2024-2025 Executive Team
The Minnesota Coalition for Family Home Visiting elects Executive Committee members to serve two-year terms. The Executive Committee meets on the first Wednesday of every month.
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We have a Co-Chair opening! Please reach out to Laura LaCroix-Dalluhn to learn more about the MCFHV and the co-chair position.
Paula Frisk (she/her), St. David's Center for Child & Family Development
"I bring almost 25 years of experience working with children and families with a specialty focus on attachment based dyadic parent/child relational work. My areas of interest include trauma-informed maternal, infant and early childhood mental health and early intervention and prevention.
I have in-depth of understanding in practice and administration of two evidence-based home visiting models, Healthy Families America and Parents as Teachers, as well as evidence-informed models. I have served over five years on the Metro Alliance for Healthy Families Quality Assurance team and strongly believe in the importance of best practice and advocacy for continued funding of quality home visiting services. I am also very passionate about the importance of reflective practice and reflective supervision/consultation in home visiting."
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Paula will serve as the Coalition's Co-Chair.
Ronel Robinson (she/her), Way to Grow
Ronel Robinson has been Program Director with Way to Grow Inc. since 1991. Way to Grow is a holistic program serving families and children prenatal to age eight providing an evidenced informed literacy and health curriculum building on skills for school and life success. She has a BA in Organizational Management and Communications from Concordia University with additional studies at Minnesota State at Mankato in business administration plus early childhood education and maternal and child health.
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Ronel manages the Way to Grow Dream Tracks Teen Parent Program serving teens and young moms ages 14- 24. She is a member of the Northside Achievement Zone (Early Childhood Committee), Minneapolis Healthy Start - Community Action Network, Hennepin County Teen Parent Connection, and the Minnesota Coalition of Targeted Home Visiting. She has also worked with the Minnesota Department of Education on the revisions of the Early Childhood Indicators of Progress, the African American Babies Project, and Northside Breastfeeding Initiative and many other community initiatives. Ronel is the current President of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers.​
Kayla Nelson (she/her), Horizon Public Health
Kayla Nelson has been a Public Health Nurse for almost 12 years. She spent the first two years of her career working as a Family Health Nurse in Douglas County. She then had an opportunity to serve her home community of Pope County and accepted a position where she spent the next 6 years as Nurse Home Visitor with Supporting Hands Nurse-Family Partnership. Due to a retirement, Kayla had an opportunity to take a Family Health Position with Horizon Public Health out of the Pope County office as a Family Health Nurse. Shortly after, Horizon was awarded an Evidence Based Home Visiting (EBHV) grant to implement Healthy Families America (HFA). It was at that time that Kayla was promoted to EBHV Supervisor, and now supervises Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-Visiting (MECSH) along with all of the Family Health programs at HPH.
Kayla is committed to helping families in the community and giving children the best chance possible. She grew up in Starbuck, MN and continues to live in Pope County with her husband and two young children.
Kristin Deacon (she/her), Southwest Health & Human Services
“While many things in this world have changed, one thing has not, children need caring, responsive, and nurturing care giving. I am a public health nursing supervisor for Southwest Health & Human Services (SWHHS) serving six counties in the southwest part of the state. I’ve been in public health and family home visiting for over 17 years. I have a passion for supporting families with young children and continue to be committed to this essential work. I sit on the steering committee for Supporting Hands Nurse Family Partnership which
provides NFP to 21 counties in the SW/SC part of Minnesota. At SWHHS, I supervise family health programs including our family home visiting program. We recently were trained in and are providing the MECSH program.
In my spare time, I enjoy attending sporting events, time with family and friends, traveling and reading. I look forward to being a part of this coalition and am excited for the future of family home visiting in Minnesota.”
Shashanna Skippingday (she/her), Division of Indian Work
Shashana Skippingday comes from a small rural community in Northern Minnesota on the White Earth Indian Reservation. She is a mother, healer, a nurse, a Community Outreach Perinatal Educator/Indigenous Doula and an Indigenous Lactation Counselor. She is committed to her community and aspires to teach families about the foundational benefits of breastfeeding. Shashana also provides leadership for local and state Indigenous breastfeeding initiatives. She has built an incredible group of Indigenous women to lead Nitamising
Gimashkikinaan-First Medicine, an Indigenous Perinatal and Lactation Support Circle. She Previously served as Secretary for the Board of the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition and is currently an At- Large Director. In her current daytime job as a Director of Programs at the Division of Indian Work, she leads the Maternal Child Health, Home Visiting and Anger Management/DV teams. She is also a co-leader for the Indigenous Breastfeeding Coalition of Minnesota.
“I am interested in joining the MN Coalition for Family Home Visiting to be a voice for our relatives. I have worked with in rural and urban settings for our families, young and elderly. I can bring to the table an Indigenous lens on cultural home visiting versus a societal framework ensuring our families thrive on what is inherently our culture and traditions.”
Jen Jaros (she/her), Early Childhood Family Education in Duluth Public Schools
Jen Jaros is the Early Childhood Family Education Coordinator for Duluth Public Schools. She is a Licensed Parent Educator and Early Childhood Teacher and has been working in districts throughout Minnesota for close to 25 years, 10 years in Duluth. She and her husband are soon to be empty nesters with a daughter as a freshman in college and her son is a senior in high school. ​
Jen is passionate about meeting families where they are at and working in a variety of ways as teachers, home visitors and community members to assist families getting the information and resources they need. Jen is a strong advocate for ECFE and parenting education both locally and at the state level.
Jocelyn Pickreign (she/her), Simpson Housing Services
Jocelyn Pickreign has spent the last decade working with children and families. Currently, she serves as the manager of Children and Youth Services (CYS) at Simpson Housing Services. Simpson's CYS department offers evidence-based home visiting to families with children under five and a variety of programs for families with school-aged children and teens, including tutoring, mentoring, and education advocacy-- a partnership approach that helps parents build skills and confidence navigating the school system and advocating for their
children. The department also runs bi-monthly "My Time" caregiver workshops that combine skill-shares and self-care in a format co-facilitated by caregivers; the Simpson Writers' Circle, a six-week creative writing workshop where participants produce and publish an original piece of creative work; and a bi-weekly Reflective Practice group for Simpson case managers.
Jocelyn has a BA from Macalester College and a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. In her free time, she likes baking, and hiking her way through all 66 Minnesota State Parks. ​
Olivia Collins (she/her), Dakota County Public Health
Olivia Collins brings over a decade of experience in family home visiting at Dakota County Public Health. She has served as a public health nurse and currently holds a leadership role as one of the program coordinators. Olivia is dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and establishing partnerships within the community to ensure families receive the necessary services and support. She is looking forward to collaborating with the Coalition to enhance inclusion and accessibility to home visiting services in Minnesota. During her free time, Olivia enjoys relaxing with her dog Milton, attending live music performances, and embarking on road trips across the country.
Pat Dale (he/him), at-large Community Member
Pat Dale was the CEO at Youable Emotional Health Services from 2001-2024 and holds a Bachelor's of Social Work from Eau Claire. Pat Dale is currently the Chair of the Hennepin County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative and the chair of the Social Connectedness work group of Hennepin County CHIP Initiative. Youable Emotional Health Services is currently operating as a contracted provider of Hennepin County and is accredited in Healthy Families America and Family Sprit.