Welcome to the Fourth Annual Benefit for the Family Defense Center! Since it was formed seven years ago, the Family Defense Center has become a preeminent champion for families in Illinois as well as throughout the United States. This year, in addition to representing clients in important cases in the Illinois and federal appellate courts and pressing for new legislation that focuses child welfare resources on children at genuine risk of harm, the Family Defense Center has increased its efforts to assist children and families with mental health concerns. Not only is the Center helping these families overcome the systemic obstacles that indiscriminately rip them apart, but it is also advocating for policies, programs, and practices that will reinforce family and community networks and enable the children and families to thrive. We are especially pleased today to honor Karl Dennis, a forerunner and an advocate of thirty years for such an approach, as the recipient of our 2012 Family Defender Award. In just a few short years, the Family Defense Center has grown to be a truly powerful protector of children, and a defender and friend of families throughout Illinois. With your support, the Family Defense Center can continue fulfilling this imperative role of protector, defender, and friend to children and families all throughout the state and all throughout the nation for years to come. We are honored to co-chair today’s benefit. We hope you enjoy this year’s benefit and offer our sincere thanks for your continued support for this increasingly vital advocacy organization that protects children by defending families.
Ann Courter
Norm Hirsch
Joseph Monahan
Cocktail Reception and Award Ceremony 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Reception Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres Silent auction including original pieces by painter and muralist Alejandro Romero Entertainment by harpist Penny Currier 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Program and Award Ceremony Special Recognitions Michael W. Weaver, McDermott Will & Emery Individual Attorney Recognition George J. Barry, retired, and Kathleen A. Barry, Winston & Strawn Father-Daughter Pro Bono Service Recognition Slide Show He’s My Son by Toni Hoy Parent Advocate Recognition The 2012 Family Defender Award Honoring Karl Dennis Brief Address by Karl Dennis Focus on Families and Strengths: The Linchpin to Success in the Child Welfare and Mental Health Systems 6:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. Live Auction and Program Conclusion David Meyers, Auctioneer 6:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Dessert and Silent Auction 6:45 p.m. – Raffle Drawing 7:30 p.m. – Benefit Conclusion
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elcome to the Fourth Annual Benefit Event of the Family Defense Center!
Thank you for joining us this year as we celebrate the remarkable contributions of Karl Dennis as the 2012 Family Defender, and give special recognition to four individuals (Toni Hoy, George Barry, Kathleen Barry and Michael Weaver) who have dedicated themselves to advancing justice for families through their work with the Family Defense Center this past year. Every honoree inspires me, and I know that when you meet them and hear about their many accomplishments, you’ll feel the same way. Once we decided to honor Karl Dennis, tonight’s program fell into place: Karl has the gift of making complex things simple (while I have the opposite knack for making the simple complex!). The theme of tonight’s event—Families Overcoming Challenges, Celebrating Each Other—stems from Karl’s life-long commitment to working with youth whose behavior challenges their families, their communities and the authorities. Justice for these children requires an approach that values them and recognizes their strengths, not solely their pathologies. Karl’s child-centered and family-centered work on behalf of these challenging children and their families meshes perfectly with our own motto: “to protect children, defend families.” Karl is at once the staunchest protector of children and the strongest ally of families in their efforts to help their children become healthy, happy and productive. The Family Defense Center’s work on the intersecting area of child welfare and mental health issues is also highlighted in this year’s event. Some of our most demanding, but also most rewarding, cases involve children whose behavior actually endangers themselves and their family members. I invite you to read our most recent special issue of The Family Defender to learn more about the Center’s work in this area. At the Family Defense Center, we see far too many instances in which the goal of justice for families seems like an elusive dream. At the same time, we have many success stories to celebrate and inspire us to further action. We are grateful that, in our journey towards justice for families, we have so many allies, including all our friends who have joined us in this celebration.
Thank you, and I hope you enjoy tonight’s program!
Diane L. Redleaf Executive Director 2
Event Co-Chairs: Norman Hirsch, Ann Courter, and Joseph Monahan Norman Hirsch joined Jenner & Block in 1982. He is a litigator focusing in the areas of professional responsibility and antitrust proceedings in federal and state court. Norm also has significant experience representing nuclear utilities in breach of contract cases against the U.S. government. The National Law Journal has recognized Norm as one of 11 “winning” trial lawyers nationwide who are “model(s) of the modern litigator.” He has also been recognized for multiple consecutive years by Legal 500, Leading Lawyers and Illinois Super Lawyers. Norm has Ann Courter and Norman Hirsch written and lectured extensively on professional responsibility issues. He serves on the board of the the youngest children and their families (www. Chicago Sinai Congregation. collab4kids.org). Norm received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1977. He received his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1980, where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review. After law school, Norm clerked for the Hon. Fred Cassibry in the Eastern District of Louisiana, and then for the Hon. Cecil Poole on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A nn Courter is a graduate of the University of Iowa and received a law degree in 1981 from Yale Law School. She also clerked for the Hon. Fred Cassibry after law school, then worked as an associate at Jenner & Block, where she met Norm. She left Jenner in 1984 to work as a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. Ann has twice been elected to the school board in Oak Park, and has served on numerous nonprofit boards. She has worked as the budget and tax policy director for Voices for Illinois Children, and as a policy analyst for the Illinois P-20 Council, which coordinates education from preschool to the university level. She currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Collaboration for Early Childhood in Oak Park, working to leverage and integrate community resources to better meet the needs of
Ann and Norm have been married for 27 years and have three children. They are long-standing supporters of the Family Defense Center. Joseph T. Monahan is founder of the Chicago law firm of Monahan Law Group, LLC, and is an adjunct professor of law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law where he teaches Mental Health Law. He also teaches a new online course, Child Mental Health Law, in the Masters of Jurisprudence program in the Child Law Program. The Monahan Law Group, LLC, represents over 70 hospitals located throughout the State of Illinois, numerous social service agencies and scores of individual clients, and provides legal services related to guardianship, mental health, risk management, confidentiality, disability and similar issues. Continued, next page
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Before becoming an attorney, Joe received his master’s degree in social work. He served as Executive Director of a county licensed child welfare agency, which provided child welfare and foster care services. In this capacity, he served on numerous community and statewide boards helping to develop legislation and policy concerning child welfare issues. Following his admission to the Illinois Bar, Joe was an attorney with the Legal Advocacy Service of the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, with special responsibility for coordinating legal services to minor wards of the state in mental health facilities and developmental centers, as well as providing legal services to persons with disabilities.
Joe just finished a three-year term as a Board Member of the National Association of Social Workers. He is now serving as President of the newly formed Risk Retention Group which provides malpractice insurance for members of NASW. He is active in the Illinois and Chicago Bar Associations and is a Board Member of the Foundation for Human Development. Joe received his law degree from DePaul University College of Law and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Social Work from the University of IllinoisChampaign. Joe has beeen a strong supporter of the Center and has frequently advised the Center staff on mental healthrelated child welfare cases.
