in their ICWA practice.
Antonia Bancroft - Active Efforts Navigator
Antonia is a citizen of the Navajo Nation, she is of the Bitterwater clan, born of Zuni Edgewater. Her maternal grandfather is of the Redstreak clan and her paternal grandfather is of the Tangle clan. Antonia participates in the development, implementation, and follow up analysis of the statewide ICW case reviews and is involved in the development and distribution of resources to support DCYF staff in their ICWA practice.
Early Learning & Licensing
Wendy Thomas - Tribal Early Learning Liaison
Wendy is an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho and also a descendant of the Navajo Nation. Wendy is responsible for all aspects of partnership and collaboration with all 29 federally recognized tribes in WA and other tribally affiliated and urban Indian populations in the arena of early care education, child care, and foster care licensing. She also oversees the Indian Policy on Early Learning Committee (IPEL).
Mindy Flett - Tribal Child Care Licensing Consultant
Mindy is a direct descendant of the Spokane Tribe of Indians. She collaborates with the Licensing Division on child care licensing, safety, monitoring, and child protective services. She supports Tribal Nations with licensing, certification, and payment-only certifications, including a review of the Tribe's Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or 102-477 Plan. Mindy also provides subject matter expertise to DCYF on policies, procedures, and legislation.
Carla Lopez-Wilkerson - Tribal Child Welfare Early Learning Navigator
Carla.Lopez-Wilkerson@dcyf.wa.gov
Carla works with the Child Welfare staff to help increase the number of effective and successful early learning/early childhood referrals from CPS and family voluntary services to support the communities and families to promote and ensure long-term positive outcomes for our 0–5-year-old children.
Mandy Morlin - Tribal Foster Care Licensing Consultant
Mandy is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. She works closely with DCYF Licensing Division, foster care safety and monitoring, LD CPS and she is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation of services and practices. Mandy works closely with child placing agencies, and Tribes through intergovernmental agreements.
Apolonio (Polo) Hernandez - Tribal Early Learning Fund Grant Specialist
Apolonio.Hernandez@dcyf.wa.gov
Polo coordinates with the Tribal Early Learning Fund Grant. He supports and facilitates the competitive grant process, provides technical assistance, and facilitates discussions that will provide resources to programs that serve tribal children.
Juvenile Rehabilitation (JR)
Brandy Otto - ICW Project Manager
Brandy is from the Indigenous People of Australia and raised in a military family. She works with other department leaders in progressing toward integration across DCYF divisions. She supports supervisors, program managers, and administrative assistants in both their specific tasks and their understanding and implementation of OTR's mission. Brandy manages contracts, gathers data, provides technical assistance, and assists with federal plans and legislative reports. She supervises the Juvenile Rehabilitation Tribal Liaison position.
Angela Bay - Administrative Assistant
Angela is an enrolled member of the Crow (Apsáalooke) Nation in Montana. She provides comprehensive administrative support to OTR to help support the delivery of DCYF services. These services are of high quality and culturally sensitive, ensuring Tribes have access to DCYF services in a timely manner. She assists with complex and confidential administrative support tasks requiring critical thinking and independent judgement while working with staff, agency leadership and Tribes.
Arturo (Art) Caballero - JR Tribal Liaison
Art works in collaboration with Tribes regarding any youth entering or exiting JR to promote meaningful community involvement and partnership to increase the juvenile justice system's ability to respond to juvenile crime. He supports a seamless transition for any youth with tribal affiliation and delivers culturally appropriate resources to tribal youth in JR and provides resources and training announcements to JR leadership and their staff. He also provides oversight for different JR contracts, statewide resource for tribal awareness within JR and manages program activities and advises higher level administrative staff on aspects of the program that may have statewide impacts. The goal of this position is to help reduce recidivism.
Operations
Vacant - Operations Manager
The Operations Manager supervises the LICWAC Coordinator, OTR Training Coordinator, QEW Coordinator, and Tribal Prevention Services Specialist.
Elsy Cruz - LICWAC Coordinator
Elsy monitors adherence to LICWAC policy and Tribal-State agreements, identifies areas needing improvement and identifies trainings to rectify areas of concern, and monitors the implementation of policies, procedures, and protocols regarding ICW and LICWAC practice for children in-home and those in out-of-home care. She develops and maintains positive working relationships with local tribes and Native urban community, community partners, stakeholders, foster parents and child and family advocates.
Rachel Mason - OTR Training Coordinator
Rachel provides expert consultation and advice to DCYF staff, creates training information regarding tribal relations, looks at training needs for both Tribal staff and DCYF staff. She plans, develops, implements, and provides and monitors all statewide training activities for staff, and looks at aspects of program management statewide to include contract management and monitoring and doing evaluations.
Sally Nahsonhoya - Qualified Expert Witness (QEW) Coordinator
Sally is an enrolled member of the Nez Perce (NiMiiPuu) Tribe of Idaho, and a descendant of the Confederated Tribes (Cayuse Band) of the Umatilla. She assists DCYF staff with obtaining a QEW in Indian child custody proceedings, streamlines the QEW process across the state of WA, and recruits new QEWs, and coordinates QEW trainings with the UW Alliance. Sally can assist Tribes with locating a QEW.
Shannel Squally-Janzen - Tribal Prevention Services Specialist
Shannel.Squally-Janzen@dcyf.wa.gov
Shannel is an enrolled member of the Puyallup Tribe. She provides expert consultation and advice to DCYF staff and creates/disseminates critical preventative services information for American Indian/Alaska Native children and families. Shannel oversees, plans, curates, and supports a full continuum of culturally responsive services for Native families in Washington state.