Seattle — Casey Family Programs has hired Christine McPherson as managing director of its Indian Child Welfare Programs (ICWP). McPherson will support the foundation’s 2020 Strategy by managing programs that improve the lives of American Indian and Alaska Native children and promote tribal sovereignty.
Casey Family Programs’ 2020 Strategy seeks to: 1) safely reduce the number of children in foster care in America by half by the year 2020, 2) effectively reinvest child welfare savings to strengthen the child welfare system, and 3) improve outcomes for youth in foster care, so they can grow up to be self-sufficient, healthy adults.
Casey Family Programs is implementing the 2020 Strategy through direct service to children in foster care as well as through consulting with child welfare agencies and advancing public policy.
“Christine’s record of success will be a key asset as we implement our 2020 Strategy,” said David Berns, executive vice president of child and family services for Casey Family Programs. “Her 27 years of experience working with Native American families will help us improve the lives of children who enter foster care.”
“This is such an exciting time to be a part of Casey Family Programs,” said McPherson. “The 2020 Strategy will give hope and opportunity to thousands of foster children. I’m delighted to help make it happen.”
McPherson is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. From 1996 to the present, McPherson served as the division director of Anishnabek Community and Family Services, where she managed a comprehensive social services system for the tribe. Under her leadership, the program grew from a three-person operation with a $45,000 budget to a comprehensive social services agency with a budget of $4.8 million and a staff of 60 employees.
McPherson received her Bachelor of Science in Social Services from Ferris State College in Big Rapids, Michigan in 1980 and her Master in Business Administration from Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in 1994.
In January 2003, Casey Family Programs established its Indian Child Welfare Programs to work with tribes and native organizations to help reduce the disproportionate number of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the public child welfare system, to develop and enhance high-quality tribal child welfare systems that are culturally appropriate and respectful of tribal sovereignty, and to nurture partnerships with urban Indian communities in their efforts to preserve families and cultures.