Honorary Co-Chairs: Carolyn Kubitschek, Christopher Sullivan, and Dorothy Roberts Carolyn Kubitschek’s precedent-setting legal work is a major reason that there is a Family Defense Center. Her brilliant and winning legal theories in the 1994 case Valmonte v. Bane (challenging child abuse registries and the lack of due process in the state of New York) were instrumental to our victory in the Illinois class action suit Dupuy v. Samuels. Dupuy, started in 1997, took 13 years to conclude and resulted in sweeping changes in the child protection investigations and appeal system in Illinois. Carolyn’s 2004 victory in the New York Court of Appeals in Nicholson v. Scoppetta set the precedent that domestic violence victims possess constitutional rights to care for their children. Carolyn argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of children and family rights in a child abuse investigation in Camreta/Alford v. Greene. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, during the oral argument in Camreta, prefaced one of his questions to her with the observation, “You are well-versed in this area of law.” 4
Carolyn was a music major at Oberlin and is an accomplished pianist. After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School, she met her now-husband and law partner David Lansner when she worked at Mobilization for Youth (MFY) Legal Services. Carolyn and David were married in 1975 and settled in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where they raised their two sons, Jesse and Noah. They formed their own law firm 15 years later, Lansner & Kubitschek. Carolyn was a clinical law professor at Hofstra University from 1985-1990, and has been an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School since 2003. She was the Family Defense Center’s honoree for the 2011 Family Defender Award.
Christopher Sullivan is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who directs the Pediatric Orthopedics and Scoliosis Program at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. He joined the surgery faculty at the University of Chicago in 1989, following residencies and further training in internal medicine, pediatric orthopedics and general orthopedics in Texas, Illinois and California.
Chris attended college at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and attended medical school at UCLA while remaining on active duty. While at UCLA, he also earned a Master’s Degree in public health, focusing on epidemiology. An outstanding teacher and clinician, Chris has developed an expertise in child abuse and bone fractures through research, writing, and expert testimony in juvenile court and DCFS proceedings. Courts have frequently relied on his testimony, finding his opinions more persuasive than the contrary testimony of other child abuse specialists in several Center cases. Chris was the Family Defense Center’s honoree for the 2010 Family Defender Award.
Dorothy Roberts is the University of Pennsylvania’s fourteenth Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor. An acclaimed scholar of race, gender and the law, she is also the George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology. Her appointment at Penn is shared between the School of Law where she is the inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights, and the Department of Sociology in the School of Arts and Sciences. A prolific writer and researcher, Dorothy is the author or co-author of several books and has published over 70 articles and essays in books and journals including the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal and the Stanford Law Review. Professor Roberts has done pioneering research in the areas of race, class and gender, highlighting the ways in which social policy is biased against poor, minority pregnant women and mothers. She is one of the nation’s foremost academic legal scholars on issues regarding the child welfare system and is the award-winning author of Shattered Bonds, The Color of Child Welfare.
Dorothy is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. She serves as the Family Defense Center’s academic advisor to its Mothers’ Defense Project. Dorothy was the Family Defense Center’s honoree for the 2009 Family Defender Award. 5
Mistress of Ceremonies
L aura Washington has been an award-winning columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times since 2001. She is also a political analyst for WLS-TV, the ABC-owned station in Chicago. She is a regular commentator on National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio and previously wrote a column for the Chicago Tribune. In 2010, she served as President of the Woods Fund following many years of service on the board of the Fund. From 2003 to 2009, she served as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University. She edited The Chicago Reporter, a nationally recognized investigative monthly specializing in racial issues and urban affairs, from 1990 to 2001, and also served as its publisher from 1994 to 2001. From 1987 to 1990, she was a producer for the investigative unit at CBS-2/Chicago. In 1985, Laura was appointed deputy 6
press secretary to Mayor Harold Washington (no relation), Chicago’s first black mayor. Laura has been quoted in Time and Newsweek magazines, The New York Times, and appeared on NBC Nightly News and The Lehrer News Hour. She has received more than two dozen local and national awards for her work, including two Chicago Emmys, the Peter Lisagor Award, the Studs Terkel Award for Community Journalism and the Ohio State Award for broadcast journalism. Newsweek magazine named her one of the nation’s “100 People to Watch” in the 21st Century. Newsweek said: “her style of investigative journalism has made (the Reporter) a powerful and award-winning voice.” In 1999, the Chicago Community Trust awarded her a Community Service Fellowship “for exemplary service, commitment and leadership in individuals from the nonprofit
sector.” In addition to her community service for the Woods Fund of Chicago, she has been the board secretary for The Field Museum and has chaired the board of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. Laura earned bachelor and master’s degrees in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she has also taught and lectured. The Center is delighted that Laura has agreed to be our Mistress of Ceremonies again in 2012 and especially appreciates her willingness to make us a part of her public service in this busy political season.
Meet this Evening’s Artists Penny Currier Penny Currier is the very recognizable and popular soloist each Christmas Season at Marshall Field’s, (now Macy’s), flagship State Street store. This annual Chicago holiday tradition is enjoyed by countless store guests as she entertains daily from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. Penny is a former Miss Colorado in the Miss America Pageant who has enjoyed an active solo career in Chicago. After private study with Helen Lunn Hope of the Denver Symphony Orchestra, she received her harp degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, as a student of Eileen Malone. Among her numerous solo engagements, Penny has been called upon to perform for visiting royalty and American and world dignitaries including President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton; President Richard M. Nixon; Vice President Al Gore and Mrs. Tipper Gore; President Li Xiannian of the People’s Republic of China; Sheikh Hamad, Emir of the State
of Qatar; Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of The Netherlands; King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden; His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George; Mayor Richard M. Daley; and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. Her extensive repertoire includes a broad range of musical styles, which encompass popular melodies, show tunes, standards, classical, love songs, and much more. She is currently the staff harpist for the afternoon high tea at The Drake Hotel, Chicago.
Alejandro Romero No artist captures human emotion better than A lejandro Romero, whose vibrant artwork graces our invitation and brochure cover. Alejandro has generously donated this work for use in the designs and also for tonight’s auction. One of the best-known Hispanic visual artists in the United States, Alejandro was born and educated in Mexico. He moved to Chicago in 1975 and has adorned our city with murals, posters, and conventional paintings. Alejandro’s work can also
be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Art Institute in Chicago, as well as the Museum of Modern Latin American Art in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of Print in Mexico City, and the Hermitage in Leningrad, Russia. This year, Alejandro is not only donating the original artwork featured on the invitation and brochure, but also numerous other original works at the silent auction. 7
Special Individual Attorney Recognition: Michael W. Weaver, McDermott Will & Emery Michael W. Weaver is a sixth year associate at McDermott Will & Emery LLP who is based in the firm’s Chicago office. Prior to joining McDermott, he served as a law clerk for Chief Justice F. Michael Kruse and for Associate Justice Lyle L. Richmond of the High Court of American Samoa. At law school, Mike was a Philip H. Corboy Fellow in Trial Advocacy. He was the Executive Editor for Student Articles for the Loyola Law Journal, and he served as a legal intern for the Honorable Ann Claire Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit and for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. He is admitted to practice in both Illinois and American Samoa.
