About Us
Welcome to the Alliance CaRES community!
Caregivers like you are central to providing stability to the children who enter care in Washington every year until they can safely return home.
While you are doing the important work of supporting children and families, we are here to support YOU. Foster parents and kinship caregivers are often entering children’s lives at one of their most complicated moments. This journey requires endurance, perseverance and courage, but can yield so many rewards. One of our favorite quotes is, “Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations.”
The Alliance CaRES (Caregiver Retention, Education and Support) program is a partner of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families offering support to kin, suitable others and licensed foster parents around the state. Our CaRES Mentors are dedicated to working alongside caregivers at every stage of your journey, providing guidance, access to resources, and support groups on specific topics where you can learn and interact with peers. We also offer robust learning opportunities through the The Alliance for Professional Development, Training, and Caregiver Excellence, such as trainings and individual support sessions. We are here to answer your questions and offer help when you need it! We can help you find resources, problem-solve, connect you locally, and offer advice in special areas including Kinship care, caring for LGBTQIA+ youth, caring for medically complex youth, and more.
Please reach out!
If you are interested in hosting an event or support group for caregivers in your local community, we would love to hear your ideas! Use the email address and phone number below to send us a note.
Would you like to have one of our wonderful mentors reach out to you for individualized support? Send us an email or leave a voice mail with your contact information, a sentence or two about what general areas you need support in, and if you need language support or interpretation.
If you are sending a referral on behalf of a caregiver, please also let us know if they are expecting a call from us. Mentors will respond within 48 hours.
Email us at AllianceCaRES@uw.edu or call 206-221-4913.
If you are a caregiver going through an investigation, be sure to visit our page on support for allegations and investigations.
Aimee Shields
Community Engagement Coordinator, Regions 1 & 2
Aimee80@uw.edu
Aimee holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and has spent the past decade working in child welfare. Aimee’s passion for supporting caregivers began during her time as a DCYF social worker and then as a consultant for DCYF. Most recently, Aimee enjoyed a long tenure as a foster home licensor. Aimee also comes to CaRES with personal experience as a kinship caregiver. When she is not working, Aimee can be found walking her dogs, bird watching, and doing puzzles.
Alexandra Howe
Community Engagement Coordinator, Regions 5 & 6
AlexHowe@uw.edu
With more than 18 years of experience as an educator and advocate, Alexandra Howe has dedicated her career to supporting children, families, and communities. Before joining Alliance CaRES, she worked at Treehouse, where she advocated for youth in foster care, focusing on educational rights, trauma-informed care, and improving academic outcomes. Her work has centered around creating inclusive, nurturing environments that promote the holistic development of children with special needs, always rooted in healing, empathy, and community connection.
As a former foster parent and the adoptive parent of two neurodivergent young children, Alexandra brings both professional expertise and personal insight to her work. She has led trainings focused on encouraging strong, supportive relationships between birth parents and caregivers, strengthened connections between families and vital resources, and collaborated closely with tribal communities to uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
Outside of work, Alexandra enjoys beach adventures with her partner and children, chasing after the kids’ latest special interests, and most recently, taking on biking adventures with two proud new riders.
Deshanna Brown
Community Engagement Coordinator, Regions 3 & 4
DBrown27@uw.edu
Deshanna holds a bachelor’s in criminal justice with a focus in juvenile justice. She has spent the past decade working in youth services and supporting families in various roles and capacities such as being a visit supervisor, Foster Care Specialist, and is a volunteer court Appointed Child Advocate. Deshanna joined Alliance CaRES in 2021 working as a mentor and is excited to continue her work with Alliance CaRES in this role.
Mandy GillisMandy coordinates the social media channels, website, and emails for CaRES. Their passion lies in connecting communities with local resources and support, which they enjoy doing through creative means. Mandy has experience supporting LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults at the collegiate and K-12 levels, as well as college students who have experienced homelessness, the foster care system, and/or food insecurity. They hold bachelor’s degrees in International Affairs and Gender Studies, and they are currently in graduate school working towards a Master of Social Work. In their free time, Mandy enjoys adventuring outdoors, reading fantasy and sci-fi books, knitting, and cooking.
