CCL22 - II-B4, Intermediate-Level: Prenatal And Postpartum Strategies To Support Native American Infants And Families Affected By Prenatal Substance Exposure

Suzanne Garcia is a Tribal Legal and Child Welfare Specialist at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. Among other things, Suzanne has worked on projects concerning tribal/county/state collaboration, intra-tribal collaboration, ICWA, wellness courts, and substance use affected families. Prior to working for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, Suzanne was Assistant General Counsel for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. Suzanne is licensed to practice law at the Washoe Tribe, the Federal District Court of Nevada, and in the state of Nevada.

Teri Kook, MSW is a Change Liaison with the In-Depth Technical Assistance (IDTA) Program Team currently engaged in North Carolina, Michigan, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. She also consults on collaborative community practice to grantees of the Quality Improvement Center-Reunification at the University of Maryland. Ms. Kook has over 30 years of experience in child welfare program planning, development, implementation, strategic grantmaking, and providing technical assistance (TA). Prior to joining CCFF, Ms. Kook served as the Vice President of Family Resiliency Strategies at the Empire Health Foundation (EHF) where she oversaw grantmaking and community partnerships. The aim was to prevent adverse childhood events and mitigate the effect of trauma on young people so that they may reach their full potential. While at EHF, she also served as the Executive Director of the Family Impact Network, the first Network Administrator for performance-based contracting in child welfare in Washington State. Prior to EHF, Ms. Kook was the Director of Child Welfare at the Stuart Foundation where she oversaw all aspects of child welfare grantmaking and program development in California and Washington State. She also served as the Chief of Child Welfare in various frontline, supervisory, and child welfare management positions for 17 years in Stanislaus County, California. Ms. Kook holds an MA in Social Work from San Jose State University and a BA in Sociology from California State University, Stanislaus.