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  • About

By child welfare professionals, for child welfare professionals.

We started SafeGenerations because we wanted to make real, practical change in the lives of families we’ve worked with — and the ones whose paths we’ll never be able to cross. 

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Our Values

Our team started our practice working with real families facing real challenges. Eventually, we began to work with organizations to help them grow their practice in serving families. Now we work with organizations, helping to improve the practice of child welfare professionals nationwide.

Certainly Curious

We explore different perspectives to grow connection and inclusion.

Gracefully Rigorous

We are allies who tackle the tough stuff and honor all people while we do.

Joyfully Serious

We have fun while honoring the core purpose of the significant work we do.

Humbly Bold

We lead with strong vision while recognizing that we always have room to grow.

Wisely Compassionate

We extend care and empathy to our partners and the people they serve.

Our Team

Our team has a combined total of 70+ years of child welfare experience — and we’re putting it to work to help you increase your impact and avoid burning out on the hard path of making a difference. 

Andrea Robideau

  • LMFT, MA
Operating Officer, Integrator (EOS), Consultant & Trainer
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Andrea is driven to see advancements in technology uncover and advance ‘what works’ in human service professions. As Operating Officer, she connects the team’s vision and strategy to delivery, helping SafeGenerations provide innovative ways for child welfare organizations to improve service quality.

Since joining SafeGenerations in 2007, Andrea has worked with families in crisis, front-line practitioners, and leaders throughout child-welfare systems, supporting both small and large practice model implementations. Her favorite part of consulting is seeing teams leverage their unique gifts to create practical action toward their vision.

Andrea envisions leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate the effectiveness of human interactions in child welfare. She is passionate about exploring how AI can enhance decision-making, streamline processes, and provide deeper insights into human behavior, ultimately leading to better outcomes for families and communities.

Bill Schulenberg

  • LMFT, MA
Director of Training, Consultant & Trainer
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Bill never envisioned a career in child welfare. After graduating from St. Olaf with degrees in Biology and Religion, his path led him to work with high-risk teens. Seeking a deeper understanding of their challenges, he earned a Master’s in Psychotherapy. This led to his role at SafeGenerations, where he helps parents, social workers, and leaders rediscover their strengths amidst overwhelming circumstances. Bill’s expertise lies in practical training and consulting with agency leaders, empowering them to drive meaningful change. He’s proud to contribute to SafeGen’s mission of inspiring hope and progress in the child welfare field.

Dan McCormick

Executive Officer, Technology Officer, Visionary (EOS)
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With over 30 years of leadership experience, Dan McCormick has led global technology teams and driven revenue and acquisitions totaling billions of dollars for Fortune 100 companies and startups. Dan also has extensive experience in the social service sector, originally joining SafeGenerations in 2001 as a board member and as Regional Director, North America for Signs of Safety® from 2013-2017.

As Executive & Technical Officer Dan is dedicated to aligning technology with people, practices, and principles to multiply the positive impact on families and communities. He is focused on answering a vital question, “How can technology clear the way for all of us to connect more deeply with the humanness of humanity and help families build a safe, nurturing environment for the kids that they love?”

Sarah Sundman

  • LICSW, MA
Director of Family Services & Resources, Consultant & Trainer
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Sarah began her career in child welfare in 2002, where she spent nine years in child protection organizations as a case manager, forensic interviewer, and foster care licensor. During that time she delved deeply into Signs of Safety practice and the Resolutions Approach. 

Staying connected to frontline practice keeps her grounded, energized, and continuously learning.  Sarah’s hands-on experience with families allows her to connect meaningfully with practitioners and consult with agency leaders on systemic changes. She believes that child safety is a collaborative effort and that families and networks can be empowered to ensure long-term safety for their children. At SafeGenerations, she’s enjoyed collaborating on the development and implementation of the Guided Practice App, which supports practitioners and supervisors in real-time and provides meaningful insights to organizations to continue enhancing practice.

Sarah holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor’s degree from Winona State University.

Sherry Amelse

  • LSW
Director of Implementations, Consultant & Trainer
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Sherry brings nearly three decades of hands-on experience in child welfare to her role as an organizational consultant and Director of Implementations at SafeGenerations. Since joining the team in 2015, she has been instrumental in driving organizational transformation for child welfare agencies, large and small.

