Foster/Kinship Care Office Staff
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Lillian E. Sass, MA, Program Coordinator
Lil Sass came to Citrus College on February 2, 2002 as the Early Childhood Career Ladder Supervisor; in June 2005, she transferred to EOP&S as the Interim EOP&S/CARE Supervisor/Coordinator. She joined the San Gabriel Valley (SGV) Consortium team as the Program Coordinator on April 1, 2006. Prior to working at Citrus College, she was the Outreach Manager for the WINGS (Women In Need Growing Strong), a domestic violence agency. Lil obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees at California University, Fullerton, in Psychology and Experimental Psychology, respectively. She has taught as an adjunct professor since 1996. Lil is highly involved in the community; she has served on the SGV-YWCA Board of Directors as secretary, VP-Fund Development, president, and is currently serving on their Finance and Personnel Committee. In October 2010, she was appointed to the City of Azusa's Human Relations Commission. In Lil's spare time, she enjoys scrapbooking, sci-fi movies and photography. |
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Sue Yarberry, Administrative Clerk III
Sue began her career in the field of Child Development back in January 1988 as an in home day care provider. Shortly after becoming a day care provider, she went back to school at Mt. San Antonio Community College in Walnut where she completed 56 units in Early Childhood Development with a 4.0 GPA and received certificates in Administration, Small Business Management, Infant-Toddler Development and Child Development. Sue operated her own day care business for six and one-half years, and then went on to be a preschool teacher in Pasadena for four years. While Sue loved being a preschool teacher, she wanted to have a job closer to home and one that involved more of her acquired business skills. In 1998, she interviewed for the CDC administrative clerk position and was hired. From that point she ran the busy front office up through June 30, 2010. Sue looks forward to further developing her current skills while learning new skills and information, as well as meeting all you wonderful "foster folk." |
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Foster/Kinship Care Facilitators
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Karen Cash, LCSW
Karen Cash has worked with the San Gabriel Valley Consortium as a facilitator, trainer, Independent Living Skills instructor and MAPP/PRIDE instructor for the past 18 years. She is currently focusing on adoptions, as well as the Family to Family approach that DCFS is currently moving forward. Her field of expertise is in Anger Management and Domestic Violence Prevention. Karen is also knowledgeable in a variety of other topics and welcomes all opportunities to meet the training needs of others in the community. |
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Karen Dixon, MS
Karen Dixon has been a facilitator/trainer with the Foster Kinship Education Program for over 10 years and is also certified to teach P.S. MAPP, PRIDE, KEPS, ILP, and D-rate classes. She has a Masters degree in Social Work Administration from Columbia University in New York City and has been the director of foster care programs for over 15 years. Recently, Ms. Dixon opened the “Gateway to Life Transitional Housing Program” for youth who have been emancipated from the foster care/probation system providing them with a supportive environment that offers resources in education, career exploration, employment and life skills. She states her motto in life is "Our youths are not defined by their past, but by the choices they make for their future.” |
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LeeAnn Paddock, Adoptive Foster Parent
LeeAnn is committed to educating herself, her family and community about the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. She and her husband John have been foster parents for 18 years serving medically fragile and developmentally disabled children in which they have adopted a sibling family of five. The Paddocks also have three grown-up children of their own. LeeAnn serves on the Pomona/San Gabriel Regional Center Vendor Advisory Board and is the President of the Parent Advisory Board at the Fairplex Children's Development Center. She conducts trainings on F-Rate, the Regional Center and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. When LeeAnn is not busy raising five small children, attending college evening classes and serving on boards, she spends her spare time volunteering as an Adoption Ambassador for the LA County DCFS Department. LeeAnn has always loved children and the unique way they can bless a life. She continues to teach caregivers to be "strong advocates" for their children and strongly believes that "every child deserves to have a forever family." |
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