The Family Defense Center Recognizes Michael Weaver Because: He’s exactly the sort of lawyer any Family Defense Center client would love to have. Mike is an excellent writer, researcher, strategic thinker, collaborator and
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team builder. Fortunately for two Family Defense Center clients, Mike eagerly took on a lead role in pressing important arguments in courts of review— arguments that have the potential to set precedents. He was the principal author of the appellate briefs in Slater v. DCFS, a major appellate court decision. This decision exonerated Asia Slater, whose daughter had suffered a freak accident while Asia’s head was turned, determining that the existence of an injury cannot automatically result in a finding of neglect. Last year, the Center honored the full team that Mike worked with in the Slater case, including Elizabeth Lewis, Aron Frakes, Lisa Loesel and Todd Solomon. In 2012, he successfully represented a second Center client, Jeanelle H., in an administrative review action, exonerating her from a discriminatory finding that DCFS had registered against her based on a misperception of a disability. Mike worked with Geoffrey Vance and Jonathan Huckaby on Jeanelle’s behalf. Mike’s work with the Center has not been limited to these two major cases. In 2012, Mike became an active member of our Program Committee, which reviews and makes recommendations for making our legal services program more effective. This summer he joined our Board of Directors. For all around outstanding service to the Center and its clients, Mike deserves this year’s Special Individual Recognition Award. g
Father-Daughter Recognition Award: George J. Barry and Kathleen B. Barry George J. Barry is a native Chicagoan and a double graduate of Northwestern University. He received a BA in Economics from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1970 and a JD cum laude from the School of Law in 1973. After his formal education, George had a 38-year career in the tax field. He spent the first dozen years in government with the Internal Revenue Service and the Illinois Department of Revenue, and the last 26 years as a tax consultant at Arthur Andersen and then Deloitte LLP, both located in Chicago. George retired from Deloitte in May 2011. His passion for civil liberties and a desire to give back to the community in his retirement led him to seek out the Center for volunteer opportunities that might enlist his energies and talents. In addition to working with the FDC and on various family projects, George’s other current pursuits include regular long distance runs, reading and thinking about history, and an occasional round of golf. His family includes his wife, Jill; his daughter, Kathleen; his son-in-law, Curtis Warner; and his two grandchildren, Charlie and Jackie. K athleen B. Barry is of counsel at the litigation department of Winston & Strawn LLP, specializing in general commercial and patent litigation. Her commercial litigation experience includes cases in patents, contracts, business torts, antitrust, and class actions. Prior to joining the firm in 2003, Kathleen served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert Holmes Bell of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Kathleen has been an editor and contributor to Winston & Strawn’s Federal Circuit Patent Decision Summaries and administers a mentoring program at Dodge Academy, a Chicago public school, in addition to personally mentoring numerous Dodge students.
Kathleen received her AB in Mathematics and History, cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1998, and her JD, summa cum laude, from the College of Law at University of Illinois in 2001. In law school, she was an articles editor for the University of Illinois Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.
The Family Defense Center Recognizes George and Kathleen Barry Because: It’s often said that apples don’t fall far from trees, but when it comes to outstanding pro bono attorneys, we hadn’t witnessed any apples falling near their trees until this year. In fact, it wasn’t until after we had worked for several months with an excellent Winston & Strawn attorney, Kathleen Barry, on a very complex juvenile court case on behalf of Nancy B. in the Kane County Court, that we met a recently-retired lawyer 9
at the Center’s October 2011 Chicago Bar Association Training for pro bono attorneys. That attorney had asked unusually astute questions about administrative procedure, and made us eager to follow up with him to enlist him in pro bono projects with the Center. It took a few days before we connected the dots: we discovered that this astute attorney, George Barry, was Kathleen’s dad! And it wasn’t entirely a coincidence that George was at the training, for Kathleen had encouraged him to attend. Within short order, Center staff enlisted George in representing a client, Ashley D., in a case in which she was unfairly indicated for second-hand smoke exposure of her infant son, and in preparing objections to the DCFS defendant’s answer in Timmel v. Griffin. Then, thanks to George’s own perceptive reading of the Timmel complaint, he flagged and then agreed to undertake a major, potentially multi-year research and advocacy project with the Center: an exploration of the ways in which the medical profession’s canons of ethics apply to child abuse investigations. George also joined the Center’s program committee and has used his extensive tax and finance experience to advise the Center on its revisions to its legal services sliding scale fee schedule.
Congratulations GEORGE BARRY & KATHLEEN BARRY On your Father-Daughter Pro Bono Service Recognition Award Protecting Children by Defending Families
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Kathleen’s work on behalf of Nancy B. has gone above and beyond the usual pro bono case commitment: Kathleen has helped Nancy in staffings, service planning, and personal matters that have arisen during the case. She has advised her family members who are helping to care for Nancy’s son, and has represented Nancy in a related administrative appeal—the sort of full-service representation that Winston & Strawn clients might demand but few indigent clients like Nancy are fortunate to receive. Kathleen has also assisted in a separate administrative appeal case with the Center on behalf of John D. From experience working with both George and Kathleen, a few common characteristics are obvious in both the tree and the apple: patient and careful assessment of the facts and the law, first-rate writing, thoughtfulness and thoroughness, and a dedication to justice for families. Like father, like daughter, both George and Kathleen live the Center’s mission in their volunteer work advocating justice for families in the child welfare system. g
Parent Advocate Recognition Award: Toni Hoy As a leading advocate in the grassroots movement for children’s mental health and family support, Toni Hoy has made presentations before legislators and departments at the state and national level. Additionally, she has given multiple radio interviews and authored articles for The Family Defender (the Center’s newsletter) and Rise Magazine. She chairs the Children’s Advocacy Committee for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Barrington Area affiliate and authors a monthly column for its newsletter, In the Trench. In addition, she serves on the NAMI affiliate’s board of directors and facilitates a family support group for parents and children. When she is not tirelessly working as an advocate for her own family and other families, Toni pursues a career as a licensed insurance agent with Hill and Stone Insurance Agency. In 2011, she was selected as Safeco Insurance’s “Community Hero.” After inspiring many parents and families with her video, “He’s My Son,” which details the story of the Hoys’ struggle with Daniel’s mental health issues and their forced custody relinquishment, she started a blog called Scope and Circumstance, which is dedicated to children whose adoptive parents are forced into relinquishing custody for treatment. She has connected with other parents with similar struggles, many of whom have joined the advocacy movement to abolish custody relinquishment. In 2012, Toni published Second Time Foster Child, which immediately became an Amazon bestseller. Since then, she has begun to turn her own success into another venue for advocacy by leading workshops for parents including writing workshops, which the Family Defense Center hopes to offer this fall with Toni’s help. Toni earned her BA degree in Communications from Thomas Edison State College, New Jersey, where
she received the Arnold Fletcher Award for academic excellence. Toni and her husband of 25 years, Jim, live in the Chicago area. They have two biological children, Mason and Samantha, two adoptive children, biological brothers Daniel and Chip (who have been in their family since they were 2 and 5, respectively), and a foster son named Jesse. Toni homeschooled her children for eight years. She enjoys art, and her hobbies include reading, sewing, and painting.
