Cheryl Mitchell



Cheryl Mitchell

164 Mitchell Drive

Vergennes, VT 05491

802-545-2278

Cheryl.Mitchell@uvm.edu

Education:

Ph.D. Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, OH (1998) Social Policy (and Spiritual Practice)

M. Ed. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT (1986) Administration (and Counseling)

B.A. Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA (1971) English Literature (and Religion)

Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Employment:

2008- present : Independent Consultant (selected projects):

o Treleven, Inc: President and consultant to this non-profit retreat and learning collaborative that promotes stewardship, social justice, reverence, and innovation.

o Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network: classes, trainings, program consultation, legislative testimony, and conducting a study tour for policy makers and practitioners. Issues related to unwed mothers and their children, family support policy, and creation of parent/child centers.

o Human Values Foundation: designing an evaluation and disseminating the curriculum developed by this UK organization to promote positive school climate.

o Permanent Fund for the Well Being of Vermont Children: research related to program development, design and implementation of early childhood leadership cohorts.

o People of Addison County Together, facilitate meetings, development of a transition plan, support for local and statewide Farm worker Coalitions

o Middlebury College: Visiting Scholar in Civic Engagement: support staff of Alliance for Civic Engagement, support students and faculty involved in service Learning

o University of Vermont: supervise independent study and internship projects, teach Spirit of Change as adjunct faculty

o Vermont Family Network: Evaluation of the federally funded Parent Information Resource Center project.

o Northern Lights/Union Institute: develop a culminating seminar for practitioners seeking the program director endorsement.

o Vermont Child Care Industries and Career Counsel: Instructor for Apprenticeship Program.

2003 – 2008 University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, Research Professor and faculty member: Graduate College, College of Education and Social Services, College of Medicine.

o Coordinate and teach courses for off-campus cohorts—Masters Degree in Education and Human Service Leadership—Addison County and Springfield regions.

o Provide contracted community development services for People of Addison County Together (PACT), a group which tracks community well-being and needs, builds social capital, and incubates community change projects such as:

o Expansion of health insurance coverage

o Buy Local and obesity prevention projects

o Development of teen centers and services

o Administration of Youth Initiated Grant-Making Council

o Creation of Addison County Poverty Council

o Creation of Addison County Affordable Housing Coalition and Housing Solutions

o Creation of Addison County Farm Workers Coalition

o Creation of Addison County Dental Care

o Creation of the Nature Network.

o Host and produce community access television shows.

o Teach courses on Leadership Development, Leading from Within, Multi-Cultural Issues, Risk and Resiliency, Teacher Licensure Portfolio for Early Childhood Educators.

o Research and program evaluation for

o American Academy of Pediatrics: Child Health Research Center

o Federal Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs

o School Readiness Indicators Project

o Vermont Agency of Human Services (various Departments)

o Vermont Department of Education

o Vermont Supreme Court.

1993- 2003. State of Vermont: Agency of Human Services, Deputy Secretary (appointed by Gov. Howard Dean). Shared administrative responsibility for this public agency which had 3,000 employees, served 223,000 clients, and had a budget in excess of one billion dollars. Coordinated activities of the Departments of Public Health, Social Welfare (Financial Support, Child Support, Medicaid), SRS (Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, and Child Care), Developmental and Mental Health, Aging and Disabilities, Corrections, Planning, and Economic Opportunity. Served as liaison with the Vermont State Legislature, Department of Education, Court Administrator’s Office, and community based programs.

1979-1992. Addison County Parent/Child Center, Middlebury, VT. Founding member and Co-director of this family support program which had a special focus on pregnant and parenting teens. It served 1700 families annually in a rural county of Vermont. Created the statewide network of Parent/Child Centers as well as an interdisciplinary Masters Degree program at UVM for teachers and human service workers.

1973-1978. Mary Johnson Children’s Center, Middlebury, VT. Director of this full day, full year program for children ages 2 to 12. One of the first child care centers to provide full inclusion for children with handicapping conditions and one of the first family support programs in Vermont. Created an Artists-in-the-Schools program for twelve childcare and pre-school facilities in Addison County.

1971-1972. The New School, Wayne PA. Teacher and guidance counselor. An alternative high school on Philadelphia’s Main Line, integrating gifted and emotionally challenged students.

Selected Community Change Initiatives

Child Care: Helped to develop full-service, full-inclusion community based programs, networks of family home providers, afterschool programs, public school/child care linkages, child care advocacy organizations, artists in the schools programs, the Child Care Fund of Vermont, and the Vermont Early Childhood Educator Licensing project.

Family Support Programs: Helped to develop the Addison County Parent/Child Center (P/CC), the prototype for a network of programs now required by law in Vermont. Helped to develop DADS (Diapers, Autos, Daughters, and Sons) a support program for young fathers. Helped to create Success by Six, providing home-based support and information to all Vermont families with newborn or newly adopted children.

Housing: Helped to create the Addison County Community Trust, a group which conserves farms and open land and creates and manages affordable housing. Served as first President. Helped to create the Clergy Rent Fund, the first P/CC transitional housing project, the Addison County Housing Coalition, and Housing Solutions (a risk-sharing pool for landlords, tenants, and social service providers).

