2023 Title IV-E Summit - In-Person Event Dashboard

Dr. Victor Manalo (he/him/his) is a retired Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at California State University, Los Angeles, where he has been teaching since 2002. He is the President of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter (NASW-CA), Chair of the NASW Council of Chapter Presidents, and member of the NASW Strategic Planning Committee and Chapter and Member Relations Committee. He is a former council member and Mayor for the City of Artesia (2007-2018), and he is the Chair of the Planning Commission. He and his wife of over 31 years live in Artesia, where they have raised their three children.

Michaella Conteh (she/her/hers) graduated from California State East Bay University in Hayward, California with a Master's in Social Worker (MSW) degree and as a Title IV-E student. Michaella concentrated on Children, Youth, and Families. Michaella holds her Associate Social Work (ASW) license. She is currently working on her clinical hours to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Michaella has worked in the child welfare field for about eight years and in November 2022 got promoted to Child Welfare Social Work Supervisor. Michaella loves working in the child welfare field. During Michaella's time as a Child Welfare Social Worker she wrote and published a book in June 2021 titled, "How to Survive as a Child Welfare Social Worker." Michaella's inspiration for writing the book was that she saw a need for a resource for upcoming child welfare social workers and social workers within the child welfare field. Michaella believes that families who come through the child welfare system need a great team of support which Michaella tries to provide to the families.

Dr Lisa Ibanez (she/her/hers) has been a CSULB School of Social Work CalSWEC Child Welfare Consultant and Lecturer since Spring 2019. She completed her doctorate in 2020 with St. Kate's-St. Thomas School of Social Work with a dissertation on "Digital Storytelling in Social Work Field Education: A Model for Building a Critical Consciousness." She teaches integrative seminars in the BASW and MSW programs. Prior to joining CSULB she served as the Director of Field Education at Whittier College and taught undergraduate courses. She has multiple years of experience working within community-based agencies providing child welfare services. She has extensive training and experience in digital technology.

Rod De Los Reyes (he/him/his) is a social worker with over 20 years experience. He is a CalSWEC Field Consultant and Lecturer at CSULB School of Social Work. Rod is also the Undergraduate Field Education Coordinator. He teaches a seminar and mental health classes. Before working at CSULB Rod worked at MHALA-The Village, a DMH contracted outpatient program as a supervisor of a Full Service Partnership (FSP) team, where he worked with people with severe and persistent mental illness oftentimes experiencing homelessness and addiction. He also worked with the Asian Pacific Island older adult population providing mental service as well as case management. He was honored by the California State University, Long Beach School of Social Work and received the Annual Distinguished Alumnus for Excellence in Social Work in 2012.

Kristopher McLucas (he/him/his) has been a practicing Social Worker for the past 13 years. He has worked in a variety of clinical and administrative capacities in the greater South Los Angeles and Long Beach communities. Currently, he is the Clinical Director at the YWCA Greater Los Angeles (GLA) and oversees the implementation of the clinical services across the Empowerment Services Program. He has led several consulting projects with Friends Outside in Los Angeles County (FOLA), Southern California Crossroads, and the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services. He currently provides ongoing consultation and supervision to organizations and teams that work with trauma-impacted community members (e.g., survivors of gun violence, sexual assault, domestic violence, etc.). He has facilitated trauma-informed trainings to enhance their staff's capacity to work effectively with survivors of trauma. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Smith College, School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts where he teaches a first-year practice course for graduate-level social work students.

James Schrage (he/him/his) is the Founder and Executive Director of Families Uniting Families (FUF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit that the State of California licenses to provide Foster Family Agency care (2004), Project Fatherhood (2010), Adoption Services (2014), and Life Coaching & the Fundamentals of Fatherhood Project (2015). He led the agency in receiving a 3-year accreditation from Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) International in November 2017. Before joining Families Uniting Families (FUF), James worked in an executive-level position for nine years at another foster family agency (1995-2004). Prior to that role he interned and worked as a Children's Social Worker for Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (1992-1994). Mr. Schrage teaches in the School of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach (2002–present). He was honored by the California State University, Long Beach School of Social Work and received the Annual Distinguished Alumnus for Excellence in Social Work in 2012. James was co-founder and creator of an international social work partnership with faculty at UCLA, CSULA, and the University of Ghana, Accra (2007).

