Wendy Watson, ARC Greater Twin Cities

Wendy is a long standing CLC volunteer.  She completed her training in 1997 and took her first case in 1998. She usually takes children with significant development disabilities and special needs.  Given her clients’ significant needs,  Wendy ensures that she has all her clients’ relevant assessments and case information, she connects with their special education teachers and resources, and she uses developmentally appropriate language to ensure her clients understand her role.  She has represented 20 CLC clients and currently has three.

Wendy says, “Working with the attorneys and staff at Children’s Law Center has been an invaluable part of my ongoing legal education.  They always provide guidance, training and support with difficult issues.  But the greatest experience is working with the kids and helping them define and articulate the life they want for themselves.  CLC gives them that voice.”

 Wendy Watson joined The Arc Greater Twin Cities in 1999 as an Advocate and was promoted to Senior Advocate in 2005.  Her focus is on educational advocacy for children from kindergarten through transition age.

Wendy is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, where she is Vice Chair of the Children’s Law Section.  She provides pro bono legal assistance to the Children’s Law Center.   She also serves on the boards of Friends of Children and Metrokids and is a member of the Lutheran Special Education Ministry’s Regional Support Council. In 2010, she was appointed to the Hamline University Board or Trustees.

Prior to joining The Arc, Wendy taught in a developmental achievement center.  She also taught special education in the Anoka-Hennepin School District, where she later became a behavior analyst.  She worked briefly as a family attorney after earning her law degree.

Wendy has a bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology and Communication Disorders from the University of Minnesota, where she graduated magna cum laude.  She received a master’s in Educational Psychology form the University of Minnesota, graduating with honors.  She received a Juris Doctor degree from Hamline University.

Children’s Law Center 2011 Donor List

 Guardians (25,000 +)

• Lawyers Trust Account Board & Legal Services Advisory Committee
• Mardag Foundation
• The Minneapolis Foundation
• The Otto Bremer Foundation
• The Saint Paul Foundation

Underwriters (10,000+)

• 3M & 3M Foundation
• F.R. Bigelow Foundation
• Charlson Foundation
• James R. Thorpe Foundation
• Dorsey & Whitney LLP & Dorsey & Whitney Foundation
• Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. & The Fredrikson & Byron Foundation
• Medtronic, Inc.
• Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. & The Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi Charitable Foundation
• UnitedHealth Group

Champions ($5,000.00 +)

• Faegre & Benson & The Faegre & Benson Foundation
• Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P.
• Greene Espel
• Hennepin County Bar Foundation
• Leonard, Street and Deinard & The Leonard Street and Deinard Foundation
• Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP
• Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation
• Ramsey County Bar Foundation
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
• Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP

Guardians ($3,500.00 +)

• Andrew Horstman & Katy Perry
• Briggs and Morgan & The Briggs and Morgan Foundation
• Lindquist & Vennum, P.L.L.P.
• Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand LLP
• Merchant & Gould
• The Whitney Foundation

Sustainer ($2,000.00 +)

• Barnes & Thornburg LLP
• Carlson, Caspers, Vandenburgh & Lindquist
• Dan & Laura Enebo
• Peter & Carolyn Hendrixson
• Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P.
• Nilan Johnson Lewis, PA
• Marianne Remedios & John Wald
• Thomson Reuters
• U. S. Bank

Patrons ($1,000.00 +)

• Norman & Kathy Baer
• Best & Flanagan, L.L.P.
• Best Buy Company Inc.
• Hon. Gail Chang & Richard Bohr- in memory/honor of Helen & C. Paul Jones,  Amelia Samples, Hon. John Simonett
• Thomas Caswell
• Larry Espel
• Fish & Richardson
• Caren Fitzgerald & Todd  Mitchell
• Linda Foreman & Hon. Mel Dickstein
• Tom Fraser & Mary Strand
• Lisa & Bill Fulton
• Roy Ginsburg
• Gray Plant Mooty & The Gray Plant Mooty Foundation
• Ann Marie Hanrahan
• Paul & Kelly Koziol
• Stephen Lucke
• Alan & Jeanne Maclin
• David Potter
• James Reece
• Schwegman, Lundberg, Woessner, P.A
• Diane Simerson
• Clarance Smith
• Marschall Smith & Debra Mitts Smith
• Floyd & Mary Lou Stewart
• SuperValu
• Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, L.L.P.
• Richard and Lynn Voelbel Family Fund
• of the Minneapolis Foundation
• Walling, Berg & Debele, P.A.
• Mitch E. Zamoff

