Staff

Kinship House has six clinicians, an Executive Director, an Office Manager, a Nurse Practitioner, a Medical Director and a Quality Assurance and Utilization Management team. The staff of Kinship House intimately knows the problems foster and adoptive children face and are skilled at helping children effectively address their troubles in order to achieve permanent placement.

Sue Bowers, MA, LPC

CLINICIAN (Founding Board & Staff Member: 1995 to Present)
Sue has been working with children and families for over 30 years. She has worked in community mental health, the school system, the court system and an adoption agency. Her primary work has focused on assisting foster and adoptive families parenting children with special needs. As a former clinician and supervisor for a large Northwest adoption program, Sue has extensive experience in counseling adults and in providing a range of therapeutic services to children and families at Kinship House. Sue is a past provider of foster care and is herself an adoptive parent.

Melissa Smith-Hohnstein, MSW, LCSW

CLINICIAN & CLINICAL COORDINATOR (Founding Board & Staff Member: 1995 to Present)
Melissa received her bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Social Work from Portland State University in 1989 and has been a licensed clinical social worker since 1992. From 1985 to 1988, she worked in a residential treatment program for adolescent girls and boys. Upon completing the master's program at PSU, she was employed at a community mental health clinic providing crisis emergency services and brief therapy to adults and children. In 1992, she transferred to a team that provided therapy to children and families in a variety of home settings. Some children resided with their birth families and others lived in foster and adoptive homes. In 1995, she became a founding board member and later a clinician for Kinship House. Her current clinical specialties include providing adoption transitions, sibling assessments and treating the prenatally exposed child. Melissa herself was adopted as a young child and is an adoptive parent.

Alison Strickland, MSW, LCSW

CLINICIAN (Founding Staff Member: 1997 to Present)
Alison has worked with children in community mental health, day treatment and school settings since 1991, specializing in play therapy with young children. She has worked in Oregon, Nevada and Georgia providing mental health services to children. Alison enjoys working with younger children and specializes in the treatment of early childhood trauma. She also enjoys doing assessments of siblings and parent-child interactions.

Pamela Crutchfield, MSSW, LCSW

CLINICIAN (2004 to Present)
Pamela has provided therapeutic services to children since 1995. She has worked as a school social worker and in child protective services for the State of Oregon. Pamela has extensive experience with children and families from other cultures. Her work has taken her to West Africa, Costa Rica and Cuba. Pamela provides therapy for our Spanish speaking clients. As a therapist at Kinship House she uses play and filial therapy to work with children, teenagers and their adoptive and foster families.

Heather Wilson, MA, ATR

CLINICIAN (2004 to Present)
Heather graduated with a Master's in Art Therapy in 1997 from Marylhurst University and has been working with children and families in mental health since 1995. She has worked with special needs children and their families in residential, day treatment and outpatient community mental health settings for 11 years. Heather has recently authored an illustrative book, Foster Care and Adoption: A Pathway to Understanding, to assist children and professionals with the adoption transition process.

Beth Erickson, MSW

CLINICIAN AND INTAKE COORDINATOR (February 2007 to Present)
Beth started as an intern during her quest for her Master's degree in Social Work. She graduated in 2006 and currently is working towards licensure. Beth has worked with children in a variety of capacities. She has taught in a special education classroom, volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), worked for the Department of Human Services, and coached lacrosse, basketball, baseball and soccer. Beth enjoys helping children transition successfully into permanent homes and advocating for their emotional, physiological and psychological needs.

Program Support Staff

Ann G. Witsil, MBA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (July 2005 to Present)
Ann brings over 20 years of experience leading for-profits, non-profits and government agencies in providing focused, profitable, and learning operations. Ann has been an executive in Fortune 500 corporations, including US Bancorp, where she served as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Market Research, and later at Nike, Inc., where she was Interim Director of Strategic Planning for Nike, Equipment. Ann has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University and a BA in Government from Smith College, Massachusetts. In 1990, Ann founded Catalyst Strategies, a management consulting firm providing organizational development, team leadership and strategic facilitation services to organizations throughout the Northwest. Ann has served as Interim Executive Director for several regional non-profits, as a member of the Executive Transitions Services team of Technical Assistance for Community Services.

Darcy English

OFFICE MANAGER/BILLING COORDINATOR (July 2007 to Present)
Office Manager and Billing Coordinator, may be the first to greet you on the phone or at the door, and is a top-notch office organizer and account manager.

Medical Staff

Charlene Sabin, MD

MEDICAL DIRECTOR (1999 to Present)
Dr. Sabin is a Behavioral Pediatrician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol related brain damage and Tourette's Syndrome. A native Oregonian, she completed her medical degree and residency at the University of Oregon Medical School, now Oregon Health Sciences University. Dr. Sabin is an excellent resource for assessments, medication and consultation on the interplay between physical and mental health. Dr. Sabin has a private practice next door to Kinship House and collaborates with us as our medical director.

Cynthia Rutto, PMHNP

NURSE PRACTITIONER (June 2006 to Present)
Cyndy graduated from Linfield College in 1987 with a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing with extra clinical training in the area of pediatrics and oncology. She was a pediatric nurse for 15 years at Shriner's Hospital for Children, where the patients had a variety of medical and emotional needs. After 9 years as an inpatient nurse, Cyndy became a Care Coordinator and ran the neuromuscular, skeletal dysplasia, metabolic bone disease and general outpatient clinics for a surgeon. Ms. Rutto earned her Master's of Science degree at OHSU and became a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner while working for and being mentored by Dr. Charlene Sabin. Cyndy contracts with Western Psychological and Counseling Services and Kinship House, and has a private practice in Northeast Portland.