The Family Defense Center Recognizes Toni Hoy Because: She’s a dynamo! We met Toni in the very beginning of our parent empowerment program, when she came to a meeting with another parent and was first beginning to tell her own story publicly. Next thing we knew, she was ready to publish her family’s story in The Family Defender and had connected with Nora McCarthy of Rise Magazine. Then she published in other national magazines, started working with advocates in Nebraska who were dramatizing the needs of children with severe emotional and behavioral issues, and meeting with state legislators and decision-makers in Illinois. She has been an instigator behind task forces to bring attention to the needs of children with serious emotional and behavioral issues and she has assisted dozens of family members who call the Center 11
looking for help. Along the way, she has become extremely knowledgeable about policies and practices affecting children and families in the mental health and child welfare systems, and she willingly shares her knowledge with other parents and governmental officials in order to press for a better system that protects children and families. Toni is never too busy (despite being just about the busiest and most productive person we know) to help with a Center program or provide emotional support for a Center parent struggling with the hardest of situations with their own child. In 2012, she led our Parent Empowerment Program’s special sessions on the emotional impact of investigations and was a leader in our planning committee for National Reunification Day, where she led a workshop on telling one’s story.
Toni will lead the Center kick-off for a writing program for family members who want to learn how to tell their own stories in a compelling way. Among the parents Toni has helped is Bernadine L., the mother of a “third time foster child” and the Center’s client in the Illinois Appellate Court’s challenge to the barbaric forced custody relinquishment policies that Toni has so eloquently described in “He’s My Son.” A natural advocate, Toni deserves special recognition for her perseverance, her articulate advocacy for the importance of family to children with mental health challenges and her volunteer work as a one-person support system for hundreds of parents in Illinois and across the United States. g
An Update to Daniel’s Story in “He’s My Son” On November 5th, 2010, Collins Law of Naperville, Illinois filed a federal lawsuit on the Hoys’ behalf to force the state of Illinois to abide by the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program, a provision of the federal Medicaid law that would require the state to cover Daniel’s treatment. The lawsuit was settled, and on June 20, 2011, the Hoys filed a petition in Juvenile Court. On July 14, Jim and Toni Hoy regained custody of their son, Daniel. Although they have faced a painful ordeal and many, many setbacks, the Hoys are now working together towards Daniel’s emotional stability and their own emotional healing.
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The suit that the Hoys initiated was the first of several suits seeking to enforce EPSDT requirements in Illinois. Following the settlement of their suit and others that followed, a multi-agency children’s behavioral task force, under the special leadership of DHFS Director Julie Hamos, is proposing a major overhaul of the service delivery system for children with severe behavioral and emotional needs. The forced custody relinquishment problem, however, continues to cause unnecessary trauma to Illinois families and families in many other states.
Glossary for “He’s My Son” Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA): Reflecting the concerns of state social service agencies, this federal law’s main goal was to increase adoption rates and reduce the amount of time hundreds of thousands of children spent in foster homes; it created financial incentives, expanded family preservation and support services, and increased health care coverage; it also instituted severe time frames on parental rehabilitation deemed necessary to avoid termination of parental rights. EPSDT: The Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program is a provision of federal Medicaid law mandating early screening for children and the administration of preventative healthcare before problems become extensive. No-fault dependency: A case in which the child is homeless or without proper care through no fault of the parent, guardian, or custodian, often due to a psychological condition of the child. Permanency: A major goal of ASFA, where the child leaves foster care to live with legal, permanent families, primarily by either returning home or through adoption. Residential Treatment Center: A live-in health care facility that provides therapy for substance abuse, mental illnesses, or other behavioral problems. Several Center clients have sought such care for their children given the lack of sufficiently intensive in-home services (or, sadly in many cases, the lack of any such care). Many highly renowned mental health specialists, including our honoree, are sharp critics of the use of residential treatment in place of in-home services or more family-like settings for children. Illinois Individual Care Grant (ICG): A grant assisting parents or private guardians with paying some costs for residential treatment or specialized community-based supports for severely emotionally disturbed children. In recent years, only a tiny fraction of eligible children (less than 5%) have received ICG’s, setting the stage for the practice of forced custody relinquishment that “He’s My Son” decries.
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2012 Family Defender Award • Karl Dennis: A Most Exceptional Human Being By Diane L. Redleaf Karl Dennis lives the mantra that is the title of his 2006 book: everything is NORMAL until proven otherwise (written with his close friend and collaborator, child psychiatrist Dr. Ira Lourie). He naturally embodies a very commonsensical approach to the most uncommon of children and family issues, problems and crises. Refusing to rely upon preconceived “norms” as a condition of care, Karl accepts each child and family as unique and on their own terms. But Karl’s humanistic and strengthbased treatment of children and families Karl Dennis turns out to be a most uncommon approach in the topsy-turvy world of child welfare and mental health services. Historically, these systems too often turn regular social and domestic problems that many families face into misunderstandings, traumas and tragedies. Too often service providers try to fix symptoms instead of underlying causes. So by embodying calm, wisdom and respect, and by accepting every person as unique and as a member of a family, culture and community, Karl Dennis turns seemingly impossible situations into opportunities for growth and change, ultimately helping families to flourish. Karl has given immeasurable hope to children and families written off as hopeless by others. He treats children and families others have labeled as pathological and beyond redemption with the theory that, if we look at individual strengths and interests, listen to the wisdom of the family,
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and use a collaborative community approach that incorporates their needs and strengths, then we have a much better chance of being successful. One of his favorite former youth was once labeled the “most difficult child in Illinois.” She now has a successful career and passes on her own learning, thanks to Karl, to her peers. And she’s just one of hundreds of the most-difficult-to-place children with whom Karl has worked, either at Kaleidoscope, Inc. or as a consultant. In these efforts, he has been joined by Olivia DelGiudice, associate director at Kaleidoscope, Inc., and a team of dedicated staff. Since its inception, Kaleidoscope has been dedicated to caring for children and families with complex needs, working with them in their own community, in their family settings, and often in their own homes. Because these children and their families have, by now, passed along Karl’s teaching to thousands of others, it is fair to say that there is hardly one person in the children’s mental health system or child welfare system that hasn’t been touched in some way by Karl’s work. Karl also has left his mark by creating a holistic model for child welfare and mental health services, one very different than what he found when he got his start in the early 1970s. Karl intervenes with children and families with a skilled and individualized approach, even when the target of his intervention is on a violent rampage. He listens. He encourages. He makes a gentle suggestion or asks a strategic question at exactly the right moment. Mostly though, he lets the child and family guide him in ways that most child welfare professionals would never allow, because the dangers of losing control of the situation are perceived as being too great.