Benefactors ($500.00 +)

• Anonymous
• Mary Pat Bauman
• W. Edward & Mary Hester Mullin Fund of the
• Catholic Community Foundation
• Frank DiPietro
• James E. Dorsey
• James R. Dorsey
• Eide Bailly LLP
• Brad Engdahl & Patricia Layton
• Bill & Judy Franke
• Kermit & Christine Fruechte
• Duana Grage
• Halberg, Appleby, Nelson & Hazelton, Chtd.
• Thad & Suzanne Johnson
• Kennedy & Graven Chartered
• Mark & Sara Kronholm
• Raymond Lazar
• Luther I. Replogle Foundation
• Malkerson Gunn Martin, LLP
• Douglas Nill
• Kathleen & John Sheehy
• Pam Stewart
• Nancy Sullivan
• The Medtronic Foundation
• Jon Theobald
• Jill Wroblewski

Advocates ($175.00 +)

• Eric Anderson & Janalee Aurelia
• Barna, Guzy & Steffen, LTD
• Cynthia Bartell
• Peter & Betty Belfiore
• Jennie & Charles Boeder
• Kristin Boetticher
• Hildy Bowbeer
• Andrew Carlson
• Center for Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment
• Carolyn Chalmers & Dean Eric Janus
• Kristin & Clinton Cutler
• Julie Daulton
• Mary Davidson
• Lindsey Davis
• Erika Nutt Donner
• Eighth District Bar Association
• Lilian & Gabriel Ejebe
• Gail Engstrom & Michael Dai Engstrom
• Sara Erickson-Nelson
• Mark & Cheryl Feinberg
• Paul Floyd
• Mark Fredrickson
• Melinda & Jack Fribley
• Lois & Richard Gehrman
• Paul Georgeson
• Demoya Gordon
• Carolyn Ham
• William Hefner & Julie Rohovit
• Samuel Heins
• Scott Hertogs
• D. Randall & Mary E. King
• JJ Kuhn
• William Kvas
• Vanessa Laird
• Robert Leonard
• John & Stephanie Levy
• Samuel Lockner
• Jean Lown
• Joanne Manthe
• Elaine & Peter McGillivray
• Susan McGrath
• Vanessa McGuire
• Minnesota Women Lawyers, Inc.
• Shawn Monaghan
• Julia Morgan
• Sarah Mullins
• Kristen Nelson
• Michael Nowotny
• David Probst
• Jim & Nancy Proman
• Denise Rahne
• Deborah Randolph – In memory of Ava Marie Alholinna
• Akshay Rao
• Karen Reierson
• Jonathan Riehle
• Connections to Independence
• Kathleen Ruhland
• Hon. Heidi Schellhas
• Susan Schmidt &Virgil Wiebe
• Robert Sprague
• Leo & Christine Stern
• Sarah Taylor -  In memory of Claudette Nigon, In honor of Dick Nigon
• Bill & Linda Thompson
• William Van Brunt
• Hon. Mary Vasaly
• Wiessner Inc.
• Carol Garland Wiessner
• James Wilkinson III
• Lynn Zentner

Supporters ($125.00 +)

• Jody Alholinna
• John Bowden
• David Bunde & Ann Decker
• James Christenson
• Sara Grewing
• Jerry Hendrickson
• Michelle Huntley Dill
• Julia & Damon Larsen
• Sarah Lockner
• Andrea Massari
• Maureen O’Boyle
• Irene Opsahl
• Melodie Rose & Christopher Knaggs
• Leah Sand
• Schwebel, Goetz Sieben, P.A.
• Howard Stacker
• Timothy Zuel

Friends (up to $125.00)

