Lisa Coy

Background

About Lisa Coy

The most important, fulfilling, and sometimes stressful work to be done is supporting families so children who have been or are at risk of being removed can be safe in a place they can call home. For the last 25 years, I have worked with families in the child welfare system and provided support to those who do this crucial work. My roles have been diverse and have included case management, staff supervision, operations management, training, program evaluation, and information collection and dissemination using technology. I am happiest when helping and teaching others. Before my post-college career, I was most comfortable teaching children in daycare or teaching children and adults how to swim. While working in the system, I was satisfied when helping families to keep or regain custody of their children. Then I quickly found that I was even more fulfilled when guiding new staff to grow in the field and find their own potential and satisfaction in working with families. Once I left direct services and had time to look at the system outside of my caseload, I found that there is a wealth of information to improve practice in supporting families, recognizing and responding to trauma, and taking care of the workforce so the work can continue. Since 2007, when I started at the Center for Child Welfare, I developed a new set of skills, to improve the system by sharing information with the field. My range of activities includes program and training evaluation to identify recommendations for system redesign; to identifying, managing, and posting information to websites to support the system on a statewide and national level. The system is ever-changing and it is crucial that information finds its way to the practice level. When not at work, I am still committed to change and can be found with a paintbrush in hand and finding new tools and techniques redesigning furniture as a furniture artist or digging in the dirt encouraging change in my backyard.