And that’s the point: Karl works with families in a way that empowers, not controls or manages them. He takes risks—big risks—in supporting children and families who are seen by many in our society (including the professionals in the systems that are supposed to support them) as dangerous, dysfunctional and undeserving. When I started to work on this biography, I met with Karl and his wife, Kathy, in their beautiful, personally-designed home in Tryon Farm, Indiana. Kathy was the one who stressed the “big risks” Karl was willing to take in the interests of serving children in their homes and in the community, rather than in the out-of-state institutions where The lovely home of Karl and Kathy Dennis, Tryon Farm, Indiana many of these children had been sent. Karl talks about the statistics that stems from diverse roots. Karl’s great-grandfather point out that more children are hurt or molested was Irish. More dominant in Karl’s genetic makeup, in “out of home” placements than in communityhis psyche and his very surroundings is his Native based care. Karl chuckled as Kathy made this American heritage, which comes from both his point. Under his breath, Karl mentioned having his great-grandmother, Molly, who was Africian office almost burned down by a fire-setting youth. American and Cherokee (and married to Karl’s Irish Having his office burned down is just one example great-grandfather) and his great-great-grandfather of what Karl and Kathy mean by “running risks.” who was Blackfoot and African. Karl has embraced Not many child welfare agency executive directors these roots and is on his way to becoming a pipewould be as unflappable about experiences with carrier with the Lakota Sioux. He has trained arson as part of the stock-in-trade as is Karl. For at dozens of Native American conferences on her part, Kathy Dennis is quite unflappable too. issues related to children and family. Karl rarely Everything is normal about Karl Dennis, except that Karl Dennis is completely and singularly exceptional and magnificently so. This is proven. All that remains is to explore how he got to be that way, and to appreciate the man that he is. *** Karl Dennis was born on August 25, 1936, the eldest son of Nadine and Karl Lucius Dennis. He
misses the Pow Wow held annually in Chicago. Karl’s African American identification didn’t require as much affirmative cultivation: Karl grew up on the South Side of Chicago, attending Carter Elementary and DuSable High School. His memories of elementary school are not all positive: he was bullied there, and he became quiet, shy, and fearful. This early experience of being shunned and being
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treated as “different” taught him empathy. It was formative in helping him to reach children who are in emotional pain, and who cope in all sorts of ways that are often seen as dysfunctional, not understood by their families, their teachers, and others around them. The experience of those early years also inspired Karl, starting in high school, to choose helping children and families as his life’s work. Karl showed signs of a talent for basketball by the time he was in high school. This talent, incidentally, runs in his family. Several relatives, including his father, uncle and godfather, were members of the Harlem Globetrotters. Karl was a starting member of the famous 1954 DuSable High School team, one of only two high school teams to ever be inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame. Like Barack Obama—another leader with strong roots in the South Side of Chicago—Karl’s skill on the basketball court was among the formative experiences that offered exposure to all sorts of opportunities. Indeed, basketball gave him his first real exposure to working with youth who had emotional challenges and taught him that losing is sometimes more important than winning. Karl went to college at Northern Illinois University. The Ivory Tower was never Karl’s natural home; he cannot remember exactly which subject was his major. “Some kind of sociology or something like that,” he recalls. He did not pursue graduate study, despite all sorts of pressures in the child welfare establishment to get degrees and letters and the like to prove one knows something of value. Karl has lectured all over the world and at dozens of prestigious universities, from Harvard to Hong Kong. Karl did not need degrees to prove he knew what he was doing. It was obvious. Karl’s first job in and out of college was in youth work in the education field. He was part of the Title III program, working with drop outs and delinquents. He stuck with them, he believed in 16
their potential, and he had successful interventions that were noticed by his superiors. In 1975, Karl came to work as Executive Director of the child welfare agency, Kaleidoscope/ Chicago. The work was hard and the challenges were great. Kaleidoscope was innovative and it was willing to take chances that other child welfare agencies weren’t quite ready for. This was a perfect place for Karl’s approach and sensibilities. In the early years of his work at Kaleidoscope, some of the cornerstone principles the agency adopted were just beginning to be tried and tested: no eject/no decline, unconditional care, strengths-based care, and the big one that has both defined Karl’s life and that Karl has helped to define ever since: Wraparound Services. What is Wraparound? It is a system and approach to children’s care and services and work with families that Karl has practiced and taught all over the world, and in all 50 states. It is perhaps better to first define what Wraparound isn’t than what exactly it is: it isn’t a standard prescribed set of services for children and families with emotional/behavioral challenges. “Wraparound” is a term first coined by Karl’s friend and colleague Dr. Lenore Behar. It is a paradigm shift that first emphasizes individualized care using community resources where strengths are realized while the constraints of standard theory and practice in childcare are challenged, and secondly, removes antiquated labels, such as “dysfunctional” that hinders us from treating children and families in a holistic manner. It is a process which “wraps”
people and services around the child and family. It’s individualized. It’s a team-based process where the team members are primarily the people responsible for caring for the children: representatives from all involved, including social service agencies, education, juvenile justice, healthcare providers. But, more importantly, it includes family members and others who are instrumental in the lives of this child and family. These people are the main drivers of the service design in the Wraparound system. The list of base elements of Wraparound services include: inter-agency collaboration, family driven, unconditional care, community-based, strengthbased, individualized, culturally competent, meets the needs of family and child, is cost effective, and outcome driven. It’s understandable that Wraparound is both effective and empowering for families who have the opportunity to utilize this approach. These principles were tested and tried in the mid1970s and early 1980s as Illinois began to bring all of the out-of-state institutionally placed children back home—home to Kaleidoscope, which took on a leadership role in integrating these children back into families. It wasn’t easy work – it was the hardest work possible. It was part of the risk that youth workers as bold as Karl Dennis and Kaleidoscope staff were willing to run, in the name of saving lives and rebuilding families.
acre pond that is frequented by many herons, migrating ducks and birds, grazing deer and an occasional coyote. Kathy’s love of gardening is evident with beds of native plants that seamlessly blend into Tryon’s environmental landscape. Gardening outside of their home is their hobby, but the inside displays the work its owners have done throughout their lives and reflects their values: Karl’s and Kathy’s art embodies diversity, sustainability, patience and attention to value and meaning in things big and small. Native American art predominates, as Karl is an obvious connoisseur of the genre, but there is plenty of art from New Zealand and Alaska, places where Karl extensively trained and consulted on system reform. This is no sterile collection of visually appealing items: Karl has a detailed story of the journey to his home for every piece. I realized that each item was truly a memento: a gift received in recognition of his hard work, the result of a
Karl assumed the Executive Director position for what was then Kaleidoscope/Illinois in 1979. He put it on the map in the child welfare and mental health professions, nationally and internationally. Karl dramatically increased the budget for the agency and began to lecture and train all over the world. *** Kathy and Karl’s earth-bermed home is situated at Tryon Farm, a 170-acre environmental community nestled in the dune and swale of Northwest Indiana. The house lies in front of a large two17
passing friendship he struck up with an artist, or a purchase at a fraction of its price because Karl happened to meet the seller who was so charmed by him that they insisted he should have it. The uniqueness of their home has been featured in several magazines and in a recent TV show. Karl gushed about a piece by Ace Powell (a wellknown Native American painter), which he received as an unexpected gift for doing training for a
Karl’s travels have taken him to Bali, in addition to other far-away places.