• Anonymous – In honor of Chad Snyder
• Frank & Barb Abramson
• Judith Albrecht
• Anne Applebaum
• Cooper Ashley
• Patrick & Catherine Minor Atanalian
• James Baillie
• Alain Baudry
• Jennifer Bawcom
• Anna Beadle
• Daniel & Caroline Beckman
• Virginia Bell
• Biersdorf & Associates
• Richard Brody and Margaret Flynn
• Phillip Bruner
• Alia Bukhowa
• Mary Cade
• Mark Carpenter & Ann Kraemer
• Joseph Cassioppi
• Eric Chad
• Michelle Chalmers
• Jon & Ann Cieslak
• Daniel Cohan & Erica Brown
• Courey, Kosanda & Zimmer, P.A.
• Dennis Coyne
• Nancy Crotti
• Margaret & Matt Dalton
• Barbara D’Aquila
• Thomas Darden
• William Davidson
• John & Amelia Engberg
• Michelle Enright
• Carol Ericson
• Kathryn Foley
• Wood Foster Jr.
• Roma Foti
• David Fox
• Michael Fox
• Donald & Arvonne Fraser – In honor of Tom Fraser
• Pamela French
• Diane Frick
• Melanie Full
• Michael Gallagher
• Jim & Julie Gilkinson – In honor of Jessica Passaro
• Barbara Golden
• Larry & Carol Goode
• Jessica Griffith
• John & Jeanne Guden
• Annie Halverson
• John Hanna
• Lowell Hansen
• Kent & Judith Harbison
• Robert Hauer Jr.
• Bill & Kathy Haug
• Eugene Heck
• Dianne Heins
• David Herr
• Ann Jaede
• Marlene Johnson
• Patricia Johnson & Mark Gronlund
• Nancy Jones
• Karen Keitel
• Rebecca Kelly
• Daniel & Florence Kiefer
• Hon. Mary Louise & Daniel Klas
• Nancy Kleeman
• Luanne Koskinen
• Dora Kripapuri
• Duane Krohnke
• Michel Laine
• Dorrie & Scott Larison
• Gwen Lerner
• Rep. Tina Liebling
• Marsha & Albert Lietz
• Hon. Dale Lindman
• Rick Linsk
• Marie Lister
• James Lockhart & Lynn Seymour
• Anne Lockner
• The London Family
• Catherine London
• Amy Luedtke
• Paula Maccabee
• Linda Maki
• Thomas Marek
• Steve & Rita Mattaini
• Anneliese Mayer
• John McCormick & Bridget Sperl
• Margaret Merkow
• Mary Miller
• Hon. Laurie Miller
• MN Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
• Vincent Moccio
• Amy Moeller
• Chouhei & William (Bill) Mullin
• Aaron Myers
• Gregory Myers
• Nancy Nguyen
• Kate Nilan
• Lynne & Dan O’ Connell
• Kristin Olson
• Sherrill Oman
• Kalli Ostlie
• Jessica & Justin Passaro
• Bill & Mary Ellis Peterson – In memory of Don Kelly
• Robin Phillips
• James Pielemeier
• Michael & Renee Popkin
• Hon. Jane Ranum
• Shannon Regan
• James & Helen Rockwell
• Richmond Rolfs
• Jessie Rosenthal
• Diane Runyan
• Amy Russell
• Julie & Paul Samanant
• Sheva & Tom Sanders
• Patricia Sandness
• Schnitker & Associates, PA
• Jenny Schoenberg
• Schoep & McCashin CHTD.
• Ryan Schultz
• Hon. Gary Schurrer & Lynn Schurrer
• Thomas Michael Scott
• William Seeley
• Cyrenthia Shaw
• Elizabeth Short
• Bonnie Skelton – In honor of Tom Fraser
• Jane Skyora
• Cass Stillman
• Hon. Terri Stoneburner
• John Taft
• Karen Tarrant
• Hon. John & Dee Dee Van de North
• Terry Wade
• Wendy Watson
• Esther Wattenberg
• Douglas Winn and Susan Moore – In honor of Hon. Gail Chang Bohr
• Crystal Wisniewski
• David & Mary Woodward
• Pat Yoedicke
• Katrina Zabinski
• Marilia Zellner
• Patina Zink

WE NEED YOU TO VOLUNTEER! TRAIN TO BE A CLC PRO BONO ATTORNEY

• WHEN: Wednesday, February 29, 2012, 8:30 AM-12:30 PM (Sign in will start at 8:00 A. M.)
  

