Meet the 2018 Leadership Honorees
Estos premios reconocen a los líderes que han tenido un impacto significativo en la mejora de los resultados para los niños y las familias y en la construcción de Comunidades de Esperanza en todo Estados Unidos.
Seleccione la foto a continuación para obtener más información sobre los homenajeados de este año.
Judge Andy Hosmer
Judge Andy Hosmer is juvenile judge in the 31st Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri (Greene County). In his time on the bench, he has instituted a series of major reforms including: prioritizing slow-moving and high-needs cases; launching a court specifically for older youth in foster care; and establishing a residential placement review hearing process. His case management and assignment systems ensure that children in foster care are on quicker paths to permanency and experience shorter lengths of stay. Judge Hosmer’s “T-N-T” (Teens in Transition) court is a voluntary docket that engages the community to help older youth in foster care pursue their educational goals and secure career-track jobs. His purpose in establishing residential placement review hearings was to create a process for safely moving children out of residential care.
Jami Ledoux
Jami Ledoux became director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ Child Welfare Services division in 2014 at a tumultuous time for the agency. Under her leadership, the state was able to safely and substantially reduce entries into foster care, which had risen nearly 50 percent over four years. Partnering with Casey Family Programs, Ms. Ledoux developed the multi-faceted “Sooner Sentinel Sites Initiative,” which is addressing a number of system issues including: enhanced training for staff and resource parents; improved outreach to lawmakers, American Indian tribes, the judiciary and the public; and the use of data to demonstrate how policy and practice changes can move children more quickly to permanency.
Gregory McKay
Greg McKay, director of Arizona’s Department of Child Safety since 2015, has presided over a system transformation. Facing an investigations backlog of more than 16,000 cases, the department introduced a “lean-inspired” management system that has empowered teams to track weekly progress, quickly shift resources, measure results and ultimately eliminate the backlog. Under his leadership, the number of children in foster care in Arizona has been safely reduced by nearly 20 percent. The reduction of children in care is the result of reduced investigative and ongoing caseloads, allowing for more time to engage families and successfully manage safety risks. A former detective specializing in crimes against children and homicide, Mr. McKay has brought his experience to bear in child welfare by helping his team understand the importance of teamwork and camaraderie while serving the mission of helping all of Arizona’s children achieve safety so they can grow and thrive.
Rep. Ruth Kagi
Ruth Kagi, a member of the Washington state House of Representatives since 1999, is hailed as one of the most effective and influential advocates for children, youth and families in the state. Her legislative agenda focuses on improving the quality of early learning and child care, and improving foster care. She currently chairs the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee and was a prime sponsor of far-reaching legislation passed in 2017 to restructure the state child welfare system, creating a new Department of Children, Youth and Families. That change was among other new laws and funding approved last year to reform child welfare programs and better support foster parents. She is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, where she has championed a broad array of budget items, including supports for child welfare caseworkers and foster families. Representative Kagi is a past chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Human Services Committee.