parent organization in Montana. The organization had no money to pay him, and so gave him the artwork instead. As he weaves the story of each piece, it is impossible to miss Karl’s generosity and recognize that he is not just a giver of gifts, but is gracious in how he receives them too. Nowadays, one can ask Karl what he is doing and he smiles and says, “Nothing.” That’s a big exaggeration. By “nothing,” he really means “much less on-theroad work than I used to do.” He means he only goes to a half-dozen conferences a year, and no longer travels for weeks at a time to give keynotes and training programs of a five-day-a-week-seven18
hour-a-day duration as he did for many years. Now he and Kathy travel for vacation, which they enjoy more than ever. By “nothing,” he also means he can spend time watching the neighborly blue heron he has gotten to know, play with his dog Bailey, and enjoy their gorgeous home. “Nothing” means attending Pow Wows and visiting the many friends he has made along his path of helping children and families who needed all the help they could get. *** “A prophet is without honor in his own land.” When I first heard this saying (which comes from the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament), I thought immediately of Karl Dennis. I had been talking about Karl to my friend Ira Burnim, legal director of the Bazelon Center on Mental Health Law, during a conference we were attending for foster care system litigators. Ira had been lead counsel in an Alabama class action case called R.C. v. Hornsby, which challenged the removal of children with mental health needs from their families and their subsequent placement into foster care. I had been class counsel in Norman v. McDonald and Hill v. Erickson, along with my friend and comrade-in-arms Rene Haybach, suing the State of Illinois to develop services aimed at keeping families together through targeted services like housing supports and specialized programs for teen mothers. I had already met Karl during those years of extensive federal litigation (the late 1980s into the early 1990s) to enforce the “reasonable efforts” requirement. I respected him as a progressive child welfare agency director. But despite knowing Karl and liking what I knew, I had no idea of his national and international reputation. Ira set me straight. He told me “Karl is a nationally and internationally renowned mental health expert. He is a very important person in the mental health world.” This was news to me. I soon did learn that Karl had been invited to meetings at the White House; the scope of his consulting all over the world
was something I came to know more about as I eventually became Kaleidoscope’s lawyer for a time when I was in private law practice (from 1996-2005). Karl keynoted a conference or two that I attended in Chicago, and he was a consultant—one of a handful —who openly conferred with the plaintiffs’ lawyers who were suing DCFS for civil rights violations. Karl was never one to shy away from speaking his mind and from telling the truth to the powers-that-be at DCFS, come what may. I had always appreciated Karl for what I knew him to be. I just didn’t know the depth and range of Karl’s contributions to the world. Ira knew it better than I did, even though Karl worked in my own back yard and for a time Karl’s agency, Kaleidoscope, was my own client. Prophetic though Karl may be, the point that he is insufficiently appreciated in Chicago, and not just by me, was reinforced when I called Karl to tell him we were giving him the Family Defender Award this year. Karl told me this would be historic, because, while Karl has received awards from all over the world, he has yet to be awarded any major honor in his hometown of Chicago. I was surprised. I told him it was “long overdue.” *** Kathy Dennis and Karl Dennis are quite a remarkable pair: it isn’t often that one meets a couple whose strengths so complement each other and who work together so closely. When I asked Kathy how she and Karl met, she laughed and said, “He hired me to be the Kaleidoscope Development Director.” “Who did it before?” I asked her. “No one,” answered Karl. Meaning, of course, that he did most of the fundraising for Kaleidoscope himself and/or with the help of his hardworking Associate Director Olivia DelGiudice, with whom I also worked closely in the years I represented Kaleidoscope. Karl and Kathy have been married for 18 years. Karl has one biological daughter and two adopted
sons by a previous marriage and Kathy has one daughter. Their children are Karla, who has lived and worked in Kenya; Duane, who lives in Chicago with his wife, Rhonda; Tony, who lives in Dallas; and Marne, who lives in Bloomington, Indiana. All four are blended into their one family. All together, they now have several grandchildren, too. Kaleidoscope’s remarkable growth and its national recognition as an award-winning agency (one of a tiny handful singled out by the Casey Foundation for an excellence award) is due to Karl’s humanity and his visionary, even prophetic leadership of a dedicated and talented staff. But it was also supported by Kathy’s savvy, her practical down-to-earth style and her advocacy skills. Together, they are a formidable combination. Now, while Karl is busy doing what he calls “nothing,” Kathy continues to sit on several boards. (I’m pretty sure, but can’t prove, that Karl might still be on a board or two.) Kathy is also a goldmine of knowledge and great development ideas, which she generously shared and I soaked up like a sponge. (Thank you also, Kathy, for suggesting the “Mystery Dinner” idea for our Live Auction tonight.) As noted, Kathy and Karl are the parents of four children and have several grandchildren. In reality, given their lifetime of work with children and families, they have hundreds of children, grandchildren, and family all over the world. *** After I left Tryon Farm at the end of July, I felt inspired and I felt ennobled. I felt determined to do better for our clients, our staff, and our community. I felt an aura of the spirit of Karl Dennis that I resolved would not leave me during the next inevitable conflict I would have with a DCFS investigator: if Karl can stay calm, then maybe I can too. Of course, Karl was the first to tell me that I didn’t have to emulate his style. Passion and argument are expected—even required— 19
of a lawyer. As always, Karl helps others, even lawyers, feel uniquely normal. Because everybody is uniquely normal in Karl’s view and should be accepted, never slapped with a negative label. At the same time, as I left Karl and Kathy’s home, I felt a sadness over the fact that Karl’s approach to child and family issues, his approach to child welfare, are far too rare—rare like Karl himself. I felt a sadness that we are still fighting to this day for the concept of “reasonable efforts” to keep families together, for the rights to tailored, individualized services for families, and for the notion that children and their families belong together. I felt sadness
From The Dennis Clan With heartfelt pride and appreciation for your amazing work and dedication to youth and families less fortunate than us. We congratulate our inspiration, Karl W. Dennis husband, father, grandfather and brother, on receiving The 2012 Family Defender Award. How lucky we are to learn from you everyday how to love and care for others! Kathy, Karla & Khalfani, & Brian Dennis
that Wrapaound services are not readily available to Bernadine L. and other clients whose families most need them now. I felt a sadness that the concept of “in the best interests of the child” has been used so often against parents, instead of in partnership with them. I want the child welfare world to be filled with Karl Dennises. I want Karl’s approach to be normal and usual. Instead, I’m afraid, Karl is far too unique. Karl deserves to be recognized for the exceptional person he is, and the exceptional difference he has made in our world. Thank you Karl! We are honored to name you the Family Defense Center’s Family Defender for 2012. g
