Our Team

Multidiscplinary teamwork and trusting relationships create the opportunities that allow parents to learn to make the changes necessary for their children to be able to remain safely in their homes.

VPRC’s FIT team includes an attorney, a social worker, and a peer navigator (a parent who has had direct experience with the child protection/foster care system). It is intended to represent and support parents at risk of experiencing the placement of their children into state custody and out-of-home care.

Staff
Trine Bech, Executive Director
Vermont Parent Representation Center; trine.bech@vtprc.org
802-540-0200
Trine Bech, Esq., is VPRC’s Executive Director and, currently, its Staff Attorney. During most of her professional career, Trine has focused her attention on improving legal and social service systems involving children and families. She has held several positions that have required attention  to the intersection of family services and the law, including senior management positions in state and county public child protection systems. In Vermont, Trine has served as a Vermont Family Court Magistrate, and she has participated in the Vermont Court Improvement Project. She was a major force in the creation of the Vermont Family Court. Trine is an Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellow.

Board of Directors

Sara Kobylenski, Chair
Upper Valley Haven
sarak@uppervalleyhaven.org
Sara Kobylenski, MSW, is the Executive Director of The Upper Valley Haven, Inc, a not for profit organization that provides shelter for families and adults without children who are homeless, and food, clothing and educational services to any in need in the greater Upper Valley community. Prior to this position, Sara spent five years in state government in Vermont experiencing the strengths and weaknesses of the public child welfare system. This followed 20 years as Division Director for Casey Family Services, and fifteen years before that in a number of child welfare agencies. Sara has collaborated with attorneys on behalf of families and children from the beginning of her career and worked on behalf of children and families in other venues such as serving on the Vermont Supreme Court Justice for Children Task Force, the Vermont Supreme Court Family Rules Committee, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital Board, Upper Valley United Way Board and Hartland School Board, among other enterprises.

 

Stephen Habif, Treasurer
habif@comcast.net
Steve Habif had a 30 year career at IBM in a variety of Financial and Program Management positions.  From 2001 through April 2009, he was Executive Director of the Vermont Children’s Aid Society, a 90-year non-profit child welfare agency which believes that children grow best in their families. Steve was active in the development of programs which supported the preservation of families through a variety of services from Child and Family Counseling; Adoption and Post Adoption Counseling; to Kids-A-Part, a program to help inmates and their families stay together both during and after incarceration.

Brooke Jenkins, Secretary

brookejenkins3@yahoo.com
Brooke Jenkins recently graduated magna cum laude from Vermont Law School where she focused on nonprofit law and legislation. During her academic career she worked with the Vermont Office of Legislative Council, the Necrason Group, and the Vermont Defender General’s Office. Brooke’s professional experience includes communication and development work, regulatory compliance, advocacy, and management.