Shana Burres
CaRES Program Manager
SRBurres@uw.edu
Shana Burres is the program manager of the Alliance CaRES program. She oversees the caregiver education, retention, and support teams in service of kinship caregivers and foster parents across Washington state. She holds a bachelor’s degree in health education, a Master of Education in educational leadership, and a PhD in psychology. Her career in adult learning began with a position as director of a small non-profit and instructor at a local college. When Shana and her family became a licensed foster parent and joined the work of The Mockingbird Society as a HUB home, she discovered a passion for connecting and supporting foster parents. She joined Alliance CaRES when they launched in March of 2021. She is grateful for the opportunity to continually adapt and improve the ways caregivers engage in support and education. When she is not thinking or talking about foster care, she is enjoying time with her family, drinking coffee with friends, or dreaming up the next project or adventure.
Mentors and Specialists can help you by providing emotional support, sharing their experiences, and connecting you to regional and state resources. Specialists can help caregivers by providing emotional support, sharing their experiences, and connecting them to resources. They have an area of dedicated knowledge that may be especially important for a caregiver looking for understanding. Mentors and Specialists do not offer legal, medical, or mental health advice.
April Burrer
CaRES Lead Mentor
ABurrer@uw.edu
April Burrer is a Lead CaRES mentor who brings both professional and lived experience to her work supporting foster and adoptive families. April holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, with a focus on child development, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, with a focus on family systems. She and her husband have been licensed foster parents since 2006, and their household includes a wonderful mix of biological, adopted, and foster children. She’s especially passionate about helping caregivers recognize and build on their strengths, supporting them through the challenges of navigating medical complexities, and helping create strong, connected communities where caregivers can lean on one another.
Christina Urtasun
CaRES Statewide Mentor
CUrtasun@uw.edu
Christina has been a licensed foster parent, in Oak Harbor, for twenty years. She has been involved in many aspects of the foster care community including providing liaison services with Fostering Together program for 13 years and being a co-trainer with the Alliance for Child Welfare. Christina is excited to join the Alliance CaRES program as a mentor so she can continue supporting and encouraging families as well as help them navigate the system. Christina has four sons and one daughter. In her spare time, Christina loves to be hiking, camping, reading, and spending time with her family.
Lisa Konick
CaRES Lead Mentor
LRKonick@uw.edu
Lisa Konick has been a foster parent for 21 years. During that time she has adopted four foster children. A graduate of the University of Washington, Lisa has been a caregiver co-trainer since 2011, and prior to that she was an educational advocacy trainer for Treehouse. Lisa is passionate about supporting, encouraging, and resourcing foster caregivers and kinship care providers across Washington state.
Nathan LaChine
CaRES Mentor Region 5, 6, & LGBTQIA+ Community Specialist
NLaChine@uw.edu
Nathan has been a therapeutic foster parent with Community Youth Services serving BRS Youth for the past 16 years. He has held a variety of roles within the foster care community and has been a strong advocate within the LGBTQ2IA+ community. Through his teaching and public speaking, Nathan hopes to elevate and provide a voice for system involved families.
Mentors help you by providing emotional support, sharing their experiences, and connecting you to regional and state resources. They are experienced caregivers who are familiar with the supports and services available in your region. Mentors are generalists who can help all types of caregivers statewide find the resources and support they need for successful placements. Mentors do not offer legal, medical, or mental health advice.
Amanda Merriman
CaRES Mentor & Connector Region 6
AMerr7@uw.edu
Amanda and her husband have been foster parents since 2015. They have welcomed many children into their home and helped to facilitate successful reunification. Amanda strives to maintain supportive relationships with families during the course of their case and after reunification. In doing so, she has gained great perspective on the importance of nurturing relationships between biological families and their children. This became a passion of hers after the adoption of her daughter in 2020. It also led to experience as a kinship caregiver when one of her children’s relatives entered care. She now hopes to use her experience to support fellow caregiving families in their journey.
April Burrer
CaRES Lead Mentor
ABurrer@uw.edu
April has been a licensed foster parent for 15 years. She has spent the last six years recruiting and supporting foster families. She enjoys encouraging caregivers and helping build caregiver support communities. She began her career working in child welfare as an intern for DCYF, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the dependency and foster care process (as well as heavy use of a copy machine!). April and her husband are nurturing a host of kiddos (bio, adopted, and foster).
Collette Bise
CaRES Mentor Region 1
CBise@uw.edu
Collette has been a licensed foster parent for 5 years and a kinship care/suitable other for 5-6 years prior to that. Collette and her husband Troy have lived in the Spokane area for 23 years and have 6 grown children and have fostered at least 14 others (mostly teenage girls). Collette is an Early Learning Provider and works in the ECEAP program. She is enthusiastic about supporting all families but especially young families, families who are CPS involved and families who are caring for children that are not their own. She and Troy own a small farm in Newman Lake and raise beef cattle and sheep.