• WHERE: Fredrikson & Byron
  • 200 South Sixth Street, Suite 4000 Minneapolis, MN 55402-1425

Train to be a child advocate and get 3.8 CLE credits! This training program focuses on preparing pro bono lawyers to represent foster children. The training includes a comprehensive overview of the child protection system in Minnesota, as well as an opportunity to learn from current CLC  attorneys, child advocates, and experts. We hope to see you there!

• TO REGISTER: Click HERE to print the registration form: 2.29.12 Registration Form. You can receive notification  by signing up for the CLC E-newsletter in the right column. Please e-mail Jessica at: info@clcmn.org with any questions.

• NOTE: If you registered for the training prior to the schedule change from a full day to a half day training, and paid the wrong tuition rate, you will be contacted by CLC and arrangements will be made to refund the difference.  Please e-mail Jessica at: info@clcmn.org with any questions or concerns.

CLC’s most recent training was held:

• On: November 4, 2011, 8 am-4:30 pm
• At : Briggs and Morgan, IDS Center, Minneapolis

Special thanks to our volunteers, presenters and panelists for making it a wonderful day!

To receive a notice of the next training and a registration form when they become available, please contact Jessica at info@clcmn.org .

Upcoming Trainings:

FREE TRAINING: What You Should Know about Representing People with Mental Illnesses

• WEDNESDAY, March 7, 2012, 12:15 – 1:15
• Speakers: Anna McLafferty: Criminal Justice Director at National Association for the Mentally Ill – Minnesota (NAMI – MN) and A parent’s experience with the mental health and juvenile court systems
• Health Services Building, 525 Portland Avenue South, Room 110, Minneapolis, MN 55415
  
• Sponsored by the Youth Law Summit, CLE credits will be applied for

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Congratulations to Jim Reece, CLC’s December 2011 Volunteer of the Month. Jim has been a volunteer with CLC for over nine years. Including his three current clients, he has represented a total of fourteen CLC foster clients. Jim also served on CLC’s Board of Directors and Chaired the Development Committee.  A gentle and wise soul, Jim provides effective, quality advocacy for his clients and rarely says no when he is called upon to take on a new case. Jim also recently offered to be a backup volunteer attorney for other CLC volunteer attorneys when they are unable to attend a court hearing. This is a tremendous help to the CLC staff attorneys!

Many of Jim’s clients have been older teens, so he is constantly brainstorming new ways for CLC to help ease our and his foster clients’ transitions to adulthood, and has helped some of his clients with transitioning skills such as job applications and preparing for job interviews.  In addition to his work with CLC, Jim has worked at legal aid walk-in clinics, spoken to school children about legal issues, served as a formal and informal mentor for college and law school students, and regularly assists people who are unable to hire an attorney.

Jim has showed continued support for his CLC clients even as they become adults themselves. When one of his eighteen year old clients found herself dealing with a charge in criminal matter, and then got herself into even more trouble when she failed to show up in court for her hearing regarding the matter, Jim was able to help her find the resources she needed to ensure that the matter and her failure to attend her hearing did not have a negative impact on her future.

Jim is a partner at Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel & Mason in Minneapolis.  Jim has assisted individuals and businesses in a wide range of litigation throughout the United States and in Canada, England and Mexico, involving antitrust claims, business disputes, business torts, patents, products liability, mass torts, toxic torts, prescription drugs, medical devices, property catastrophes, insurance coverage, and securities.

Thank you Jim for all that you do, and congratulations.

