Education/School Issues/Truancy

Gretchan is currently a lead Children's Mental Health social worker in a county setting. Previously, Gretchan worked as a post-permanency social worker, providing voluntary case management services and support to families that recently experienced an adoption or transfer of custody. Gretchan is also trained in Circle of Security and has experience working in a hospital setting.

Address:
Sherburne County
13880 Business Center Drive NW
Elk River, MN 55330

Hello! I work at the Wilder Foundation as a school-based therapist working within the Therapeutic Teaching Model program, a collaboration with Intermediate School District 287 and Wilder. My work is focused in a federal setting IV classroom with elementary students, individual and within a group setting, that have a variety of disruptions, including but not limited to; behavioral challenges, educational trauma, home life instability, attachment and/or developmental difficulties, family trauma, and out of home placements or adoption.

Molly McHugh is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Barry University in Miami, FL. Her Bachelor’s Degree is in Social Work from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. Molly has worked with inner-city youth at the Pillsbury Waite House in Minneapolis and with asylum-seeking immigrants from Africa at the Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services at St. Thomas.

Char earned her Masters in Social Work from the University of St. Thomas/St. Catherine University in 2011. She is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker by the MN Board of Social Work and has certificates in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and Permanency and Adoption. Char has 14 years experience working within the child welfare system, and is well-versed in safety and support planning with families, infant and early childhood mental health, child development, foster care and adoption issues, and attachment.

Michele Lovehaug received her bachelor of arts degree from Concordia College in 1997 in both social work and Spanish. She went on to complete her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Minnesota in 1999. Ms. Lovehaug is a Licensed Independent Social Worker in both North Dakota and Minnesota. She is also a Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work.

I am dedicated to working with individuals and families by supporting hope and growth through a family systems perspective and trauma informed care. As a counselor, I focus on wellness and what we can do to help you feel hopeful as we begin to change your story. My work stems from an attachment, developmental, and systems lens and how they impact functioning throughout one’s life. I find encouragement in working together to build from your personal strengths and resilience to help you heal and feel more connected to your environment and relationships.

I currently am a County Social Worker with Rice County Social Services providing children’s services in the areas of Child Protection, Child Welfare and the Parent Support Outreach Program. I have previously worked in the area of family reunification and adoption providing families with Family Group Services in Blue Earth, Nicollet, Sibley, Brown and Watonwan counties. Prior to that I have several years’ experience doing In-home Family Therapy and skills work. Many of the children I work with struggle with permanency and adoption issues.

Julie Jong Koch, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed independent clinical social worker and psychotherapist at Watercourse Counseling Center in Minneapolis. She specializes in working with transracial adoptees, POCI (People of color/Indigenous people), queer & trans individuals, as well as others who have experienced individual or community trauma or marginalization. She integrates her professional training and therapeutic skills with her lived experience as a queer-identified Korean adoptee.

Brandon is committed to the restoration and improvement of familial relationships and committed to generational change in families. Brandon feels very strongly about working with individuals and families whatever their current situation may be and working with them to establish positive changes that will positively affect generations to come in their families.

Neree's home is filled with biological, adopted and foster children. She has worked in various areas of child development and child welfare for more than 20 years, and mentors former foster youth on their own parenting journeys. She currently works in child welfare transformation, shifting system thinking about trauma, worthiness, race, and wellbeing while supporting agencies to find and/or maintain permanency for youth under their jurisdiction.