Clarence Cisneros-Jones (he/him/his) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in California. He has over 20 years of experience working with children, adults, and marginalized families in San Jose and throughout the Bay area. He is a husband to his amazing, supportive MFT wife Claudia Cisneros-Jones and father of two school-age sons, Lazarus Cisneros-Jones and Ezra Cisneros-Jones. At an early age he discovered his purpose in life was to bear witness to people's life journey in whichever form it presents itself. His own path led him to be a healer—to join people's experiences with humility, kindness, empathy, love and respect. He truly believes that if we know better (about ourselves), we can do (and be) better; and that each of us has a desire to heal and repair our source of pain. With the appropriate tools and coping techniques, an optimal level of experiencing life is attainable.

Clarence has enjoyed working with young children in school and sport settings, shaping their educational experiences and social skills. He has mentored young adults navigating through college and preparing a successful launch into adulthood. He has supported and offered clinical intervention to minors in group homes and juvenile halls. His work experience in Child Protective Services gives him an opportunity to facilitate change with families and children who are addressing dysfunctional generational patterns of abuse, neglect, and trauma. His personal mantra is to live a life with balance and gratitude.

Clarence is a certified healing circle facilitator. He believes that our mind, body and soul should be aligned to function at our best. He is an advocate of self-care. He enjoys reading, being active, having fun with the people in his life, and consciously parenting his children. Some of his interests are traveling, cooking, and trying new adventures. His existential goal is to leave the world a better place than how he experienced it. That requires doing Diversity & Equity work in every institution and representative of every marginalized group. He is an ally to all, and provides counseling services to those seeking self-actualization, reprieve from psychological pain, or skills to create change in their lives.

Carla Torres (she/hers/ella) has over 20 years experience as a community advocate and currently works for the Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children's Services, Racial Equity and Social Justice Unit. She received her master's degree from San Jose State University, and double majored at University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in Chicana Studies and Psychology. She considers herself a Xicana and proud daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico. She has worked in community-based organizations but most of her career has been with the Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children's Services. She is currently one of the leaders of the employee group, El Comite, and recently completed a 4-year term as a trustee for the Hollister School District. Advocacy for people of color and those of oppressed groups is her passion and she makes sure to take it with her when representing people whether at work or in the community.

Chelsea Cornell (she/her/hers) earned her social work degrees from Chico State. She is a Title IV-E Alum and has worked in the field of child welfare since 1998 as a social worker, trainer and supervisor. Chelsea is currently a Title IV-E Project Coordinator, MSW Co-Director, and Lecturer at Chico State. She trains for the Northern Training Academy and supports the Resource Parent/Kinship Education Program at Butte College.

Meka Klungtvet-Morano (she/her/hers) is a faculty in the School of Social Work at Chico State. She is a Project Coordinator for the Title IV-E Program and Co-Director of the MSW program. Meka has practice experience in child welfare, family treatment court, and resource parent/kinship training.

Dr. Pringle-Hornsby (she/her/sistah) has served as the CSULB CalSWEC Project Coordinator (PC) since Spring 2017. Prior to serving as the CalSWEC PC, Dr. Pringle-Hornsby worked with CSULB as a CalSWEC Field Consultant from 2000-2004. She has an interest in public child welfare, child and family well-being, and student success and engagement. She has worked in social work education over 25 years with students and faculty in a variety of areas. In most of her administrative assignments she has been able to mentor, guide and support students formally and informally. She sees this as a critical aspect of her role and understands the importance of helping to prepare the next generation of social work professionals.

For over 30 years Jenell Thompson (she/her/hers) has worked with families and their children in a wide variety of settings. Since 2000, she has worked with the Center for Community Futures in training Head Start staff on the use of nationally-based competencies. Jenell worked in child welfare for San Mateo County Human Services Agency for 16 years where she trained interns, line staff, supervisors, and community partners. Additional responsibilities included management of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) program, County Self-Assessments, and Child Welfare Services (CWS) data, contracts, and hiring. As a California State University (CSU) faculty member, she has taught graduate social work students for over 18 years. Currently, she is the Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Project Coordinator at CSU Stanislaus.

Cheryl Whittle (she/her/hers) has over thirty years of experience working with children and families. She has worked as a social worker, social work supervisor, and trainer in child welfare. As a therapist, she provided family therapy, and individual and group counseling. She began working at Fresno State in 2005, as a Lecturer and Field Liaison in the Department of Social Work. Since 2010, she has served as the Title IV-E BASW and MSW Child Welfare Program Coordinator for students who want to become professional child welfare social workers. Cheryl challenges students to become empowered, incorporate innovative approaches to practice, and develop their leadership skills.