• 3M Foundation
• F.R. Bigelow Foundation
• Otto Bremer Foundation
• Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation
• Catholic Community Foundation-W. Edward and Mary Hester Mullin Fund
• Charlson Foundation
• Fredrikson & Byron Foundation
• Mardag Foundation
• The Minneapolis Foundation
• The Minneapolis Foundation- Richard and Lynn Voelbel Family Fund
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
• The St. Paul Foundation
• Thomson Reuters
• James R. Thorpe Foundation

David Campbell: David currently is Vice President of Marketing for BodySound Technologies, a local med tech firm. Since 1988, David has been either a marketing VP or Brand Manager at Life Time Fitness, West Publishing, Interactive Learning Group, The Pillsbury Company, and S.C. Johnson. He has his MBA from Babson College and his BA from Harvard. David specializes in marketing and communications.

Tom Caswell, Esq. III: Tom is a partner at Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel & Mason.  He has over 20 years of litigation experience representing clients in numerous trials, arbitrations, and appeals.  Tom has represented clients in state and federal court and in international matters.

Maria Christu, Esq.: Maria is General Counsel of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics where she oversees Children’s legal services needs, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Maria also is a member of the Minnesota Business Partnership, a group of 110 CEO’s of Minnesota Business’s which is focused on quality of life policy issues such as education, jobs, and health care.

Nancy Sullivan, Esq.: Nancy is a partner Barnes & Thornburg in the firm’s Corporate Department. She has 25 years of experience counseling corporate clients on a wide range of employee benefit matters. Over the course of her career, she has worked for Dorsey, Faegre, and Gray Plant, in addition to spending two years teaching at an inner-city high school in Phoenix. Nancy was instrumental in getting five Barnes lawyers trained to by CLC this fall.

They say it takes a village……..…but who makes up a foster youth’s village?

YOU DO!

We need you to stand with us as we support foster care youth. With one voice, we need to tell our most vulnerable youth that we are NOT going to give up on them and that together we are committed to making their lives stable.

What would you have done without the relationships you had in your neighborhood, school, and community?  Many foster children live in a rapidly changing world, new homes, new schools, new social workers, and new doctors.  CLC staff and volunteers are often the most stable people in a foster child’s life.

Donate now and join the Village!

For every donation, CLC will add another person to our village “house.”  The goal is to cover the house with “villagers” by the end of the year.  Every donation counts!  We encourage you to pass the link along and ask friends, family, neighbors and co-workers to join the village as well.

While we cannot guarantee that every child finds a forever family, we CAN build a network of support around these children. With your help, we can continue to provide stability and positive outcomes for our foster care youth.

Our village is growing! Here it is on 12/29/2011.

The Cabinet is still in its formative stages but the first matter it engaged together on was the preparations of Minnesota’s “Race to the Top” grant application to the Federal government which was filed in September. The plan is to engage in a lot of measurements across all sectors of child welfare and to regularly issue dash board reports on how government is doing on clearly identified goals.

CLC applauds the Governor’s efforts and looks forward to seeing more about the Cabinet’s goals in its goals statement in January 2012.

Daniel’s CLC attorney worked with him and his family to go over his options and make the best choices to stabilize his life. With his attorney’s guidance and expertise, Daniel’s experience in “the system” has had a positive outcome.  Daniel is in his third year of college and on track to pursue a career working with kids.  He also plays football, is a resident advisor in the dorms, and a camp counselor in the summer.

Congratulations to Suzanne Kvas, CLC’s November 2011 Volunteer of the Month. Suzanne Kvas has been a CLC volunteer since 2005.  In that time she has represented seven foster care youth and currently has three clients.

CLC is grateful to have her commitment and her dedication to always be available for new and existing clients.  Beyond her courtroom work with CLC clients, Suzanne is a counselor and consistent person in her client’s lives.  She stays in touch with her clients between hearings, is committed to exploring all possible options for them and spends a great deal of time talking with the other people involved in her clients’ case to ensure the best outcome.

“Because of my life-long desire to work with children in need, my volunteer work with CLC has been among the most rewarding work of my career.  Due to  the myriad of issues these children face, however, I  could not be an effective advocate without the thorough training and ongoing support I receive from the staff at CLC.”

In her private practice at Lehmann & Lutter, Suzanne practices civil litigation and estate law.  Guardianship and conservatorship, as well assisting families who have children or adults with special needs rank among Suzanne’s areas of expertise. She has appeared before and drafted numerous briefs to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court. Suzanne’s ethics and legal ability have earned the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the premier attorney rating service.