Welfare Reform: Chaired the Advisory Committee which helped to develop and provide oversight of Vermont’s Demonstration Waiver. This waiver program evaluated the impact of sanctions versus supports on the likelihood that families would become capable of supporting their children without public assistance.

Health Care: Helped to create Healthy Babies, Kids and Families, for high risk families with children through age five; the Personal Care program for children with special needs; the Medicaid- funded package of services for school age children with special needs; the Dr. Dinosaur program which provides health insurance for children in families with incomes up to 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, VHAP which covered adults to 185% of poverty; and an outreach program to business HR departments.

Restorative Justice: Helped to create networks of community justice centers and supervised visitation programs for children in contested divorce cases.

Community Partnerships: Helped to create a network of local community planning groups that build social capital and give voice to the latent expertise embedded in communities.

Agricultural Issues: Helped to create the Buy Local Movement in Addison County through a project originally designed to combat obesity in young children. Helped to create the Addison County Farm Workers Coalition, which addresses the needs of migrant workers in the dairy industry as well as the health care needs of farmers and their families.

Selected Recent Research and Evaluation:

2011

Needs Assessment Evaluation of Vermont Home Visiting Programs with Susan Onderwyzer.

2010

Evaluation of the GA Homelessness Prevention Projects With Monika Baege,and Bud Meyers

Needs Assesment Evaluation of Home Visiting Programs in Vermont with Susan Onderwyzer

2009

Improving Attitudes Toward Unwed Mothers and Promoting Support, National Assembly, Seoul Korea.

Social Welfare Policy in a Multicultural Country Sookmyung University, Seoul, Korea.

Social Welfare for the Happiness of Unwed Parents, Busan Hanbumo Network, Busan, Korea.

Financial Support Policies for Vermont Families Hanbumo Network, Seoul Korea.

Building Support for Unwed Mothers and their children in the US: Overcoming Stigma, Increasing Support. Korean Women’s Development Institute, Seoul, Korea.

Supporting Unwed Mothers and their Children: Challenges, Strategies and Benefits to Mothers, Children, and Community Ae-Ran-Wan Seoul Korea.

2008

Choices for Care, an evaluation of the Vermont’s Long Term Care Medicaid Program: perspectives of participants, providers, and family members. Conducted for the Vermont Department of Aging and Independent Living as a subcontract from the University of Massachusetts.

General Assistance Pilot Program Evaluation, Phase Two with Dr. Herman Meyers and Dr. Monika Baege, conducted for the VT Department of Children and Families. Ongoing project.

2007

General Assistance Pilot Program Evaluation, Phase One with Dr. Herman Meyers and Dr. Monika Baege, conducted for the VT Department of Children and Families. Ongoing project.

Evaluation of Vermont’s Parent Information Resource Center, developed for the Parent Information Center, now called the Vermont Family Network. Ongoing project.

2006

Health Needs Assessment of the Migrant Workforce in Addison, Franklin, and Grand Isle Counties, with Fernando Ona et. alia, conducted for and published by the Vermont Department of Health of Health.

Love, Laughter and Leadership: Critical Issues in the Replication of the Learning Together Program. Conducted for the federal Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs.

2005

Safe, Supported and Special: A Report on the Replication of the Learning Together Program, conducted for the Addison County Parent/Child Center and the federal Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs.

2004

The Epidemic of Childhood Obesity (M. Long primary author) and Child Health in Child Care (K.Misra primary author) Second author on these two studies released by the American Academy of Pediatrics Center For Child Health Research.

2003

Solutions: An examination of Equity, Access and Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Vermont Court System, report conducted for and published by the Vermont Supreme Court.

The Family Infant and Toddler Program: a report conducted for the VT Department of Education.

Current Community Activities

Addison County Affordable Housing Coalition: 2005- 2008, co-organizer

Addison County Dental Care: 2004-present, founding board member, current secretary

Addison County Farm Worker Coalition: 2005- present, founder, co- convener

Alliance for Civic Engagement at Middlebury College: 2004- present, member and partner

Beacon Hill Friends House: elected 2008, corporate board member

Carsey Institute: Vermont Policy Liaison, 2006- 2008

Child Health and Early Education Research Consortium: 2003- present, founding co-chair

Middlebury Friends Meeting: 1978-present

New Haven Community Library: 2007-2009, trustee, treasurer

North West Quarterly Meeting of the Society of Friends: 2004-2007, clerk

Vermont Interfaith Anti-Racism Committee: 2005- present, founding member

Vermont Advisory Committee to the US Civil Rights Commission: appointed 2007-present

Vermont Children's Hospital Advisory Board: 2003 - present

Vermont Ecumenical Council: 2003-2008, trustee

Vermont Public Assets Institute: 2007 – present, trustee

Awards, publications, presentations, legislative testimony and references are available on request.

Personal:

Living in an extended family on our sheep farm in rural Vermont and being a member of a Quaker Meeting nurtures me. Watching children grow healthy and strong when they are surrounded by the love of family and community gives me hope for the future.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download