Her work is informed by nearly two decades as a child welfare practitioner in Minnesota. Sherry has served as a key consultant to New York Office of Children and Family Services, Missouri Children’s Division, and Kansas Department for Children and Families, helping them customize and implement collaborative, solution-focused practice approaches.

Sharon Meschke

Office Administrator
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As the Finance Administrator, Sharon is responsible for the bookkeeping functions of the organization as well as Payroll, HR, office logistics, and generally keeping the SafeGenerations team running behind the scenes. She started working with the SafeGen Team in 2009 and brought with her over 20 years experience in the accounting & bookkeeping field, working in banking, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. 

Sharon enjoys working with a team that she admires for their commitment, passion, innovation & ability to adapt, all with their strong vision of making a difference in child welfare systems. The core values of the organization guide every aspect of their work and interactions, making this an organization that she feels proud to support. 

Susie Essex

  • BA Hons, CQSW, DASS, DSA
ReSolutions Together Co-Developer and Advisor
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Susie has over 40 years of experience in Child Protection, including roles as a Child Psychiatric Social Worker, Child Protection Manager, Training Manager, Consultant Family and Systemic Psychotherapist, Lecturer at the University of Bristol, and Head of Family Therapy Service.

In the early 1990s, Susie co-developed the ReSolutions approach to address denied/disputed Child Protection concerns, focusing on the welfare and safety of children. This method is now used internationally and emphasizes openness and creating safe networks for children.

Susie is now retired and lives in Cornwall, UK.

Our Team of Affiliates​

Chad Hayenga

  • LMFT, MA
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Eric Sulkers

  • MD, Pediatrician, PhD
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Eric Sulkers is a pediatrician from the Netherlands, specializing in child protection, endocrinology and diabetes. Eric has experience with the Resolutions Approach, the Signs of Safety approach along with other child protection models based on training he has received since 2006. This included co-hosting and sometimes co-presenting with individuals including Susie Essex, Andrew Turnell, Peter de Jong, Rob Saywer, Sue Lohrbach, Sonja Parker and Adriana Uken.

Eric hosted numerous workshops with Susie Essex where he video recorded Susie leading role-plays with actors to capture her work. In recent years Eric has spent many hours subtitling these videos to understand from a systemic perspective what motivational techniques Susie used to get parents engaged in the journey towards safety.

From 2006- 2017, Eric was the primary consultant to the Child Protection agency in Zeeland, a southwest province of the Netherlands. As part of that role, he was central in developing the use of the Signs of Safety (SofS) approach in Zeeland. Eric also established a high risk pregnancy project and a domestic violence project that were both grounded in Signs of Safety.

Eric is currently a trainer in Motivational Interviewing and in Solution-focused Therapy in the Korzybski Institute (Bruges) and in the Solutions Centre (Soesterberg).

Gaelin Elmore

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Gaelin Elmore is a dynamic and nationally sought-after keynote speaker, trainer, and thought leader. He works with organizations and people to become belonging-informed in order to help children overcome trauma and unleash their potential. Gaelin’s passion and energy for his work stems from his heart for justice and his own lived experience. His own belonging journey has led Gaelin to the National Football League, and now stages, board rooms, and organizations, all across the country, aiming to inspire, encourage, and equip others to think differently about their work and its long-term impact on others. Gaelin now lives in Eden Prairie, MN, where he gets to experience the purest form of belonging as a husband to his wife, Micaela, and dad to their two daughters, Laniah and Tatum.

Kay Whyte-Bell

  • MA, Soc.Sci
Consultant, Trainer, Coach, Practitioner, Owner & Director, Arise Leadershop – ROK, UK
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Kay has 34 years experience of working as a practitioner, Leader and Strategic Adviser in child welfare and child protection in the UK, Europe and USA. Kay also runs her own successful business that includes Coaching and Mentoring of Senior Managers and Leaders from diverse backgrounds. During her many years of experience, Kay has also held high level positions specifically focused on Race and Equality, developing policy, procedure, training and auditing of strategic Equalities Plans as well as leading serious incident child care learning reviews that have focused on outcomes for children or young people from Black African heritage.

Ophelia Mac-Kwashie

Consultant, Trainer, Owner, En Hel By – ROK, Sweden
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Ophelia Mac-Kwashie is a Social Worker who has 22 years of experience in the child protection field in Sweden. Ophelia has always been passionate about her work with children and families and has for the past eight years been working as Independent Social Worker and takes on difficult cases while at the same time supports and guides Child Protection Services in Sweden, mostly in cases involving children with different ethnic backgrounds. As a Social Worker with African origin, Ophelia is not unfamiliar with the treatment Africans and marginalized groups receive when they have to deal with the Child Protection Services in Sweden. Ophelia has reached a stage in her dedication to Child Protection work to create a forum that will enable Child Protection Services in Sweden to start having conversation and discussion about this delicate topic.