Congratulations on Your Retirement from A Wonderfully Successful Life Dedicated to Helping Children and Their Families May You Continue to Receive Joy from Your Family, Your Friends, New Adventures, and Your Memories
Marne Potter Duane & Rhonda, Aryn & Austin Lyke De Andre Collins
With Best Wishes, Lenore Behar, PhD Child & Family Program Strategies
Karl Dennis’s perspective and approach to child welfare is the right paradigm and it has influenced me, my students, and our clients immensely. Professor Annette R. Appell Washington University Law School 20
Karl Dennis Congratulations on a much deserved honor! You made a difference in the lives of so many children and families and then used that talent to impact national policy. On a personal level, you have always been a warm and dear friend and special mentor. Best always, Judy Katz-Leavy Former Senior Policy Advisor for Children
Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA
Karl Dennis – truly a legend in his own time. Most of all, an extraordinarily caring man who through his dedication and profound wisdom has changed the lives of children, young people, and families – in Chicago, across the country, and around the world. Gentle, strong, wise, hopeful, an unconditional friend. Sybil K. Goldman, Georgetown University
Karl Dennis is an internationally revered advocate for children’s rights, and a classic (and classy) Chicago treasure. His intellectual achievements, rooted in community, family and individualized child practice, are replicated across the globe. Congratulations Karl. We adore you. -Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers-
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eorg ia Pa rent Suppor t Net work, I nc . wa s a f ledg l i ng g ra ss-root s orga n i z at ion about 20 yea rs ago. At ou r f i rst qua r ter boa rd meet i ng of 1992 , we were at t he poi nt of closi ng for lack of v ision, f u nd i ng a nd suppor t . We had been of fered a cont rac t to prov ide emergenc y respite for yout h w it h severe emot iona l d ist u rba nces , however t he Boa rd of Di rec tors wa s spl it on t hei r decision about whet her we shou ld close or add ser v ices prov iders to ou r m ission a nd v ision. We were at t he t i me a “pu re” advoc ac y orga n i z at ion. T he boa rd wa s u nable to reach a decision so I sug gested we c a l l K a rl Den n is whom I had hea rd spea k severa l t i mes a nd whom, a lt houg h I d id not persona l ly k now h i m, I respec ted i m mensely. K a rl gave u s excel lent adv ice t hat cont i nues tod ay to i n f luence ou r ever y decision. He sa id , “t here a re ma ny ways to advoc ate for ch i ld ren; t h is w i l l be no con f l ic t of i nterest a nd w i l l i ncrea se G eorg ia Pa rent Suppor t Net work ’s abi l it y to ma ke a d i f ference for ch i ld ren.” So GPSN d id not close but for t he la st 20 yea rs ha s ser ved a s a n advoc ac y voice a s wel l a s prov id i ng fa m i ly-d r iven, yout h-g u ided ser v ices to t hou sa nd s of ch i ld ren. K a rl a nd K at hy a re good f r iend s a nd t hey cont i nue to prov ide g u id a nce a nd suppor t to GPSN. Sue Sm it h G eorg ia Pa rent Suppor t Net work, I nc . 21
Friends, Family, and Colleagues Congratulate Karl Dennis and The Family Defense Center
Thank you to Diane Redleaf and Karl Dennis and all of those who have worked with them to keep children and their families safe and together. You have truly led the way. -Peggy Slater
Zach Bravos
Thomas Grippando
Barbara Flynn Currie
Bonita Guerra
Robert Daniels, PhD
Dr. Paula Hardin
E. G. and Michael Enbar
Daniel Johns
Timothy Filliman
Alex and Elizabeth Lippitt
Carol and Morris Fred Bob and Cathy Friedman Hon. Louis Gans Sharran Greenberg
Cathy Korus
Ira and Carrol Lourie Roselyn Murphy Carolyn Shapiro Beth A. Stroul Jack Tovin
What a delight it was to hear Karl Dennis when he came to Omaha in 2009. His words, scattered as droplets of wisdom, inspired a community of families, all of whom were struggling in their own nightmarish worlds with either mental or behavioral health issues, to unite as one strong voice—Alphabet Soup Kids (ASK) —to provide not only a peer-interactive family-support group for caregivers, but to influence, in a positive manner, changes in the legislation of the state of Nebraska that encourage wraparound services, as much as possible, with the goal of strengthening and keeping families together.
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–Signed by the families of Alphabet Soup Kids¸ Omaha, NE
Children’s Law Group salutes Karl Dennis and the attorneys, staff, volunteers and board of the Family Defense Center for their dedication to children and families.
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In honor of the Family Defense Center, Diane Redleaf, Carolyn Kubitschek, and Karl Dennis
F
or over three decades, Karl Dennis has brought his vision and humanity to his work, whether working with individual children and families, or influencing the way systems respond to those at greatest risk. His insight into people, his commitment to dignity, respect and justice, and his faith in the resilience of families and communities has inspired, and challenged all of us. He brings passion, humor and humanity to all he does, and instills in those with whom he works a desire to make a difference in the lives of those who often are the most forgotten. Congratulations to Karl on his well-deserved recognition by the Family Defense Center from the faculty of Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Civitas ChildLaw Center.
LAW OFFICES ROBERT E. LEHRER 36 SOUTH WABASH AVENUE, SUITE 1310 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60603 (312) 332-2121 (VOICE) (312) 422-0708 (FAX)
[email protected] www.rlehrerlaw.com
We salute Karl Dennis for his leadership in the child welfare community. Mauk & O’Connor, LLP Special Education Advocates
Congratulations and Thank You to Karl Dennis For all the work you have done for families. And Thank You to Diane Redleaf, Melissa Staas, and Family Defense Center. You have accomplished so much already, And where you lead, others will follow. Carolyn Kubitschek and David Lansner Lansner & Kubitschek New York, New York 24
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To the Family Defense Center Our family would like to thank the Family Defense Center for all their work and continued support of our family. Your work on behalf of our family and many others in Illinois is invaluable. The Family Defense Center continues to fight for due process and parental rights. The Family Defense Center is the guiding light when DCFS unfairly treats families. Again, thank you for all your support and truly invaluable work. Bryan & Qing Tabiadon
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Ellen R. Domph is honored to support the Fourth Annual Benefit of the Family Defense Center Having worked alongside the Family Defense Center, I am inspired by their selfless dedication, wealth of knowledge, and advocacy for the rights of children and families. Their work gives voice to the voiceless, often against insurmountable odds, while advancing and protecting the interests of those treated unjustly by the child welfare system. Ellen R. Domph Attorney at Law 53 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1544 Chicago, Illinois 60604 312-922-2525
[email protected]
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Keep up the fine work!
