Foster Parent Collaboration

Amanda Preston is the CEO and founder of Deer Creek Family Support & Therapy, supporting adoptive and foster families and parents raising neurodivergent kids. She also works at Foster Calgary, working in recruitment and screening for potential foster families. She is a registered social worker with her masters in philanthropy and non-profit leadership. She became an adoptive parent at the age of 21 and a SAFE baby/therapeutic foster parent at 22 years old. After fostering for 18 years, she is now an adoptive parent to 8 neurodivergent children. She has a unique perspective being both a social worker and foster/adoptive parent, experiencing the child welfare system from multiple angles. Preston worked within the child welfare system before she became the Founder and Executive Director of a national non-profit, Home for Every Child, where she supported adoptive and foster families for 12 years. She also conducts home studies for adoptive families, is a blogger, and hosts a podcast on all things adoption, foster care and neurodivergent related. She shares stories and helpful information on adoption and foster care at www.mylovelycrazylife.com and shares valuable course at www.amandaprestonco.com. Preston received her bachelor of social work and a specialization in child welfare from The University of Victoria and completed her masters of philanthropy and non-profit leadership at Carleton University. Lisa Schelbe is an Associate Professor at the Florida State University College of Social Work in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a Faculty Affiliate at the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. Dr. Schelbe is Director of the Child Well-being Research Institute at University of Kentucky College of Social Work. Her research focuses on youth aging out of foster care with a special interest in their experiences with post-secondary education and early parenting. She is a qualitative methodologist with experience working on interdisciplinary teams. Dr. Schelbe is committed to research that has direct policy and practice implications. She has written over 40 journal articles and is author of Some Type of Way: Aging out of Foster Care. She also co-authored two books: The Handbook on Child Welfare Practice and Intergenerational Transmission of Child Maltreatment. Dr. Schelbe earned her doctorate in social work from University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania where she was a Doris Duke Fellow for the Promotion of Child Well-being.