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April Cathcart began developing the concept of Empowering, Inc. during middle school when she discovered the power of experiential education through play during a mentor training. April leads with her compassion, creativity, and innovative thinking. For the last decade, she has provided extensive therapeutic experiences to a diverse range of people in schools, homes and community settings. Leading trainings and groups for many years refined her ability to teach others new skills and provide opportunities for practice. Having provided in home therapeutic services for 11 years, April manages programs with a direct knowledge of the realities of working in the field. With additional experience as a sexual assault advocate, and a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator, April works to improve the lives of others by promoting experiential education and children’s right to learn through play, their universal language. Deborah Comes has 25 years of experience in serving children, youth and families. As a preschool teacher, director, family educator and consultant she has seen the profound changes that are possible, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Deborah is a nationally recognized Nurturing Parenting Program trainer, consultant and facilitator. Her expertise and creativity are contagious to the families and therapists she works with. Deborah carefully studies parenting perceptions from assessments our therapists complete with every caregiver. She then guides the therapists to facilitate intentional Nurturing Parenting Program lessons and activities that offer opportunities for specific growth, always with an emphasis on decreasing the risk of child abuse and neglect. Andraya McGregor has a passion for working with children and families. With over seven years experience facilitating groups, school counseling, teaching communication skills, conflict resolution, and teambuilding, she prides herself in being able to relate to others and enjoys working as part of a team. Andraya’s strengths include her ability to organize, build trusting relationships and support accountability. She has a variety of outdoor team building and experiential education skills that assist families in strengthening bonds and increasing responsibility to one another and is a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator. Andraya’s supervisory experience and excellent therapeutic skills gained in practice make her a perfect fit to lead our Family Preservation Therapists. Tanya has more than nine years experience working with children and families in a variety of settings: as a DCFS social worker, Family Preservation Therapist, and as a child and family advocate. She utilizes her easygoing personality to build rapport, her knowledge of systems to get needs met, and her ability to hold others accountable alongside clients and providers to efficiently get work done with families. Tanya’s abilities along with additional extensive work with teens, sexual assault prevention and search and rescue make her well qualified to provide a wide range of services. She is also a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator. A full 20 years of direct experience working with people allows Bob to draw from a wide variety of skills. His bachelor’s degree in social work provides him with a strong ability to identify and connect family members to community resources that are available long after FPS services close. Bob’s demonstration of success in preparing teens for independent living prior to aging out of foster care brought him to the FPS team with a reputation of being skilled in priority planning and teaching life skills. He is a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator. With the energy of a teenager and the skill of a seasoned therapist, Bob will offer the assistance and support needed to increase the stability of even the most difficult home environment. For more than 25 years, Dave has worked in the areas of consultation, crisis management, teaching, parent coaching, chemical dependency treatment and relapse prevention throughout Washington State. Dave is a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator. As a licensed mental health counselor, Dave’s aptitude in the field of mental health, coupled with his use of Reality Therapy techniques, provide him with a strong ability to work with families, couples and individuals experiencing a myriad of challenges to ensure the safety of children.
Amy has exceptional experience working with at-risk, criminally involved, drug addicted adolescents and collaborating with their families and providers as a counselor at an inpatient chemical dependency treatment facility. Her Master’s degree in Social Work, extensive training in Motivational Interviewing, licensure as a Chemical Dependency Professional and status as a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator provide her with confidence and experience in crisis intervention and management, drug and alcohol counseling, problem solving, collaboration and the ability to develop creative treatment interventions for every client. Amy uses her therapeutic expertise with clients to assess and increase their desire for change through goal-focused behavior. Amy’s ethical standards have earned her a supervisory position for Crisis Family Intervention (CFI). Amy’s hard work and dedication to each case ensures families will receive support and guidance.
While attending Eastern Washington University for Social Work, Gary realized his passion for working with at-risk youth and teens. Gary's broad work experience and training in the field allows him to easily build good rapport with clients while maintaining professional boundaries. Gary also has worked extensively with physically and sexually aggressive adults and youth. Gary's motivation and skill set make him an invaluable asset to the team
With a Masters in Social Work, Ross has experience working with New Mexico’s Children Youth and Families Department. He has an inherent sense of responsibility to ensure safety of all children driven by his background experiences in child protection services. Ross operates from an eclectic skill base which focuses on client strengths, and is comfortable working with clients from diverse cultures. Ross is prepared to work with families and serve the Spokane community.
