Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)- A Complete 3-Hour Overview (from Child Welfare System Change) (On Demand Seminar)

A. Ellen White is a retired Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge who currently serves on the recall list for retired judges and as a judicial consultant. Prior to her retirement on July 1, 2018, A. Ellen White served 24 years as the presiding judge of the Campbell County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. She also served three terms as Chief Judge of the 24th District Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for seven years and she is a past president of the Virginia Council of Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judges. She chaired the Judicial Education Committee; the Law Revision Committee and the Judicial Administration Committee of the Judicial Conference of Virginia for District Courts. She received the Family Law Service Award from the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section in 2014 and the Hon. Harry L. Carrico Outstanding Career Service Award from the Judicial Council of Virginia in 2017. She has served as a faculty member for the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Continuing Legal Education Foundation and for numerous judicial education programs sponsored by the Supreme Court of Virginia. She led her court’s service as a Best Practice Court in the area of foster care and adoption from that program’s inception by the Virginia Court Improvement Program in 2002. She continues to serve on the Virginia Court Improvement Program Advisory Committee.

Prior to her appointment to the bench in 1994, Judge White was an attorney engaged in private law practice for eleven years in Lynchburg, Virginia. She obtained a B.A. Degree from the College of William and Mary in 1980 and her J.D. degree from the University of Richmond’s T. C. Williams School of Law in 1983.

Carl Ayers joined the Virginia Department of Social Services as the Director of the Division of Family Services in July 2014. The Division of Family Services is responsible for the supervision of the Child Protective Services, Foster Care, Adoption, Prevention Services, and Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance and Title IV-E programs for Virginia. Prior to joining the Virginia Department of Social Services, Carl held a number of positions with local departments of social services. Most recently, he served as the Director of the Floyd County Department of Social Services from 2004-2014.

During his time as a local director, Carl served in many capacities through the Virginia League of Social Service Executives (VLSSE), serving as President of the VLSSE from 2012 to 2014.

Presently, Carl serves as Chair of the Interagency Partnership to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness and is on the Executive Committee for the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators among numerous other leadership roles. Throughout his nearly 20 years of experience in the child welfare system, he has held a variety of leadership positions at both the local and state levels. Carl holds a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from Radford University and is a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute as well as the Commonwealth Management Institute.

Sandra L. Karison is Director of the Court Improvement Program in the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, where she develops and facilitates the integration of procedures and best practices for court cases involving juvenile and family law. A particular focus for the program is on improving the court system’s ability to manage and resolve cases involving child abuse, neglect, foster care, and permanency planning for dependent children under state and federal laws and policies. This work is facilitated by a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant first awarded to Virginia in February 1995. Ms. Karison also supports implementation of Judicial Council of Virginia standards for guardians ad litem for children and incapacitated adults.

Previously, Ms. Karison served as Assistant Director of Legal Research in the Office of the Executive Secretary, as Staff Attorney for the Court Improvement Program, and as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Richmond representing the Richmond Department of Social Services and Children’s Services Act office. She also has worked for Rappahannock Legal Services and in private practice, where she served as guardian ad litem for children and incapacitated adults.

Ms. Karison is a graduate of the University of Virginia. She earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond School of Law.

Scott Reiner has been the Executive Director of the Office of Children’s Services (OCS) since June 2016 and has been with OCS since September 2013. He is responsible for all activities at OCS, providing comprehensive oversight to the Virginia’s Children’s Services Act (CSA) including training and technical assistance, financial operations, audit and compliance monitoring, information technology, and outcomes evaluation. Children served through CSA include those in the child welfare, special education, juvenile justice, and behavioral health systems. He came to OCS after 26 years with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice. Scott has his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Syracuse University.

Eric Reynolds is staff attorney for the Court Improvement Program in the Office of the Executive Secretary for the Supreme Court of Virginia. Previously, he was an Assistant Attorney General with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General in Richmond, representing and advising the Virginia Department of Social Services, the State Executive Council for Children’s Services and the Office of Children’s Services, the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services, and the Department of Medical Assistance Services. Prior to working at the OAG, he was in private practice, focusing on family law and serving as a court-appointed guardian ad litem for children and counsel for parents in child custody and child welfare cases in the Metro-Richmond area. He has been a member of various work groups and advisory panels for the Virginia Department of Social Services and the Commission on Youth, served on the Chesterfield Court Improvement Team, the Chesterfield Head Start Policy Council, the Children’s Justice Act/Court Appointed Special Advocate Advisory Board, the Virginia Court Improvement Program Advisory Committee and its Workgroup to Review the Practice and Performance of GALs for Children, Virginia’s Three Branch Institute, and the Richmond Community Criminal Justice Services Board. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond School of Law.