Tiffany Allenis a social worker with background in providing direct services and conducting research in the child welfare and early education fields. Tiffany brings to the ChildFocus team experience in program evaluation, survey design, and data analysis. She has also provided in-home and adoption recruitment services, studied the administrative and funding structures of child welfare systems nationwide, and designed and conducted research in the areas of older youth adoption and kinship care.  

Tiffany spent the majority of her career at Child Trends, a nonpartisan research nonprofit, where she was an integral team member for the experimental evaluations of the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption recruitment program and the Family Finding model. At Child Trends, Tiffany led the 2007 National Kinship Care survey and conducted research in kinship diversion practices in Delaware and Virginia. Most recently, Tiffany worked at the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) in Washington, DC, where she developed an agency-wide data quality plan and continuous quality improvement protocol, as well as a data scorecard and a performance monitoring system for older youth in foster care on several key measures, including education and employment. 

She also has a passion for serving older youth, and she regularly volunteers in her church’s youth ministry and serves as Music Director at her church. Tiffany holds a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Temple University and a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She lives in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Sheree began her advocacy work during her time in foster care with the Child Abuse Prevention Council of San Joaquin County, where she focused on the lack of social, financial and mental health supports for youth transitioning out of the foster care system. As a Community Outreach Manager in North St. Louis for 60 low-income youth and their families, she witnessed firsthand the systemic inequities among low-income communities and communities of color. She led a partnership with a local organization, Harambee, to provide career readiness for the young adults and went on to work as a Research Assistant for Health Equity Works, where she helped recruit and interview community members in North St. Louis to develop health care resources and health education for high school students. Sheree has also served as a grassroots organizer for issue-focused campaigns, a Graduate Policy Researcher focusing criminal justice reform, and a Legislative Fellow in the Missouri State Legislature for Representative Deb Lavender (MO-90).
In 2019, Sheree was selected for the Foster Youth Internship Program with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) where she worked in the Senate Finance Committee for Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). At the conclusion of the program, Senator Wyden selected Sheree to pitch her legislative proposal to other Congressional leaders, leading to the introduction of the bipartisan Increasing Opportunity for Former Foster Youth Act of 2019.
Sheree holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Harding University, as well as a Master of Social Work (MSW) and Master of Social Policy (MSP) from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Sheree currently resides in St. Louis, MO.

Robert “Tony” Parsons is a Young Adult Consultant at the Capacity Building Center for States and National Urban Fellow. Prior to this role, Tony was the Federal Policy Specialist at Youth Villages, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children, youth, and families involved in the child welfare, mental and behavioral health, and/or juvenile justice system live successfully. He began his career working to expand educational opportunities in Michigan for low-income, first generation, and students of color.  Tony holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Michigan State University’s Honor College and is pursuing a Master of Policy Management degree from Georgetown University.

Why Tony joined the collaborative: I joined the Collaborative because race and intersectionality have to be considered as we continue to reform child welfare. The system as we know it was designed to fail persons of color and if we want to make it better we have to refocus on the fundamental failings and build solutions with the children, youth, and families that have been directly affected.

What Tony can leverage towards the Collaborative’s goal:

I believe I can leverage my lived experience as a former foster youth that was raised in a primarily white family for most of my life. I have felt and seen the different ways in which race and the policies we have in place have played in my life and that of my family members. Additionally, with my policy background and penchant for history, I believe I can also help educate individuals.

The National Indian Child Welfare Association in Portland, Oregon, and works extensively with tribal, federal, and state governments, and private organizations.  He is a nationally recognized expert on public policy issues affecting American Indian and Alaskan Native children and has lead successful efforts to improve tribal policies and funding in federal programs such as Family First Prevention Services Act, TANF, Child Care Developmental Block Grant, Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance, Title IV-B Child Welfare Services, Promoting Safe and Stable Families, and Indian Child Welfare Act.  He is also an accomplished trainer and technical assistance provider with experience in a variety of program development areas.

Stefanie S

Stefanie Sprow is the Director of Child Welfare and Mental Health at the Children’s Defense Fund. Stefanie has worked to enact and implement several federal laws to improve outcomes for children, including the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014, and Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. Sprow co-leads the Child Welfare and Mental Health Coalition. She studied at the University of Michigan.