Heidi Nollan
CaRES Mentor Region 2
HeidiN5@uw.edu
Heidi and her husband have been licensed foster parents in Ellensburg, WA since 2017. Their family has children from biology, foster care, and adoption. Foster care, and the care of families, is something that she cares for deeply. Heidi was first introduced to foster care when her best friend in kindergarten was placed in care. It made a significant impact on her, and ever since she has wanted to support and be a part of foster care. Heidi and her family have fostered children from 0-8 years old. They have been a part of beautiful reunifications and adoptions. Heidi looks forward to supporting foster parents in their journey.
Lisa Konick
CaRES Lead Mentor
LRKonick@uw.edu
Lisa Konick has been a foster parent for 21 years. During that time she has adopted four foster children. A graduate of the University of Washington, Lisa has been a caregiver co-trainer since 2011, and prior to that she was an educational advocacy trainer for Treehouse. Lisa is passionate about supporting, encouraging, and resourcing foster caregivers and kinship care providers across Washington state.
Mary Robinson
CaRES Mentor Region 1
MRobin6@uw.edu
Mary has been a licensed foster parent for 12 years. Her fostering journey has opened up many opportunities for Mary to support and encourage foster parents. She served as an Assistant Recruitment Coordinator and Recruiter Peer Mentor (RPM) with FosteringWA for five years. She and her husband have three adult children and they have provided a home for countless others. Mary works part time at an alternative high school teaching reading.
Nathan LaChine
CaRES Mentor Region 5, 6, & LGBTQIA+ Community Specialist
NLaChine@uw.edu
Nathan has been a therapeutic foster parent with Community Youth Services serving BRS Youth for the past 16 years. He has held a variety of roles within the foster care community and has been a strong advocate within the LGBTQ2IA+ community. Through his teaching and public speaking, Nathan hopes to elevate and provide a voice for system involved families.
Rae Cook
CaRES Mentor Region 3
RCook3@uw.edu
Rae and her family have been a licensed foster and adoptive home for seven years, and were able to adopt their son in winter 2018. Rae began volunteering to speak on foster parent panels and with her local foster community groups. She was also able to be one of the original satellite families that formed a Mockingbird Family model in her area. She has dedicated herself to building a community of support to all foster families.
Rachael Turner
CaRES Mentor Region 6
RTurner4@uw.edu
Rachael is from Port Angeles, WA. She is married with two biological children, two adopted children, and guardianship of one. She and her husband have been foster parents since 2007. They specialize in teenage foster children. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management, a master’s degree in teaching, and currently holds a teaching certificate in Washington State. She and her family enjoy racing, camping, hunting, fishing, and the outdoors.
Rebecca Wilkens
CaRES Mentor Region 2
RWilkens@uw.edu
Rebecca, her husband, and their three teens have been fostering since 2014. Rebecca is passionate about advocating for the needs of children living in her home and works hard to maintain positive contact with former foster placements and their families after reunification. She enjoys helping caregiving families figure out strategies to feel safe fostering while having young biological children in the home; listening to families when life is feeling overwhelming or stressful; encouraging and cheering for families when things are going well; connecting families to resources available to them in their communities; and creating ways for families to connect in person in the community. Rebecca has her elementary education degree and teaches part time. She enjoys gardening, spending time with her family, attending concerts, and taking care of her many animals.
September Beal
SBeal@uw.edu
CaRES Mentor Region 1
September has been a licensed foster parent for 6 years and is also an adoptive mom. She lives in the Spokane area and has a 18 year old, 15 year old and 6 year old. September fosters ages 3 and younger and teaches Kindergarten in Spokane. She is passionate about supporting all families and establishing a good relationship with those families. September also has a small hobby farm where her kids raise and show cows, and sheep.
Stephanie Reid
CaRES Mentor Region 3
SDReid@uw.edu
Stephanie and her family have been fostering since 2018 but were introduced to kinship care in 2014. She has worked in communication for the last 15 years and holds a Bachelors degree in Social Science. She also worked in a foster care receiving shelter, as a volunteer grief group facilitator, and is active in advocacy for rare disease research and support. Stephanie has experience caring for medically fragile children, kinship care, transracial adoption, and child loss. As the wife of a retired veteran, she understands the ins and outs of military life. Stephanie is passionate about supporting children in the foster care system as well as their families and understands the value of foster parents being seen and heard members of the team. Stephanie is a mother through biology, adoption, and foster care. Most of her free time is spent with her husband and four daughters.