Rob Maragh

  • MSc
Consultant, Trainer, Non-Executive Director, Director
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Rob Maragh has 36 years in children’s services as a practitioner, team manager and for 20 years Head of Service in a LAs in London and the South East England. Rob has innovated services pan London and was the Director of services for refugee and children and parents affected by life limited illnesses including HIV/AIDS. Rob is a non-executive director of 2 agencies in Health and Housing. He now works as a independent consultant working with agencies and professionals on anti-racist leadership and practice.

Sarah Kulesa

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Sarah Kulesa has been a Child Protection and Children’s Mental Health ongoing case manager since 2005; over eight of those years have been at Carver County using the Signs of Safety framework. Sarah’s work has evolved throughout the years with direct guidance from Dr. Turnell through an exemplar case which consisted of denied child abuse where Sarah learned to use the safety goals and case-specific safety scales to drive cases forward. Sarah has been involved in training the state of Minnesota, the state of Maine, and other jurisdictions both in the US and Canada. Sarah uses humor and her vulnerability to show examples of current work as a way to connect with other social workers and supervisors.

Our History

2005

SafeGenerations began its journey in 2005 as a division of Cross-Generation, a 501(c)3 organization. Initially focused on direct-practice work, the division's success in serving families led to the expansion of its services into Training, Consulting, and Implementation, reaching clients beyond Minnesota to various counties and state systems across the US and Canada.

2014

By 2014, SafeGenerations operated as its own division within Cross-Generation. 

2019

In 2019, the lead consulting team collaborated with the Board of Directors at Cross-Generation to acquire SafeGenerations, transforming it into an independent entity under Power of Partnership LLC, which later became Power of Partnership Inc. This transition allowed both organizations to pursue their distinct visions effectively. Throughout its history, SafeGenerations has consistently adapted to meet the evolving needs of its clients.

2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization demonstrated agility by shifting all training and consulting services to digital platforms, leveraging cutting-edge technology to continue supporting child welfare organizations comprehensively.

Specialization and Expertise 

Proven Track Record

SafeGenerations has delivered services to over sixty five child welfare jurisdictions, from small counties to state-wide systems. Our public learning experiences have drawn participants from Sweden, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and the US. Our team specializes in the ReSolutions Together practice approach, a solution-focused, safety-oriented, family-centered methodology applicable to various human-services interactions. 

Sustainable Practices

Our training and case consulting services are renowned for building learning experiences based on real-life practice examples and customizing them for practical application. We emphasize sustainability, ensuring leaders are involved in training and consulting processes. Our leadership consulting and implementation experience includes designing state-wide child welfare models, coaching child welfare leaders, and partnering on federal grant research projects. 

Tools Fit For Your Team

SafeGenerations excels in designing, developing, and launching digital practice tools and dashboards customized by practitioners to meet unique practice needs. These tools focus on family engagement, assessment protocols, critical thinking, decision-making skills, and long-term safety and wellbeing planning. Our live digital dashboards provide continuous feedback, allowing leaders to gain insights into the impact of policies, initiatives, and practices over time. 

There are two things I value most when my agency works with outside trainers and consultants. First, that I can trust them to follow through. Second, that they have firsthand experience working in child welfare. SafeGenerations has demonstrated that they exceed my expectations for both criteria!
Tom Buell
Tom BuellReginal Director
Department of Children and Families, The State of Kansas, USA

Our Vision

Develop Workers & Increase Competency 

When we can equip practitioners with the tools they need to avoid burnout, everyone wins. 

Craft a Learning Culture for Practitioners & Organizations 

When we stay humble, we all heal together. 

Create Real, Practical Change 

We don’t want to measure data just to measure data — the data we measure directly impacts the lives of the people we serve.

Empower & Equip Families 

Real change happens when families have the tools they need to grow. 

Leverage Technology for a Lasting Impact

We’re using our tech platform to accelerate learning for child welfare consultants, agencies, and practitioners.

Let’s create lasting change.

We can’t wait to chat about how we can help your organization achieve better results and make more meaningful connections with families. 

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