EDELMAN, COMBS, LATTURNER & GOODWIN, LLC 120 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 1800 Chicago, Illinois 60603 (312) 739-4200 (312) 419-0379 (FAX)
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Jenner and Block Attorneys and Others Congratulate the Family Defense Center and Karl Dennis, 2012 Family Defender
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Debbie Berman Gregory Boyle Michael T. Brody Jerry Burgdoerfer Elizabeth Coleman Jeffrey Colman Jim Feldman David Greenwald William Heinz Norman Hirsch Russ Hoover
Barry Levenstam Craig C. Martin Gail Morse Joel Pelz Eric and Denise Sacks David Sanders Gabrielle Sigel Chuck Sklarsky Barbara Steiner Howard Suskin Terrence Truax
The Family Defense Center Offers Heartfelt Appreciation to the Following Organizations for Major Annual Support
2012 Family Defender Event Sponsors Hero ($10,000 and up) Jenner & Block Defenders ($5,000 and up) Joseph T. Monahan Dr. Eugene and Geraldine Pergament* Advocates ($2,500 - $4,999) Dr. William and Donna Barrows Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd LLP Ellen Domph McDermott Will & Emery Vera Pless* Paul and Rhoda Redleaf Sidley Austin LLP Winston & Strawn LLP Sustainers ($1,000 - $2,499) Michael and Karen Armstrong* Sheldon Baskin Julie Bauer and Paul Greenberg Brigitte Schmidt Bell Norman Bobins Mary Kelly Broderick Michael T. Brody and Libby Ester Mary Case Cathy Combs and Jim Latturner* Ann Courter and Norman Hirsch Roger Dreher Daniel Edelman* Kirkland & Ellis LLP David Lansner and Carolyn Kubitschek Latham & Watkins LLP Elizabeth Lewis Meg and David McDonald McGuireWoods LLP *Matching donors for Funded Need
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Diane Redleaf*
Lourdes Ceballos
Prof. Dorothy Roberts
Chicago Architecture Foundation
Weidner & McAuliffe, Ltd.
Chicago Chamber Musicians
Friends ($500 - $999)
Chicago Philharmonic Society
Prof. Annette Appell
Chicago Sinfonietta
Prof. Douglas Baird
Court Theatre
George J. Barry
Ann Courter and Norman Hirsch
Terry Cross
Kathy and Karl Dennis
Ian Elfenbaum
Destination Fitness
Forest Printing
Roger Dreher
Colleen Garlington
Mary Dye
Robert Lehrer
Elissa Efroymson
Jonni Miklos
Jonathon Fazzola
Miller Shakman & Beem
Franklin Food & Liquor
Michael A. O’Connor and Sara E. Mauk
Ryan Garton
Deborah Pergament
Gene Siskel Film Center
Ropes & Gray LLP
Diana Hansen
Peggy Slater
Jill Hazelbauer Von Der Ohe
SNR Denton
Seana Higgins
Helene Snyder
Hill & Stone Insurance Company
Bryan and Qing Tabiadon
Emily Ho
*Matching donors for Funded Need
Hotel Allegro, A Kimpton Hotel
Auction Donors Anonymous Mystery Dinner Donor Arts ‘n Spirits Roger Beck Todd Belcore Mary Bird Representative Daniel Biss Patricia Jones Blessman Block Cinema Boka Restaurant Group Elizabeth Butler and Dean Resnekov Mary Case 34
Toni Hoy Jan Hulstedt ItssoUnique Jayson Home & Garden Carolyn Kubitschek and David Lansner Charles and Alice Kurland Lettuce Entertain You Anatoly Libgober Macy’s FRESH and Laura Mercier Spa Courtney Mahoney TiShaunda and Michael McPherson Jonni Miklos and Ermit Finch Joseph Monahan
Music of the Baroque
Barbara Bazron
NAMI Barrington Area
Jeanne Beckman
Christine M. Naper
Dr. Lenore Behar
Brian Northup
Brigitte Schmitt Bell
Michael A. O’Connor
Mary Kelly Broderick
Michelle Palluch
Ira Burnim
Ofra Peled
Lourdes Ceballos
Deborah Pergament
Kyriaki Council
Petterino’s
Terry Cross
PRP Wines International
Olivia DelGiudice
Diane Redleaf
Kathy Dennis
Rhoda Redleaf
Patti Derr
Alejandro Romero
Sharon Falen
Rosebud Restaurants
Dr. Barbara Friesen
Sandra Ross Salon
Lorena Galvez
Shaw’s Crab House
Alexandra Gilewicz
Helene Snyder
Sybil Goldman
Statehouse Inn
Toni Hoy
George Stone
Kathryn Huber
Shawn Taylor, Treetop Consulting
Judy Katz-Leavy
Terry’s Toffee
David J. Lansner
Theo’s Jewelers
Elizabeth Lewis
Toni’s Patisserie
Dr. Ira Lourie
Tru Restaurant
Kathy Mandell
Trunk Club
Lynn Ludaway
Urban Oasis
Meg McDonald
Joanna Wade
Brenna McLean
Wines for Humanity
Christine M. Naper
The Family Defense Center wishes to thank the following volunteers, benefit host committee members, and in-kind supporters, without whose help this event would not have been possible:
Dee Ann Ryan Steve Scott Sue Smith Matthew Streit
Prof. Douglas Baird
Taryn Strohmeyer
Dr. William and Donna Barrows
Laura and Brian Timmel
Julie A. Bauer
Sarah Troutman
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Jennifer Uptmor
Elizabeth Lewis
Joanna Wade
Meg McDonald
Brooke Whitted
Christine M. Naper
Family Defense Center Board of Directors Michael O’Connor, President Louis Fogel, Treasurer TiShaunda McPherson, Secretary Patricia Jones Blessman Stephanie Crockett-McLean
Helene M. Snyder Michael W. Weaver
Champion Board Prof. Annette Appell Brigitte Schmidt Bell Prof. Susan Brooks Adam Caldwell
Vera Pless Andrew and Lynne Redleaf Prof. Dorothy Roberts Adele Saaf Prof. Michael Wald Elizabeth Warner Prof. Anita Weinberg
Family Defense Center Staff (Fall 2012) Diane L. Redleaf, Executive Director Melissa L. Staas, Staff Attorney Jonathon N. Fazzola, Staff Attorney Diana Hansen, Administrator
Salvador Cicero Joan Colen David J. Lansner Lawrence Lansner Elizabeth Larsen Joy Leibman
Eugene Pergament
Deborah Spector
Jonni Miklos
James Latturner
Deborah Pergament
Paul and Rhoda Redleaf
Michael T. Brody Scott Kramer
Edward Otto
Emily Ho, Development Associate (full-time staff) Christina Koliopoulos, Intake Attorney Mitchell Weiss, Volunteer Attorney Amanda Walsh, Law Clerk Nissa Mai, Development Intern (part-time staff) About The Family Defense Center Winner of the first “Excellent Emerging Organization” award from the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management.
The mission of the Family Defense Center is to advocate for justice for families in the child welfare system. Founded in 2005, it is a groundbreaking legal representation and advocacy organization. Its primary focus is preventing irreparable harm to families through the wrongful separation of children from their parents. 36
eams
Jenner & Block salutes the
Family Defense Center and the work you do to protect children and defend families Congratulations to 2012 Family Defender Honoree
Karl Dennis
Chicago | Los Angeles | New York | Washington, DC 353 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60654-3456
Jenner & Block LLP
jenner.com
Save the Date! We plan to hold our Fifth Annual Benefit Sunday, September 22, 2013
70 E. Lake Street, Suite 1100 Chicago, IL 60601 312-251-9800 www.familydefensecenter.org Winner of the First Excellent Emerging Organization Award from The Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management
Michael A. O’Connor Board President
