Amanda Koon

Background

About Amanda Koon

Since being on boarded by SCDSS in 2009, I have been recognized by Adopt Us Kids as Case Worker of the Month and Family Unit Worker of the Year by Region II Adoptions. As a child of adoption myself- I felt blessed to be in a position to advocate adoption and support families on my caseload. I have been a child worker and a family worker and loved working hands on with our children and families. Some of my most memorable moments and learning experiences have come from those exchanges. I have been asked to chair and lead several work groups due to my knowledge base of different agency areas. In 2015, I was asked to become a supervisor of the Initial Foster Care Licensing Unit and help design and implement a new business process plan to license foster homes within the mandated 120 day time frame. Between myself and one other supervisor we successfully improved licensing times from over a year down to an average of 82 days through the entire state. Prior to this process, on average, 22 homes were being approved monthly. I’m proud to say I doubled those numbers and approved on average 47 Homes a month! As a supervisor of eleven workers, eight who were housed in different counties, I enjoyed this work. Though our agency reorganized that process, I know I approved and licensed exceptional foster homes during that period. One achievement I am extremely proud of is designing, planning, implementing, managing and leading our sex trafficking program. We started from nothing in 2017 and in that short time, oh my how we’ve grown! I have written our new policy and work aid, implemented an intake process, trained case managers, offered technical assistance and participated in staffings with external stakeholders. I have developed trafficking training and using my previous training experience with adoptive families and case managers to build a unique skill set. I have been asked to speak about adoption on the radio and tv and have worn many hats within the agency. I hope to further my skill set and advance in more challenging leadership roles. My skill set includes supervising, drafting new policy, auditing case files, training, coaching case managers, creating new programs, building partnerships with external partners, and identifying and improving gaps in the system. My passion is supporting families in recognizing their strengths, helping youth find a voice, coaching case managers and fighting for those who can’t. Sometimes I can be too outspoken for those we serve, but the day I fail to speak up, it’s time for me to find something else to do.