Katie Taylor has a wide range of educational experience which includes; Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s Degree in Severe/Profound Special Education, 8 years experience as a Special Education teacher in Seattle Public Schools, an outdoor recreation counselor for people with disabilities, and a respite provider for people with disabilities for DDD. Through these experiences she has gained the knowledge and resources to work with families of children with disabilities in a variety of situation and meet their individual needs. Her desire and problem solving skills make her a great asset to families looking for positive discipline and a wide range of alternative teaching methods for children with disabilities.
Catherine's professional background has been focused on working with behavioral and special needs children within the school system. Before completing her BA in Psychology where she focused on forensics, Catherine grew additional strength in biology in her education as a pre-nursing student. She holds a Masters in Social Work where her focus was child welfare and learning more about local Native American culture. Her education and professional work have allowed her to combine skills in attachment/bonding, and cognitive/behavioral training. Catherine is continuously pushing herself to increase her knowledge and skills to be flexible and malleable to a family's unique needs.
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Intensive Family Preservation Services Team .........................................................................................  Mandy Freeman, M.Ed.Supervisor Cell - 509.768.2784 mandyf@empoweringincservices.com Mandy’s vast range of more than 15 years of child and family experience spans from leading school age care as a facilitator and supervisor to co-teaching in integrated special education, and from working in juvenile corrections to counseling adolescents in chemical dependency and mental health, both in residential care and in outpatient treatment. Her Bachelor’s degree is in education; she is certified to teach in Washington State and holds her Master’s Degree in Education in Community Agency Counseling. Mandy is a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator. Her education and experience are congruent with her desire to teach and coach healthy living, parenting, development, and communication and socialization skills to families. Mandy’s range of experience and commitment to life long learning testify to her exceptional community reputation for working with a variety of people including at-risk adolescents, non-traditional families, culturally diverse and even resistant families. To bolster her bachelor’s degree in social work, Kerry holds a Master’s degree in counseling. Complimenting her formal education, Kerry is a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator and has in home experience working with autistic youth and their families. Time spent counseling young children allowed her to develop heightened empathy and concern for the safety of children. Her therapeutic background and training create a niche for those in need of client centered work tailored to protect children. Lisa’s professional background includes providing care for children at Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery and in a school environment as a counselor. Her Bachelor’s degree is in Counseling Educational Developmental Psychology and her Master’s is in Guidance and Counseling. Both provide Lisa with the skills necessary to apply a variety of cognitive and behavioral techniques and interventions suitable for individual clients. Lisa has the capacity to enter an environment and take necessary steps to ensure the safety of families. Lisa’s commitment to excellence is demonstrated through her strong collaboration with providers and her attention to the organization of the home and family. She provides supportive education about development and coaches families to thrive as a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator.
Shannon has more than twelve years of experience working with families which adds to her tool kit. She utilizes a variety of skills to meet client needs. With a BA degree complimented by Spanish and emphasizing Sociology and Political Science, her options are varied. This background enables Shannon to advocate for change with individuals and families while also taking necessary action to support policies directly affecting client lives. Shannon’s success in connecting families to resources, teaching life skills and her dedication to the field of child welfare have made her a great fit to the IFPS team. As a Nurturing Parenting Program facilitator, Shannon offers the remarkable skills and reliability needed to support families on the IFPS Team
Brenda Tarvin has a previous background in social services, coordinating a youth crisis line, volunteering as a domestic violence advocate and serving more than a decade as a Community Services Block Grant County supervisor, providing low income services in rural Idaho. During that time, Brenda attended numerous trainings, conferences and workshops focused on educating families about creative ways to reduce the impact of poverty on their daily lives. She then joined us after eight years dedicated to her role as Municipal Court Clerk, including three years as a domestic violence court clerk. These previous work experiences heightened her awareness of the impact of systems on the lives of children. Sara Blickhahn’s knack for numbers and organization has been previously utilized in areas such as property management, purchasing, inventory, customer service and teaching. Sara brings her combination of passion, attention to detail, and experience to the administrative side of the organization. Sara thinks creatively and enjoys organizing strong work environments. Her speed and precision stand out. Her detailed, prompt care of numbers meets the fast paced world of business that our service organization operates within.
Danielle is a proud Grizzly Alum from the University of Montana, where she recently earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology/Criminology with Minors in Psychology and Political Science. With previous work experience in legal offices and conducting background investigations, she gained strong clerical, organization, and prioritization skills. As the organization’s receptionist, Danielle brings her outgoing personality, efficiency, and attention to detail to help facilitate the general needs of the office.
......................................................................................... If this is a life threatening emergency, call 911. If this is a mental health emergency in Spokane, call First Call for Help at 509.838.4428. For FPS or PSC after-hour client emergencies call 509.263.8087 to reach an on-call therapist. For IFPS after-hour client emergencies or to make referrals, call 509.768.1132. .........................................................................................  
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