LSW

Anjaly is a licensed social worker in the state of Minnesota who graduated in 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She joined Ampersand Families in January 2024 as a Youth Permanency Specialist, where she works to ensure older youth in foster care find lasting and supportive connections. In her role, Anjaly prioritizes relative and kinship placements, and strongly advocates for youth to have a voice in all permanency-related decisions. As a transracial adoptee herself, Anjaly brings a personal and informed perspective to her work.

Mariah has her Bachelor's of Social Work degree from Southwest Minnesota State University and she is a licensed social worker. Mariah formerly worked as a child protection social worker and supervisor for Southwest Health and Human Services. Currently, Mariah is a Post-Permanency Navigator with Foster Adopt Minnesota. Her role is to provide resources and answer questions that arise for families after the finalization of an adoption or transfer of permanent legal and physical custody (TPLPC).

I am an Adoption and Child Foster Care licensing social worker in a county setting. I have worked in the Children's Services unit for 10 year, but the last seven focusing on licensing and adoption. I also provide some Child Protection Case Management services. I work on a variety of cases from reunification to post TPR to finalizing an adoption. Along with this, I license and case manage our traditional and corporate child foster homes in our county.

Child welfare, adoption and permanency

Address:
Mower County
201 1st St. NE
Suite 18
Austin, MN 55912

I provide Concurrent Planning and Special Needs Adoption case work within the county system. I am responsible for locating permanency options and completing adoptions post TPR. I provide support to foster, birth and adoptive families.

Address:
531 Dewey St.
P.O. Box 740
Foley, MN 56329

Lucy joined Ampersand in May of 2021; she has a Bachelor of Science majoring in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin Superior. She has been working in the human services field for 30 years in numerous capacities. She was also a foster parent for St. Louis County for 7 years. She is passionate about viewing families holistically and all extensions of that family system. She advocates for people who can be seen as the underdog and works to motive others to be the change they want to see in the world.

Brenda L. Anderson-Powers, LSW is a Director of Transformation at the national non-profit, Alia Innovations. Team Alia are UnSysteming the child welfare system and shifting mindsets and practice to keep children safely with, not from, their families. Alia employs a community co-design approach, working alongside parents with lived expertise and innovative systems leaders as partners to co-create new solutions to longstanding problems, while supporting the wellbeing of leaders, teams, and caregivers.