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Bob Lewis
Click here to download a pdf copy of Bob Lewis' Resume
ROBERT G. LEWIS
M.ED, M.S.W., L.I.C.S.W.
www.RGLewis.com
Belonging, safely & securely is the promise we make to every child.
QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY International consultant, author and a strategic thinker providing training, and technical assistance to child welfare organizations.
Focus: Development of social work practices, policy, planning and organizational development in support of the urgent need of permanent family connections for every child & youth.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: CONSULTANT, TRAINER, SPEAKER AND AUTHOR in independent practice since June 1997. Clients: State, county and local agencies as well as foundations, private child welfare agencies nationally and internationally. Policy & practice development, program and case review, permanency training developed and tailored to requests, delivered in person and via the Web.
Client: Child welfare agencies, public and private, including foundations, National Resource Centers, in 30+ states and in Canada and Japan.
SPECIAL ADOPTION FAMILY SERVICES, INC. (SAFS)
Executive Director, October 1978 to June 1997
Provided leadership in shaping the organization from its start as a 2-year-old project in 1976 (Project IMPACT) to an agency widely recognized as a leading advocate for adoption, serving the child most in danger of being left behind. Created a mission driven vision for the agency and the Board of Directors evolving with changing needs of clients, professionals and sources of revenue. Established SAFS as a recognized leader in a national network of adoption agencies. Recognized in Massachusetts as the leading agency for innovative approaches in addressing difficult challenges in adoption and permanence. Successfully competed Federal & State grants worth over $10 million including Corporate Initiatives, Collaboration for Families (with Children's Hospital and the Departments of Health, Social Services and Retardation); Parent Groups as Partners, Post Adoption Crisis Intervention, House of the Heart (with Catholic Charities), Post Adoption (with the Department of Mental Health), Time to Decide (with Children's Hospital and the Family Builders Network), and others. Developed specialized client services now followed by other agencies nationwide, including a post adoption parent support weekend, post adoption crisis intervention services and others. Developed a pilot project, Federal Hispanic Recruitment Project to increase the number of Latino families who adopt. Completed a $360,000 Federal Grant, -- Mass Effort for Teens -- to prepare teens in group care for family living. Raised tens of thousands of dollars annually from national, regional and local corporations, foundations and individuals.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE, GROUP CARE UNIT
Assistant Director and Director, February 1974 to October 1978
Managed a multi-million dollar annual budget for purchasing and developing congregate care services for children in the custody of the Mass. Welfare Dept. Established the Unit’s first mission statement and evaluation guidelines for residential programs.
RELATED EXPERIENCE
NATIONAL AND STATE CONFERENCES
Numerous workshops, keynote addresses & presentations across the country.
First jobs were child care worker in an RTC and community social worker in small MA towns.
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION
Guest or regular lecturer 1990s, 2000s & 2010s.
NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY, LANGUAGE TESTING AND TRAINING CENTER, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
NANCHONG EDUCATION INSTITUTE, Nanchong, Sichuan, P.R.C.
Taught English as a Foreign Language Lectured on American Culture
APPOINTMENTS
Commissioner’s Advisory Board, NYC, Children’s services. 2005 to 2010
Essex County Com. Found. Youth At Risk Project November 2000 to 2006
Board of Directors, Adoptive Families Together, September 1998 to present
Member-at-Large, Family Builders Network, July 1998 to present
Treasurer, Family Builders Network, January 1993 to July 1998
Founding Board of Directors, Adoptive Families Together, 1994-1997
Steering Committee, Massachusetts Families For Kids, 1992 to 1998
President, Special Needs Adoption Network, September 1991 to June 1996
Chairman, Family Builders Network, 1986-1988
Founding Board of Directors, Gloucester School Connection, 1987-1989
PUBLICATIONS
Seeing the Voices of Children & Youth: Setting the Record Straight The Video Project 2011
Families for Teens: A Toolkit for Focusing, Educating and Motivating Staff, with Maureen S. Heffernan, High Popples Press, November 2004.
Engaging Youth & Those Around Them in the Process of Permanence
with Sue Badeau, re-edited for New York, Colorado and California 2003
The Family Bound Program: A Toolkit for Preparing Teens for Permanent Family Connections, edited and developed with Communities For People, High Popples Press, September 2002.
Adolescents & Families For Life: A Toolkit for Supervisors, with Maureen S. Heffernan, High Popples Press, April 2000.
What Do You Think?
An online idea forum available since 1999.
“There is a Path to Family Permanence for Adolescents”, Permanency Planning Today, Vol. 4. No. 1, 1999.
“Keeping the Promise of Adoption and Safe Families Act” The Roundtable, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1998.
“Give China’s ‘Xiao Mei Meis’ a Future” Christian Science Monitor March 1996
“Adoption and Mental Retardation” Pediatric Annals, October 1989.
“Adoptive Families and Professionals: When the Experts Make Things Worse” American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33:5 June 1994.
Other curricula and teaching tools, some available at www.rglewis.com
EDUCATION
University of Connecticut School of Social Work, West Hartford, Connecticut
Master of Social Work, 1973, Casework and Group Work
Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Master of Education, 1971, Special Education
Our Lady of Providence College, Warwick Neck, Rhode Island
Bachelor of Arts, 1967, Scholastic Philosophy
Lowell Institute School (math, electronics & computer networking)
Boston Language Institute, Guo Yu Re Bao, Taipei,Nanchong Ed. Inst.(Mandarin)
PERSONAL
Spoken Mandarin
Culturally fluent in Chinese
Traveled extensively in China, Taiwan and other Southeast Asian Nations.
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES Available on request.
